Tanya Markova is a Filipino rock band formed in 2006 and went mainstream in 2010. The band is composed of Harlon Agsaoay, Gel del Pilar, Philipp Alejandro, Rhan Sabas, Kix Chavez, Oliver Romblon, Japo Anareta, and Levy Arago. The band is recognizable due to their makeup and costumes, with each member having an onstage persona.
History
Formation
Tanya Markova was formed in 2004 by Harlon Agsaoay and Angelo del Pilar. Del Pilar immediately thought of an idea to combine sappy melodies and scary caricature-driven lyrics, then they decided to compose songs filled with sarcasm, idiocy, and childish ramblings. During those times the song they've created were only meant to be a joke with nonsensical titles. It took several months before they could find members who would agree to their concept, and almost 2 years to complete the line-up and perform live onstage. The said members originally hail from Bacolod, San Carlos City, Isabela, Leyte and some in Metro Manila.
Tragedy and hiatus
The band was on their lowest point on September 9, 2009 due to the unexpected death of Jollybee "JB" Borbajo a.k.a. Sugar K. Due to this sudden loss, the band declared a hiatus in order to deal with the emotional experience and to think about the band's direction. In December 2009, EJ Guevarra went back to Manila to play lead guitar for Tanya Markova once again. He was actually Tanya Markova’s original guitarist and was able to play in a few gigs and became involved on Tanya Markova’s first few demos but he decided to go back to Bacolod due to personal and work reasons. And when Sugar K. died, he was the only guitarist on their mind that could fill his shoes. EJ Guevarra decided to don the Jennylyn Sucaldito suit again.
On January 19, 2010 the band were signed by MCA Music Philippines. On April 12, 2010 the band released their self-titled debut album Tanya Markova under MCA Music. Their carrier single "Picture Picture" was a success and also their most popular song to date. The next two singles "Disney" and "Linda Blair" was also a success for the band.
Band's name
The band got their name from Filipina actress Tanya Garcia and the last name from Dolphy's bakla movie character, Markova. It's also a coincidence that an anagram of "Tanya Markova" is "Natay Karovam/Natay Karubam", an Ilocano word meaning "Dead Neighbor".
