VINCE

Born Vincent Michael Santos Alaras on August 31, 1979, Vince spent his growing years in Mandaluyong as a painfully shy kid who would sing Air Supply ditties to himself. He was a key player in the baseball varsity team in La Salle Greenhills from grade school until his freshman year, when he had to choose between continuing his training for the sport and joining Kundirana. He has never regretted his decision since. Even before he auditioned for La Salle's prestigious all-male high school choir, his classmates had already been his mesmerized audience whenever he would do impromptu renditions of popular R&B songs in the school's corridors during break time. Soon, word went around the campus about the boy who sounded like Bryan McKnight, that the room where his tryouts for Kundirana were held was filled with curious faces eager to see him perform. He belonged to the first batch of sophomores accepted into this group - prior to that year, they had only been considering applicants from the junior level. He was also the first member - a sophomore at that - to be given a solo number in any of its major shows.His experience with this popular choir enhanced his singing and performing talents and boosted his confidence, encouraging him to form the band Inner Soul when he stepped into college. Inner Soul, which was composed of Kundirana alumni, enjoyed popular following and became a regular act during campus events. He was on his third year as an Industrial Design major at the College of St. Benilde when he decided to leave school to pursue his singing career. He was female rapper Chill's backup singer in her album and her provincial tours for about year and soon after he formed his own band, Into Deep. He had been trying to cut a recording deal for the band with Sony, but the company had other priorities then. The wait seemed endless, and for Vince, that right break was getting to be more and more elusive as time went by. The group finally broke up after six months of performing in different venues in the city. Disheartened, Vince decided to explore his other options. While contemplating on going back to his studies, he joined the crew of Starbucks Coffee along Katipunan Road as a barista. It was a busy August afternoon at the coffee shop when Vince received a text message from Jay telling him about an offer. Was he dreaming? After all, South Border was every aspiring R&B singer's fantasy band, and he could not believe that they were interested in him. Anxious but excited, Vince could not help but think that it was all just a big joke, and he was comforted by the thought that he had his job with Starbucks to fall back on as he was up for regularization next month.But Jay and South Border manager Sharon Inductivo were not joking. They later showed up at his place of work and asked the uniformed and bespectacled Vince if he could jam with the band during their gig that evening. Nervous and without practice, he nevertheless gave his all as he belted Bryan McKnight's "One Last Cry" on the Virgin Café stage with only Jay's pianoplaying for accompaniment. The whole band watched and listened in awe, silently acknowledging the end of their search. As Vince was gradually being immersed into the band’s regular but hardly routinary activities of guest appearances and shows towards Luke’s last months with South Border, the possibility of getting another lead vocalist loomed in the horizon. The idea was not new to the band and although it had never been given a chance on the drawing table, the new uncontained excitement it created within the group caused management to re-consider. Especially if one of those who later auditioned was of Duncan Ramos’s caliber.