Radio Insect Records (RiR) was formed loosely and candidly sometime around August 1998 by Phil Mark and Elena Nañez. RiR's formation came about in response to the 'wasted' talent that go unnoticed for a lot of the Filipino youths here in Toronto Canada.

It was July 1998 that the centennial celebration of the Philippines was being held at Toronto's famous entertainment/sports facility 'Skydome' (now called 'Rogers Center'). Numerous Filipino bands were part of the entertainment portion of the said festivity including Phil and Elena with their band 'Jules'. Elena played a more dominant role for being, as well, the main production manager of entertainment. As a side effect of Elena's responsibilities, Phil and Elena had the privilege of listening to, first-hand, a multitude of demo tapes (required for musicians hoping to get a spot) that was submitted for consideration. They were surprised by the quality and caliber of compositions that the young musicians were creating. More so were they overwhelmed by the number of entries that were processed. They decided soon after the event to approach some of the bands and ask if they could join them for an independently released CD compilation for a record label yet to be founded (a.k.a. RiR). The approach was that RiR would carry ALL the production costs as well as its promotion and distribution. There would be no expense at all for the musician(s) in return for RiR's control of the album’s revenues. This approach would significantly benefit young Filipino musicians for not having to worry about ridiculous production costs of releasing a CD on their own and also benefit from the recognition they would gain because of it. RiR would also allow them the freedom to contribute to the artwork and content of the album's insert/cover. The response gathered from this was overwhelming and most certainly guarantees multiple RiR compilation releases for years to come.
NOTE: RiR does NOT reserve the right to 'own' the lyrics and/or music created by its musicians (clients). Musicians handled by RiR, however, have all the right to make RiR their 'home' record label from which they could release their own album(s) material. In this case, a completely new scheme of profit sharing (or royalty distribution) takes place and is mutually agreed upon by RiR and its musician(s) in writing and then finalized by signature.

RiR's goal is to produce, manage, promote, distribute multi-cultural music, with focus on Asian talents, the world over. Internet is the underlying medium of choice which RiR uses to get to its customers. Due to its global popularity, convenience, and scope the internet is an obvious choice to channel distribution and sampling of RiR media. RiR's future plans include not only Filipino or Asian musicians but international musicians who are just starting out and who don't mind a rookie record company like RiR to back them up. This inevitably leads to expand RiR's scope of audience considerably.

RiR evolved to be an all-in-one production house (except for mass duplication). It's quaint environment and surroundings, which is right in Phil’s basement, are reminiscent of an underground 'ghetto' operation. Wires dangling from air ducts and joists supported only by flimsy nails (pakong bakya) is but a sample of what you will find prevalent throughout the unassumed-so-called-studio-headquarters. All of TKK's songs were recorded in this studio. Bands have to adhere to strict scheduling due to the constraints in space that the studio can accommodate 'comfortably' (<10). Since RiR studios does not have the luxury of isolation (sound-proofed) booths 'acoustical' recordings were done individually or one at a time. A roughed-in accompaniment of guitars and vocals are done outside the studio door (linked by headphones) if anything were to be recorded inside the studio. Since also there are no acoustic-dampening material anywhere (except probably the fiberglass foam that are used in every house here in Canada as heat insulators) there was the problem of cranking the amps too loud before the air ducts or 'something' started to rattle during recording. Not to mention that we had to warn the 'guys upstairs' not to flush the toilet during recording sessions as this introduces noise from exposed plumbing. It is important to note that all bands in TKK are also involved in the album's overall production one way or another.

Click [here] to see equipment used by RiR.

RiR's debut album carried the name 'Timog Kuwarentay Kuwatro' (TKK) (a.k.a. 44 degrees North) which translates to the latitudinal orientation of the city of Toronto, Canada relative to the northern axis. The title is an appropriate one considering that aside from the common ancestral roots (Filipino) a common locale is also shared amongst all of TKK's musicians, Toronto. TKK is comprised of ten songs. A total of four bands contributed to TKK's song repertoire. The songs range from Gimik's refreshing pop single 'Makilala' to the edgy syncopated guitar riffs of Julian's 'Ikaw at Ako'. TKK's success was felt all the way to the Philippines and had stop-overs in numerous USA states including Hawaii and Canadian provinces.

The internet and iTunes will be the primary medium from which all RiR album releases are sold and distributed. As of July 2006 RiR has had the opportunity and priviledge to join iTunes as a Label Partner thus having the world's largest digital music download destination right at its doorstep. Local distribution here in Toronto will be done through various music store-fronts and multi-cultural places of business.