Riortrek – The Story Behind The Band’s Name

I’ve been talking a lot about me and Gifter’s music endeavors for nearly a month now, and I have even let you hear my “baby-dinosaur voice” in my previous article. But I haven’t revealed the name of our band yet… how silly and secretive of me, hehe.

So here we go my friends… drum roll, please… RIORTREK – that’s the name of me and Gifter’s band. Technically, we’re not a band yet, because obviously, we’re just a duo. In the next months though, Gifter is planning to invite his former bandmates since we’d need a drummer and a bassist soon.

For the time being though, we’re just a tandem of Gifter the guitarist and lead singer, and Jeaneth the keyboardist and backup singer. But then, let’s answer this very important question…

Why Riortrek? What’s up with the name?

Before we answer the question, let’s get to know the names of the bands Gifter had in the past. As I mentioned in my previous articles, Gifter has been an underground music scene rocker for many years already, and he had been with 6 bands.

These are the names he picked for those bands with their corresponding meanings:

Gentiles – a biblical term meaning, “non-Jew” or “non-Israeli.”

Shakespeare – obviously from that guy named William. This is his second high-school band.

Pro-verbs – this is his college band, a book from the Holy Bible which speaks a lot about words of wisdom. (That’s the thing about Gifter, he’s very Biblical in almost anything he does, but if you look at his deeds, his some sort of an extremely delinquent bad boy, hehe.)

Algorythm – If you are into computer programming, you would recognize this as an offshoot of “Algorithm” – a set of well-defined instructions to solve a particular problem. Before he became a teacher, Gifter was a part-time computer coder which made him love the term so much that he included the word “rhythm” minus the “H” in his band, when he became a teacher. Rhythm of course is one of the most vital components of music.

Fun fact: Gifter told me that I’m kinda gifted in terms of natural beats and rhythm. He told me that my sense of timing every time we play together is impeccable, he even told me I’m more naturally gifted than some of his former bandmates. When he tells me this, it’s like I wanna shout, “I really like you right now, my pal! Hehe.”

Hymnosphere – This was his last band, before he got sick for nearly 2 years, and before we met. For him it means, “hymnal atmosphere” or “atmosphere of hymns.”

Lykable – This was his first acoustic tandem, with a girl named Lyka, his ex-girlfriend. That tandem of theirs was the closest thing Gifter could have to being a recording artist. They recorded songs in a studio with a British sound engineer. They have even auditioned for some reality TV shows, but failed miserably.

He and his girl Lyka had a planned album years ago. Sadly though, because Lyka’s family disliked Gifter a lot, they broke up, which also shattered their musical dreams as well.

Now back to the question, why did Gifter name his new band Riortrek?

“It’s always about a girl” – Gifter’s explanation

If you’ve read my previous posts, I mentioned there that initially, Gifter and I planned to have a science-centered Youtube channel. But because of our deep love for music, we decided to record a digital album instead.

He planned to call our supposed channel “Warrior Trekker” His reason? Well, he just said it’s taken from my middle name and my last name. Here it goes:

My middle name: Mangubat

My last name: Tinaja

My middle name is kind of like a Visayan term for “warrior.” Oftentimes, Gifter would joke about my last name by putting “K” on the last. So it would sound like “Tinahak” which is a Tagalog term for “trekked.”

That’s how he came up with ‘Warrior Trekker’ for our supposed Youtube channel. When we formed this band, we initially thought of still carrying the name. But Gifter said we should make it shorter and much more unique. Thus, the name emerged – RIORTREK

“Previously it was Lyca, now it’s my family names, what about you Gifter?”

I asked him this question, but all he answered was, “Well, it’s always about a girl, ain’t it?” He then explained further that all those years, people thought of him as a very self-centered guy. As a retaliation, he told me he should avoid naming his band from his own name.

Instead, he should name it to the girl of the band, (like Lyca before) to prove to the world that he’s not as self-centered as people think.

What do you think folks? Do you think Gifter made the right call when he decided to name the band from my middle name and last name?

For me, it’s kinda awkward and unfair that the band’s name is all about me because the truth is… the music, the strategies, and the real power behind our endeavor came from his unparalleled efforts.

Should we change our band’s name? Please let me know in the comments.

Lead image source

Thanks for reading.

Keep safe everyone.