Nights of Rizal was birthed 2007 as an homesick overseas Filipino student’s means to express mixed feelings of hope, loss, and nostalgia through electronic music–music that could be produced while working alone, out of necessity.
Although he is now permanently Manila-based, Nights of Rizal continues to be Migi de Belen’s electronic music outlet, where he combines pop songwriting aesthetics and OPM sensibilities with EDM (Electronic Dance Music) approaches to production. He listens to anything from R&B, acid jazz, funk, and rock, to dubstep, drum and bass, ambient and house music.
Migi was the singer and main songwriter for the funk rock band Splitcide, and this background continues to have a great influence on his music, as seen here in his cover of OPM classic Ulitin by POT, which was produced and performed on the same day news broke that Pinoy music icon and legend Karl Roy passed away.
Migi also performs with a guitar as a singer-songwriter, and was one of 60 songwriters from all over the Philippines to participate in the 1st Elements National Songwriting Camp held in Dumaguete City in November, 2011. His song Kite can be found on YouTube and was his entry for qualifying for the camp.
Migi’s latest songs and instrumental beats can be heard on his Soundcloud page, and he regularly performs for Soul Fillet and Sonic Logo TV productions in venues like Route 196, Katipunan Ext., and B-Side at The Collective, Malugay St., Makati. http://soundcloud.com/nightsofrizal
Here’s a video of him performing at saGuijo Bar, Makati for Sonic Logo TV.