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Drop Everything and Harmonize

By Anh Lan Hoang

Around midnight, an anxious crowd gathers by the stage. The atmosphere throughout Club Platinum in San Francisco reverberates with an energetic buzz.

The four members of the R&B group DnH (aka Drop n Harmony) are back stage, prepping in their dressing room. A video cameraman glides in between the numerous bodies inside the room, trying to get a piece of every action. The hype in the room is contagious.

Band members Darrell Seegmiller, Jerome Garcia, Jose Penala, and Lionel Domulot, all of whom are Filipino Americans from the Bay Area, appear pumped knowing that the huge crowd outside awaits them.

The room clears out except for the major players. They hover together to share their personal thoughts in a quiet prayer. Meanwhile, Darwin Seegmiller, Darrell’s brother and band manager, gathers them in a tight circle, with arms around each other.

Outside the dressing room, the entourage hangs over the rails on the second floor to get a better glimpse of the stage. Cage dancers are feeling the groove to the DJs’ mixes.

Someone yells that it is almost time for DnH to exit.

Just before DnH charges out on stage, an MC gets the spectators howling. As soon as the lights start flashing and the music bumping, DnH enters the platform. The band’s smooth gospel-influenced R&B harmonies of mid-tempo rhythm with heart-ridden ballads and honest, seductive lyrics amplify the crowd at the Classified Record’s CD release party last week.

The ensemble audibly and visually reminds one of the adolescent periods of innocence, loss and love. Without a doubt, R&B groups Boys II Men and Jodeci are two strong influences of DnH.

Family members and friends join together that night to celebrate the Drop n Harmony album, ranking fourth on Tower Record’s Top 25 List after having been released only two weeks ago. Despite its impressive record sales, DnH manager and Darrell’s brother, Darwin Seegmiller, reveals that the members “are not all about making money. Our goal is to show that soul has no color.”

DnH’s CD sales began on July 10, during their performance at 7th annual Fiesta Filipina 2000, outside the SF Civic Center in recognition of the Philippine Independence from Spanish rule. The group hopes that their various shows throughout the United States will open up more doors. The group has recently performed at UNITY JAM 2000 at the S.F. Cow Palace, Prophecy Entertainment in Chicago and FAIME Showcase in Sacramento.

DnH frequently gigs with other established known Bay Area and International Filipino American bands such as Pinay, Interlude and Premiere. The band fatefully signed onto Classified Records two years ago, a record label known to promote other Asian American bands. Garcia says that DnH is proud to be on Classified Record’s label “because they connect us to other Filipino bands in the community and United States.”

Evidently, the four members and their associates are bonded by their Filipino heritage. Asked if DnH desired to play in the Philippines, they all shout in unison, “Oh yeah, that’s our homeland!”

The band’s inception began four years ago in 1996, and only as a hobby for the members. But it didn’t take long for them to take their musical aspirations to the next level. Darwin, the DnH manager, says that “During high school, my friend QBert’s mom, a Mary K saleswoman who drove an old-school, pink Cadillac, used to lay us all down and play motivational tapes by Tony Robins and Zig Ziglar.” Those vivid moments inspired the friends to follow their hearts in order to achieve success. However, their family who held traditional Filipino values, initially had a difficult time accepting their newfound careers. As the lads fantasized about music professions, their parents had envisioned them in occupations such medicine, law or engineering for their children. With personal sacrifice and persistence throughout the years, though, the four have proven to their loved ones that dreams do come true.

DnH is scheduled to appear at Media Play inside the Great Mall in Milpitas on Aug. 5; Street Jam 2000 within the Caesar Chavez Plaza in San Jose on Aug. 6; and International Day at the San Mateo County Fair on Aug. 12.