Long-time friends and former high school band-mates Marc Abaya (vocals) and Kelley Mangahas (bass) got together with fellow Ateneans Jorel Corpus (guitar) and J-hoon Balbuena (drums) to form the band’s initial lineup. In 2004 Boogie Romero (guitar), another high school friend and former band-mate of Marc and Kelley, joined the lineup. They released their self-titled debut album in 2004 with their carrier hit single “Daliri” which gained constant airplay on radio stations and television.
Kjwan released their second album, 2StepMarv three years later.
The band won Favorite Indie Artist in the local music channel MYX’s music awards night. Their video “Pintura” nabbed “Favorite Guest Appearance” with the help of a seasoned actress, Chin-Chin Gutierrez. They were also featured for a month on MTV Pilipinas in December 2006. They enjoyed a month long feature as Yahoo Southeast Asia’s band of the month and another month long feature as “Celebrity VJs” in MYX for the whole month of April 2006. They also got nominated in 6 categories in the 2007 NU Rock Awards for Artist of the Year, Best Live Act, Album of the Year, Producer of the Year (with Angee Rozul), Vocalist of the Year (Marc Abaya) and Guitarist of the Year (Boogie Romero).
At this time, the band also had the chance to show what Philippine rock is made of to various countries abroad. They headlined HK-Live, in Central, HK last October 2007. HK-Live is a monthly showcase of the Hottest Acts around asia in HK’s Fringe Club. They were also part of the Annual Baybeats Music Festival in Singapore.
One of their biggest breakthroughs was winning the grand prize in the Asian and Philippine leg in IKON ASEAN Competition. Held in Putrajaya, Malaysia and watched by hundreds of thousands all over the region, their performance made an impact to the Asian Music Community. Kjwan beat thirty other bands from South East Asia.
Kjwan released their third album entitled 13 Seconds to Love. Inspired by the fact that a great song can be determined in just thirteen seconds, the band brought this along in their song writing with love as the common theme. The album was also preloaded in official releases of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in the Philippines.
