If you grew up in the Philippines in the 1990s, there would’ve been no way for you to avoid the music of Wolf Gemora and Dave Aguirre—the drummer and vocalist/guitarist of 3 Headed Dog, respectively. Both were then in different bands, but they were stalwarts of the Philippine music scene—selling out venues, recording albums and rocking out on TV shows. Today, along with bassist Danny Gonzalez, Gemora and Aguirre live in Southern California, and are reviving their music through 3 Headed Dog. On their debut Maynilad (a title that speaks of their Philippine roots) the band explores new musical ideas and reinvents itself as a bonafide American band. Gemora talks to Myspace about their sound, their roots and their future.

Hometown: Manila, Philippines.

Homebase: Laguna Niguel, California

How did you all meet?

I actually met Dave when he was eight years old; our families were close. I met him again when he was in high school and he had just formed his band Razorback. I had then formed my own band, Wolfgang, and we were like brother bands. We spent most of the 1990s recording and releasing albums and touring around the Philippines. In 2002, I migrated to the US and met Danny to form our old band, Lokomotiv. David moved to the US as well and he joined up with us. After lineup changes we became 3 Headed Dog in 2009.

Tell us about your album Maynilad. What does the name mean? What themes were you working on when making it?

Maynilad is the original name of me and David’s hometown, Manila. The song “Maynilad” itself is about how fucked up our hometown and country is right now with all the political corruption that affects everything else in society.

You’re from the Philippines, but now live in California. How does where you grew up and live in influence your music?

Living in the US for 13 years now has really opened my eyes to what rock music really is. Back in the Philippines, you only get to listen to what is being played on the radio and being sold at the record store over there, which can be limited. Here in the US, EVERYTHING is available for you to absorb. Learning about the history of rock music has been a huge eye-opener for me and I have a better understanding of it than when I was back in the Philippines. And that goes for all types of music genres. Most Americans are very open-minded about the music they listen to..

Did you grow up in a musical household?

Not really. I am the eldest sibling and my parents were just ordinary folks who liked to listen to music but were not musically inclined. I didn’t have any “cool” uncles or aunts to influence me. So, at first I just listened to my parents records (Beatles, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc). I discovered FM radio when I was in the 7th grade and that changed my life.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Drum-wise it’s John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Neil Peart (Rush) and Stewart Copeland (The Police). The musicians I look up to are Bob Marley, Carlos Santana, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Angus Young (AC/DC), Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and the Cuban group Buena Vista Social Club.

Why are you called 3 Headed Dog?

We were going back and forth with name ideas and 3 Headed Dog just came naturally.

What's your songwriting process like?

It’s very natural and organic. It comes out of jam sessions. Someone may have an initial idea. A guitar riff, a bass line or a drum rhythm and then if it sounds cool we go with it. We follow that rabbit down the rabbit hole and nobody really knows what’s in there until we either finish a complete song or abandon that initial idea because it didn’t have enough gas in it.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Dave Grohl and Chris Cornell would be my idea of a dream collaboration. And Carlos Santana.

You guys were huge in the Philippines back in the day. Tell us about your biggest rock star moment.

The craziest thing that ever happened to me was back in 1997, when Wolfgang played a show in Cebu in the Philippines in front of 35,000 people who were there to see us. That was insane.