SamMustSwim is composed of five guys brought together by love of music. They also believe that talent given by God should be shared. They are set to release their album containing 10 original compositions written over a 20-year period.


Band Members


Erwin Oliva (Guitars) He grew up in Baguio and has strong blues and hard rock influences. He picked up the guitar when he was in high school but it was in College when he got a chance to jam with bands in Baguio. He also had short stints with Manila-based bands. Currently, he keeps himself busy online, working for an Internet giant. He is also a proud father to two rocker daughters. He also loves reading books about dead rock stars. As a guitar player, he’s influenced by the likes of Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Vai , Van Halen, Eric Johnson, among others.


Mark Goze (Guitars) is a project manager at Softrigger Interactive and a budding professional photographer. Having started performing at the tender age of 15, Mark has quite an eclectic mix of musical influences, which include Tool, TonAmos, Soundgarden and Led Zeppelin. He has been a vocalist, drummer, bassist and guitarist with several bands at different points in his career. As a guitarist, he has been influenced by Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page and Adam Jones.


Ryan Manalastas (Drums) is a technology specialist of Microsoft Philippines. He was with IBM before joining the software giant. Ryan was the drummer of Head On Collision which played regularly in the legendary Club Dredd in the late eighties up to the early nineties. They launched an album named River of Penitence in 1999. Ryan learned to play the drums while studying in Don Bosco.


John Rosado III (Bass and Octave Guitars) started playing in a band in high school in Don Bosco. He continued to play in College in UP Diliman, eventually getting credited in the first Eraserheads album. E-heads practiced regularly in a music studio he set up along with friends at the UP Alumni Center in the late 80s. Professionally, he was in sales and marketing with Warner Lambert and Pfizer for more than 10 years before retiring to become a marketing consultant.


Sam Jacoba (Lead Singer/Producer) is a prolific songwriter, writing most of the songs for the upcoming album "Let's Get Wet." Sam and John were bandmates at the University of the Philippine in Diliman (NEXVS). They repertoire included Van Halen, Bon Jovi and other songs from that decade. Sam also had stints with SAMASKOM buddies Wency Cornejo (After Image) and Eric Go (now with ABS-CBN) in a band called "Sisig" during his days in UP. He recently retired from a software giant after 12 years. He was also a journalist and magazine publisher.