Pixies' Joey Santiago Talks About Vinyl Digging, Songs as Filipino Food, and What He Thinks of Geese
Born in Manila, raised on Coltrane, and yes, responsible for the guitar riff that rebooted a Mars rover. Joey Santiago is finally coming home.
by JV Ordoñez
Published on Feb 13, 2026
The '90s zeitgeist-defining alternative rock band Pixies is set to make their highly-anticipated Manila debut on May 10.
In the lead up to this, Esquire Philippines caught up with the band's legendary guitarist and vinyl hoarder Joey Santiago about what he's been up to and what it's like to return to his old stomping grounds.
The Pixies were an innovative force and pioneering act of the post-punk space in the late '80s and throughout the '90s. Their alt-rock style and guitar textures served as a template for many of the emerging acts at the time, largely due to their mastery of dynamics that could veer into gloriously unhinged territory.
The group received the highest of praise from the likes of David Bowie and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana for their signature approach to melody and texture. Cobain's recently uncovered handwritten journal included his personal top 50 albums of all time, with Surfer Rosa making the cut. Records like Surfer Rosa (1988) and Doolittle (1989) are held in the highest regard in terms of rock songwriting and production, revered for the raw, primal energy of iconic tracks such as "Debaser," "Gigantic," and the larger-than-life "Where Is My Mind?"
Santiago was born in the Philippines and left when he was around seven years old.
The Manila show in May marks the first time he's been back since 1995. This isn't just another tour stop. It's a spiritual homecoming.
"I was born there, I left when I was seven. And the chances of doing this... What are the chances that this would ever happen to anyone? So yeah, I'm very grateful for that," he told Esquire Philippines in a virtual sit-down.
As unscripted as it gets and as sentimental as any homecoming is bound to be, Santiago said plugging in and playing for people who share his heritage will hit profoundly hard.
"When I'm working, when I'm playing, it's just... I'm very much concentrated on that. But I got a feeling when I land there and see where I grew up, the house I grew up in, it's gonna hit hard for me."
He also cited an endearing anecdote of Pixies drummer David Lovering becoming an unlikely devotee of Filipino breakfast, the full spread of longganisa, fried egg, and bangus. Santiago, meanwhile, still makes the classics at home, adobo and Lumpia Shanghai, though less often since the kids moved out.
When asked what Filipino food would best describe a Pixies song, Santiago went straight for dinuguan. Don't tell them what's in it, and they'll love it. Tell them afterward, and they'll go: why the hell did you do that to me?
Which is, come to think of it, a pretty perfect description of hearing "Where Is My Mind?" for the first time.
Brushing up on his Filipino ahead of the trip, Santiago has been doing it the most 2025 way possible.
"I started watching a soap opera or a drama on YouTube. That's how I'm going to get back into it. You can say something to me, I'll probably understand it."
The Philosophy of a Man Who Owns Too Many Pedals
We remember the first time we heard "Where Is My Mind?" at the end of the mind-bending Fight Club (1999), as one of the most cathartic uses of music in film. Santiago famously came up with the guitar riff on a whim while noodling on his guitar in a serendipitous process that cut out overthinking.
This all comes down to Santiago and the gang's unwavering confidence in their craft, sometimes to the point of getting a kick out of people getting confused by their art.
"In fact, sometimes I get my jollies if some people won't like it. Not everyone has to like it. That's kind of like the little mischievous thing in our heads. Maybe they'll get it. Maybe they won't. Who gives a f**k?"
The perennial question people ask prolific guitarists is theory vs. feel. For Santiago, it starts with a bit of music theory before feeling takes over entirely.
"Theory will start me and then the feeling will take over," he said plainly.
He elaborated: "There are moments where I'm chasing technique. God, I can't do this and all that, and then I always come back to music that I can digest. And I go, yeah, this is it. This is where I belong. This is what I like. But it's fun chasing the other stuff, it's just not really what I truly like."
Santiago still keeps a guitar by his couch and makes it a point to noodle at least four times a week, but picks it up every single day for the ritual of it.
A self-proclaimed pedal hoarder with an embarrassing collection to show for it, he still prioritizes distortion, delay, and tremolo above everything else to take his signature tone to any gig. Full stop.
"I try not to [drown everything in effects]. That's not our vibe at all."
"It's fun to have pedals. But at the end, it's just a sound. I'm really not that precious with it."
He noted that each Pixies album carried its own particular sonic nuances, all of which he can tap into with a single footswitch, from the rawness of the Steve Albini era on Surfer Rosa to the cleaner Gil Norton production on Doolittle.
Film is also a major well of inspiration for him. He recently found himself floored by the score of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame, enjoying both the film and the music so completely that he didn't realize Greenwood had composed it until the credits rolled.
For Santiago, a great soundtrack earns its place by disappearing into the story, its heavy lifting only becoming apparent once the film is over.
"I get inspiration from everything. Ennio Morricone, I'm very influenced by the Spaghetti Westerns he did with Sergio Leone," he added.
Crate Digging, Curmudgeon Tendencies, and the Geese Question
It wasn't surprising at all that Santiago was a certified vinyl crate digger, as he detailed some of the esoteric LPs in his collection. He made a callback to the Spaghetti Westerns that inspired his music as he excitedly told us about his latest vinyl pickup: Ennio Morricone's Bossa Nova Grooves.
Which is fitting, since a personal favorite from the Pixies' catalog is Bossanova (1990), and the nearly orgasmic lushness of the guitar tone Santiago pulls off on that record remains one of the most underrated things in their entire discography.
Joey is also all about records from around the '70s and would take instrumental albums from that era if he were stuck on a deserted island.
"I don't want to sound like a curmudgeon, but usually I still archive to older stuff. Because that's where you're going to find the more unique," Santiago said.
"People aren't listening to that. So I listen to it, try to take it to the forefront, and it never comes out that way, but it always subconsciously seeps out."
And yeah, he's a big ambient guy, spinning the likes of Kraftwerk, Cluster, and Brian Eno. Chill stuff, as he puts it. Desert island records, all instrumentals, no lyrics. Because after a while, he says, the vocals would just get tiring.
On contemporary artists, he's heard of the surging post-punk outfit Geese and their eccentric frontman Cameron Winter, and he essentially advised them to stay weird and find their own lane entirely.
"I don't see anything that Geese is doing that's even near our hemisphere. But in terms of maybe they've done something very unique," Santiago said.
"And that's what, if anything, that's what people should be influenced by us for: to come up with your own little world."
He's right. Most modern musicians aren't in the Pixies' hemisphere, but that's exactly the point. Acts like Winter and the gang and guitar wizard Mk.gee are doing their own brands of erratic genius, and it makes for one hell of a time to be listening to records.
In case you haven't nabbed tickets to the May 10 Karpos Live's Pixies Manila show, you can still buy them here.
It's a standing room only gig at the Filinvest Tent in Alabang as tickets go for P4,450 (inclusive of ticket service fees).
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