Cup of Joe: 'We Want to be Flagbearers of a New Era of Filipino Masculinity'

Unless you're a complete recluse or a total hermit from contemporary local music, you've probably come across the cultural phenomenon that is "Multo."

The artists behind it—Cup of Joe—are finally on a meteoric rise after spending the better part of about two years putting in their gig hours at school festivals on the breezy streets of Baguio City. The young guns have consistently shown us that they are savants at crafting songs that funnel tension into euphoric payoffs that have the quality and staying power to captivate listeners.

As I got to chop it up with the boys at Bar IX Music Hall and Bar in Molito, Alabang, I got to understand that they stand for and are made of much sterner stuff than I could have ever imagined.

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Admittedly, I've heard of Cup of Joe even before they dropped "Multo" in late 2024 but never really got into their early catalog with much purpose.

Late last year was Top Albums roundup time again for local records, and this is where I got to earnestly dive into their first full-length LP, Silakbo (2025), which inevitably made it to our ecompassing list of LPs and EPs we dug in the past year.

This year saw them take their boisterous brand of pop rock overseas in Australia to further build their international portfolio. Their latest EP, Sandali (2026), is a display of sonic versatility from the boys, as they employ a nostalgic pop punk/rock approach compared to the pristine pop tracks from their sole album.

The five-piece powerhouse composed of vocalists Gian Bernardino and Raphaell Riddao, rhythm guitarist CJ Fernandez, lead guitarist Gabriel Fernandez, and keyboardist Xen Gareza doesn't do anything too hifalutin or too convoluted musically if you really break their style down.

They simply possess a mastery over controlling tension and knowing how to resolve pent-up energy into satisfying vulnerability.

Many fans already know that their band name references the connection to Baguio's coffee and being synonymous with their naturally warm-sounding music.

When I asked about alternative band names, the boys included options like The Doctor Is In, Seatbelts On, The Lobby, and The Plane Has Landed.

They were partial to The Doctor Is In because of the mystery it evokes. As for how it would change their sound, no one really knows. Not even them.

Cup of Joe nabbed the Album of the Year and Song of the Year accolades at the 2025 Filipino Music Awards.

The quintet's brand of tension-resolving music has been covered to death by even non-Filipinos, with the group even earning international nods such as a special award for "Philippine Popular Music" at the Music Awards Japan in June this year.

"Music contains a lot of emotions, even if you don't understand the lyrics or even if the lyrics are different, you eventually feel what the artist is trying to convey," Riddao said.

It's not hard to see why Philippine musicianship is at an all-time high, as local acts are widening their bag of tricks at an exponential rate, both at technical and songwriting standpoints. Anyone who knows their way around a laptop and a plug-and-play MIDI keyboard can put their hat in the ring of unique creatives who can whip up catchy beats and emotionally resonant music.

Sitting with them, I got the impression that they were just regular, witty, and charming guys who were just extremely hardworking and stupidly talented at what they do. There weren't any rufflings of rockstar egos clashing or melodramatic answers you would typically expect from youngsters who made it big so early in their careers.

They are dudes who also have TikTok songs stuck in their heads, like the mega hit "Na Para Bang," by Mariah Deborah, and guys who fanboy over albums like You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love by arguably the biggest pop star in the world, Olivia Rodrigo.

It was also refreshing to geek out with CJ and Gabriel about their modern-day guitar heroes: John Mayer, Mateus Asato, and even local math rock pioneer and multi-instrumentalist Gabba Santiago.

The fashion side of things is usually where things change or get a bit high-brow when you get a little bit of money from your music. But the guys confessed that they were more comfort-driven when it came to dressing up casually or off stage.

They have come a long way from the boys juggling school and music that entailed nearly daily road trips from Baguio to Manila and vice versa just to play a bunch of songs they wrote in between break periods in class.

While it would be easy to attribute this rise in more musicians outside of Metro Manila getting more recognition because of Cup of Joe's meteoric success, Bernardino explained that the Cordillera, Vispop, and other regional music scenes have always been bustling and a melting pot for stellar talent.

"I think there's one takeaway from our journey getting here: it took a lot of sacrifice to widen our market here," the frontman said. "Two years in the mainstream industry, we had to let go of things that were important to us, and I think that movement is essential, and you need to take risks for your dreams."

Of course, the new kids on the block always pay respect to the OGs of the game and eventually have to give their iterations of their Mount Rushmores or the Big Brother Big Fours related to the musicians and artists they hold in the highest regard. Cup of Joe's list of Filipino music greats goes a little like this: Eraserheads, Rivermaya, Kamikazee, Apo Hiking Society, and Parokya ni Edgar. Pretty good company if you ask anyone who grew up with their greatest hits.

But on a more contemporary side of things, they gave a different list of names: Ben&Ben, IV of Spades, December Avenue, Dilaw, and One Click Straight.

Bernardino had a lucid take on why he was so adamant on his band wanting to embody something with a greater purpose at this stage of their career. The famously traditional and conservative nature of the Philippines for the longest time left no room for unconstrained self-expression and even questioning these social scripts and some habits that may be seen as archaic, especially for the Filipino man.

A rock band has made peace with being flagbearers of a very rigid and oftentimes misunderstood idea of Filipino masculinity.

"It's all about being secure. It's not about being ashamed to do things that are outside of the textbook definition of being masculine. I think we should be embracing how progressive societies are right now and we shouldn't be boxed in by norms that have been put in place before we even existed," the band's frontman said. "I feel like we're getting there, and we're willing to be the flagbearers of the new era of Filipino masculinity."

The group's keyboardist Gareza tacked on to Bernardino's declaration by zeroing in on a universal and no-brainer concept: Respect.

"Filipino masculinity right now should be about respect, mutual respect," he said. "We have to be respectful regardless of who you're with."

It takes a particular kind of muscle to write and perform catchy tunes that also say something remotely profound or poignant, and Cup of Joe are on their way to even greater things than making trendy pop, carried by a rarer intangible still: the conviction and bright-eyed zeal to stand for an entire generation.

Story and Production: JV Ordoñez

Editor-in-Chief: Paul John Caña
Photography: Cyrus Panganiban

Videography: Jino Del Mundo
Creative and Design Direction: Igi Talao

Styling: Kai Chavez

Special Thanks To: Bar IX Molito, Alabang

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