Whenever someone leaves a band, be it by his or her unfortunate passing away or through an amicable or non-amicable departure, the majority of bands will review their current situation. Not more so than if they were an integral part of the band’s set up. As was the case with Miguel Calina aka K9 from the Filipino hip-hop act Dice and K9.

“I was devastated when he left. I asked myself what I was to do?” recalls Dice.

Though on reflection it appears he taken it well as he laughs as he informs me, “He got married and wanted to live the easy life and just chill.”

Often jokingly referring to himself as the old-timer, and possibly part of the reason for the naming of their fourth album ‘Time, Space, Rhythm, Stars’ as will be detailed later, Dice was involved with producing music as early as 1993, later meeting vocalist Honey (Hi-C) in 1997 and who would later become his wife and then finally meeting K9 in early 1999. They would eventually set up the hip-hop collective Mobbstar and work under the moniker Dice & K9, releasing their debut album ‘Mobbmusic’ in 2002.

Sharing a hard work ethic and a willingness to accept criticism of their work from each other the duo would eventually overcome any musical hardships they found in their home province of Cebu and eventually find success as the collective before moving two years later into the country’s capital Manila.

“Our first release was a hit but there was no money coming in and so we were printing CDs, walking in malls with a backpack full of them or standing outside schools waiting for students trying to sell them,” explains Dice.

This effort would see them create their own label ‘6000 Goonz’, with the 6000 referring to part of a postal code in Cebu. Essentially providing an output for their production skills for other acts. A result of which would see Trapp step to the other side of the studio and complete the quartet’s line up. >>