Lourd Ernest Hanopol de Veyra (Tagalog pronunciation: [de ˈbeɪɾa]; born February 11, 1975) is a Filipino musician, emcee, poet, journalist, TV host, broadcast personality and activist who became famous as the vocalist of the Manila-based jazz rock band Radioactive Sago Project.^[1]

Life and career

Education

De Veyra went to Quirino Elementary School for grade school and to Colegio de San Juan de Letran for high school.^[2] He then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Santo Tomas.^[1]

Early musical career

When the hardcore punk band Dead Ends ended their four-year hiatus, he became one of the band's guitarists in 1994, sharing guitar chores with the band's leader and founder Al Dimalanta, making Dead Ends a four-piece band. The band then recorded their comeback and final album, the influential Mamatay sa Ingay (1995); it had a sound different from their past materials, having more of a crossover thrash approach. Dead Ends disbanded in 1996 because of Jay Dimalanta's death, after which de Veyra briefly became a member of Al Dimalanta's new band Throw; the band also included de Veyra's brother Francis, who played the bass. Lourd de Veyra is the nephew of singer/guitarist Mike Hanopol.

Television

De Veyra was one of the hosts of Sapul sa Singko, Aksyon on TV5, Tayuan Mo at Panindigan, and Wasak on AksyonTV. He was also the main host of the action documentary show Lupet until its relaunch in early 2011.

In 2013, de Veyra hosted another show for TV5 called History with Lourd.

In 2017, de Veyra hosted comedy science program You Have Been Warned Asia which broadcast across Southeast Asia on Discovery Channel.

In 2019, de Veyra hosted the late night commentary talk program Wag Po!, aired originally on TV5 and One PH with a radio simulcast on Radyo5 92.3 News FM (now 92.3 Radyo5 True FM) from 8PM-9PM, until March 2023.

Since 2023, de Veyra hosted the morning radio drama Sana Lourd, which airs from Mondays to Saturdays (initially from 11AM-1PM, and then from 10AM-12NN) on 92.3 Radyo5 True FM.

Books

De Veyra has published three books of poetry: Subterranean Thought Parade, Shadowboxing in Headphones and Insectissimo.

This is a Crazy Planets is a collection of essays from his Spot.ph blog.

SuperPanalo Sounds! is his first novel.

In 2014, de Veyra released a compilation of his speeches entitled Lourd de Veyra's Little Book of Speeches and a book entitled Espiritu at the 35th Manila International Book Fair.

He released his fourth book of poetry in 2020, titled Marka Demonyo (Demon's Mark in English).^[3]

Awards

He has thrice been a recipient of a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature - A third prize in essay (English division) in 1999, a second prize in the same category in 2003, and a first prize in teleplay (Filipino division) in 2004.

Awards and nominations