MANILA, Philippines – Are you ready for Wanderland 2013? The bands certainly are with the foreign acts flying in a day before the music festival set on May 18 at Globe Circuit Event Grounds in Makati.

READ: Step into Wanderland 2013 in Manila

Last May 17, headliners The Temper Trap, Neon Trees, Nada Surf, Avalanche City and Australian bands Tully on Tully and Colour Coding met with the press at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.

The bands agreed on one thing: they were stoked to play in the Philippines for the first time and meet their Filipino fans.

The Temper Trap bassist Jonathon Aherne said, “We’re very aware, through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, it’s very intriguing for us to come here because we’re very aware that there’s a fan base here. It’s going to be exciting to play for them.”

READ: The Temper Trap eager to meet Pinoy fans

Most fans are looking forward to hearing their hauntingly uplifting track “Sweet Disposition” live. The song, which first nudged the band into international fame, possesses the ability to encapsulate an epic night with lyrics that go, “A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs…so stay there ‘cause I’ll be coming over…”

For lead vocalist Dougy Mandagi, the power to bring back memories and experiences is something their songs strive for.

“The songs that I like are story-telling songs. I think it’s just like as if I was sitting down with you and I’m telling you a story,” said the Indonesian-born frontman.

“I want you to relate to it, I want you to empathize with my story…And when you get a reaction, then it becomes this synergy. That’s the best part about playing live.”

Watch The Temper Trap’s Dougy Mandagi talk about “Sweet Disposition” and his distinct falsetto voice:

Nada Surf also spilled the beans on the 90s anthem “Popular,” a song with lyrics inspired from a 1960s book on etiquette called “Penny’s Guide to Teen-Age Charm and Popularity” which vocalist and guitarist Matthew Caws bought at a Salvation Army store for 25 cents.

“In our shows, we had the book onstage and we’d ask friends of ours to get up and read from it. And they did and it was hilarious. It was like a performance art kind of thing,” Matthew shared.

With a decade-spanning career that began in 1992, stalled from 1999 to 2002 and is alive again with the release of their 7^th album only last year, how do they feel about their “second revival”?

“It’s like when people travel to get away and they find it’s the same person, like when you look at a brochure and some beautiful beach and then you go there and what you didn’t see in the brochure is yourself. And so you bring yourself with you and so I think that’s the challenge of life really,” explained Matthew explained.

But some things haven’t changed.

“I still write about the same things,” said Matthew. “Wishing I was a better version of myself, things like that. Less angsty, more thoughtful.”

When Neon Trees walked into the room for their turn on the podium, talk turned to their outrageous fashion sense and the tendency of their fans to emulate their style.

READ: Neon Trees: A new wave revival

“There’s this kid who reconstructs all of my pictures and remodels them and that’s really flattering,” said lead vocalist Tyler Glenn who was wearing a sleeveless shirt full of holes (“eaten by rats,” he said) and a kilt over dark pants.

“If he was 25 or 35 I’d be really weirded out but since he’s a kid it’s really cool.”

Bassist Branden Campbell added, “Some people have the wrong attitude about it. For us, our fashion is an extension of us and that’s why you may see it changing or you may see things go away and come back. So I think it’s having the right attitude with it because there are some people who try too hard, just to be weird and shock rock and stuff like that.”

 “We just had a good laugh today about ourselves,” interjected drummer Elaine Bradley. “The ad in the airplane for this festival had a picture of us and I was crying because it was so bad. I think we can laugh at ourselves.”

Watch Neon Trees talk about “Glee” covering their song, “Animals”:

Joining them in Wanderland 2013 are local acts Up Dharma Down, Taken by Cars, Pulso, Yolanda Moon and She’s Only Sixteen.

The line-up is a sweet promise to music-lovers who would love to hear a blend of Filipino music and melodies from foreign acts that have made a mark on the international scene.

The foreign bands are equally excited.

Neon Trees’ Tyler said, “We’d love to hear the Filipino bands. It’s a great honor to be a part of something brewing here.” – Rappler.com

Wanderland tickets are priced at P4,800, available at TicketNet, TicketWorld, and SM Tickets. For more details, visit www.wanderland.ph or the Wanderland 2013 Facebook page.