Francis Reyes facts for kids

Francis Florentino Saludo Reyes (born June 20, 1967) is a talented Filipino musician. He is widely known as the guitarist for the famous Filipino rock band, The Dawn. Francis Reyes also worked as a main radio host and music director for the rock station NU107.5 FM, where he was known by his radio name, Francis Brew. In 2016, he also became the editor of Billboard Philippines, a well-known music publication.

Early Life and Music

Francis Reyes was born and grew up in Lipa City, Philippines. He was the second child in his family. When he was young, he was very good at public speaking contests and often won them.

He started playing the guitar at age 14. His older brother, Ferdinand, who was a natural guitarist, helped him learn. Francis's first real guitar was a copy of a Gibson acoustic guitar. His mother promised it to him if he won a speech contest in high school.

Even though his family supported his interest in music, they encouraged him to study other subjects in college. So, he studied Political Science and Literature at De La Salle University. But he kept learning music on his own. He would practice guitar behind the university library. He also formed bands with friends and played at school events.

To help with his school fees, Francis looked for writing jobs. In 1987, he tried out for an FM radio station and eventually joined NU107.

Music Career

Working at NU107

Around the time he joined NU107, Francis also became a member of the band Afterimage. This band was managed by the same person who managed The Dawn. Francis was very busy juggling school, his radio job, and playing with Afterimage.

In 1992, he left NU107 for a while because his band schedule became very busy. But he returned to the station in 1997 to host a show called "In the Raw." He later became the chief announcer and music director for NU107. He stayed with the station until its last broadcast on November 7, 2010.

Playing with The Dawn

Francis Reyes first met the members of The Dawn when he was with Afterimage. He already knew Jett Pangan, the lead singer of The Dawn, from university speech contests. Francis became good friends with The Dawn's guitarist and founder, Teddy Diaz. They even talked about starting a new band together.

Sadly, Teddy Diaz was murdered just a few days after their talk. Francis was then asked to be one of three guitarists to play Teddy's parts in a tribute concert called "Salamat Teddy" in September 1988.

In November 1989, Francis was asked to join The Dawn as a full-time member. He recorded three albums with the band. He played with The Dawn until January 1995, when the band decided to take a break. During this break, he played guitar for other artists like Lou Bonnevie and Joey Ayala. He says that playing with The Dawn helped him learn to play many different styles of music.

The Dawn reformed in 1999, and Francis rejoined the band. He became the only guitarist in 2004. On April 16, 2009, Francis left the band again. However, Jett Pangan said that Francis was always welcome to come back. Francis, along with bassist Carlos Balcells, returned to The Dawn on June 7, 2016.

Other Music Projects

Francis Reyes also works as a music arranger for Roadrunner Network. He has contributed music to compilation albums. Even though many people encourage him to make his own guitar album, he prefers to focus on The Dawn.

In 1998, he formed a trio called Garlic with Louie Talan and Zach Lucero. This group focused on improvisational music. He was also part of other music groups like Helenovela and PESO Movement. Francis was also a member of the music group Project 1.

Billboard Philippines

In 2016, Francis Reyes became the editor-in-chief of Billboard Philippines. This brand focuses on music news, charts, and other music-related information. He left the role in January 2018. However, the brand was relaunched in October 2023, and he became an editor-at-large.

Musical Inspirations

Francis Reyes says that hearing Ritchie Blackmore's guitar solo in Deep Purple's song "Speed King" made him want to become a guitarist. He was also a big fan of Queen and their guitarist, Brian May. Some of his early guitar heroes included Eddie Van Halen and Gary Moore.

Today, he is inspired by many different guitarists. These include Pat Metheny, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, Allan Holdsworth, David Torn, Adrian Belew, Matthew Bellamy, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Nels Cline, and Jimi Hendrix.

Musical Gear

Electric Guitars

Francis Reyes used to be a supporter of Hamer Guitars. He used their Standard XT and Vector XT models. He also used to own other guitars like a Squier Standard Telecaster and a Gretsch 5235T Pro Jet. He sold these guitars.

Now, he mainly uses guitars from Lyric Music Stores. He has been playing Tokai Guitars, a Yamaha Revstar, and a PRS Tremonti Custom SE. He also still has a Casio PG380 guitar synthesizer that he used during his first two years with The Dawn.

Amplifiers

• Vox Valvetronix AD50VT

Effects Pedals

• Digitech Brian May Red Special
• Z Vex Fuzz Factory
• Zoom G9.2tt (for changing pitch, modulation, and delays)
• Line 6 DL4 (for on-the-fly sampling)
• Korg Kaoss Pad KP3 (for sampling and creating spontaneous textures)

Keyboards

• E-mu XK6
• Korg EA-1 Electribe
• Yamaha vintage Monophonic synthesizer

Other Equipment

Francis Reyes also has a Vietnamese dan tranh (a stringed instrument), a Xaphoon pocket sax, and other small instruments. These include a kalimba and a tin whistle. He uses these instruments subtly in The Dawn's recordings.

Appearances

Television Shows

Movies

Radio Shows

Discography

With The Dawn

• Heart's Thunder (1990)
• Abot Kamay (1992)
• Puno't Dulo (1994)
• Prodigal Sun (2000)
• Harapin (2004)
• Tulad ng Dati (2006)
• The Later Half of Day (2008)

With Peso Movement

• The Gentle Sound of Chaos (2014)

See also

In Spanish: Francis Reyes para niños