The band played at campus events, usually as the crowd started to

The band played at campus events, usually as the crowd started to leave. They initially had little success playing covers, and they decided to write their own material which soon earned them a cult following. One song, ” Pare Ko “, became popular for its explicit lyrics. They later met Jett Pangan of The Dawn at a sorority event, who advised them to audition. On January 26, 1991, the band recorded a nine-song demo tape at Marasigan’s garage in Candelaria, Quezon , including “Pare Ko”, “Milk And Money” and “Shake Yer Head”, which were later re-recorded for future albums. The demos were influenced by The Cure as well as ska and reggae genres. The band shopped the demo tape around record labels, clubs, and radio stations only to be met with rejection; one record label commented that the demos were “not pop enough”. Marasigan gave a copy of the demo tape to his humanities professor Robin Rivera, who helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demos at the university’s Faculty Center building (since destroyed by a fire in 2016) from March 26-27, 1991. The new demo tape was named Pop-U! as an irreverent response to those who turned them down. Pop-U! included versions of “Pare Ko”, “Milk and Money” , “Tindahan Ni Aling Nena”, “Wishing Wells”, and “Scorpio Rising”, which were later re-recorded for future albums. Pop-U! earned the band a spot at Club Dredd , where “Pare Ko” in particular was a hit. The band soon landed an out-of-town gig opening for Introvoys in Cebu .