Nephi Malit

Nephi Edwin "Neps" Leveriza Malit (born November 28, 1989) is an independent singer, guitarist, violinist and songwriter from the Philippines. He is also lead guitarist and vocalist for the doom metal group "Powder". As a solo artist, he has released two and several self-produced singles.

Because of unorthodox style and deviation from the norms of mainstream Filipino music, Malit has remained relatively unknown to the general public, like many other underground and independent Filipino musicians. However, Malit and other less conventional groups and artists have contributed significantly to the growth of the indie genre in the Philippine music scene.

Like most indie musicians, Malit has expressed his valuing of his freedom and complete control of his musical style and career, and is currently unsigned to any major record label.

Biography
Malit was born in Quezon City, but grew up in the less urban and significantly less populated Legazpi City, in the province of Albay. The eldest of seven siblings, he studied at Bicol University, a state university, during his elementary and high school years. In June 2006, he returned to Quezon City to study psychology at the University of the Philippines Diliman, the Philippines' premier state university, where he is an undergraduate sophomore at the time of writing.

Music
Early influence
As a child, Malit was taught the basics of piano playing by his pianist mother Laura A. Leveriza-Malit. However, he realized that the piano was not the instrument for him, and stopped playing some time during his elementary years.

In his first year of high school, Malit began to be deeply involved in the then popular Legazpi hiphop scene. Into his second year of high school, however, his interest in the lifestyle began to waver. It was about this time that he began to study playing the guitar. A self-taught guitar player, Malit never received any formal training for the guitar, however, he did take violin lessons for a few months, which contributed immensely to his understanding of musical theory and served as a take-off point for his future musical endeavors. Malit was influenced by more popular metal acts such as Disturbed and Metallica. Towards the end of his second year in high school, after seeing a documentary of , he began to develop an interest in psychedelic rock and blues, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin and other influential sixties acts. His growing interest in the evolving diversity of music led to experimenting with even more musical styles, as he explored early metal influences such as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. He also draws style from later guitar players such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai.

Career
Neps' early songs were characteristic of the post-Eraserheads "pang-masa" (for the masses) Filipino music scene, ("Surreal", "Not Really"). However, after noticing the gradual shift in musical style of the more popular Filipino bands, from their original, signature sound to a more commercialized, "mainstream-friendly" sound, he began to be disillusioned with the state of the Filipino music industry. Frustrated by what he perceived as the "sellout" of mainstream music in the Filipino music scene, his later songs betray an attempt to introduce more sophisticated music to the Philippine audience. In 2006 he released an EP entitled "Long Face", which included the tracks "Long Face", "Shredded", and the ballad "Homeday", which was dedicated to the victims of the typhoon Reming, which had claimed hundreds of lives back in his hometown of Legazpi. In December 2006, Neps, along with several other young Filipino musicians, organized a benefit concert for the typhoon victims, which was named "Reming:The Aftermath." The event was not well organized, however, and was plagued with technical problems. The organizers were, however, able to raise around 11,000 Php, which they donated to a charity.

Musical Style & Themes
Always having been more of a guitarist than a singer, Malit has shown a tendency towards overly long and extended bluesy guitar solos, with the vocals taking an almost secondary role. He has been described by Joker Kalbaryo, vocalist of the more known indie group "Swine" as "thinking with his hands and drumming with his voice."

His early songs' lyrics dealt primarily with teenage love and other adolescent themes. As he matured musically, his music began to deal with more serious ideas, such as power, addiction, religion, and control. His studies as psychology student are mildly evident in his lyrics, and the songs on the EP "Lots of Me" deals with the concept of multiple personalities or dissociative identity disorder.

His self-produced solo tracks are usually recorded in a power trio style, with drums, a bass, and usually only one guitar though he has use overdubbing to include both rhythm and lead guitar parts in some songs. Usually, however, his songs have only one guitar track. The bass supports the lead guitar during the solos, which are arguably better to listen to than the vocals, which are somewhat plain. Although his lyrics are deep and poetic, Malit's vocal range and ability is not particularly noteworthy.

Discography

2005
* Surreal (single)
* Not Really (single)

2006
* Long Face EP (Long Face, Shredded, Homeday)
* Little Miss (single)
* Unflatter (single)
* Smithy (single)

2007
* Lots of Me EP (Lots of Me, The Boy Behind, Mirrored)
* You're You (single)
* Ghost Girl (single)

Religion
Nephi was born and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon, where he holds the office of a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. The name "Nephi" is in fact taken from the Book of Mormon, a book regarded by Mormons as sacred scripture. He plans to go on a mission when he turns 19 years of age, as is expected of the young men in his church.

Other
* Malit is an active member of the Ultimate-Guitar.com (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com) community, and posts regularly on the site's forums under the user name "nephi".

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