Himigsikan ng Rock & Roll sa Lipunan

November 30. Araw ni Bonifacio. Perfect ang gabi. Walang pasok kinabukasan. Sarap gumimik. Timing ang unang education session ng DAKILA. Ngunit, sa dami-dami ba naman ng gabi, noong araw pa na iyon dumating ang super typhoon. Lahat nag-alangan. Tuloy o di tuloy? May byahe pa ba? Magbubukas ba ang Conspi? Hay, pagsubok nga naman. Nagparamdam na ang bagyo. Lakas ng hangin. Parang naghihinagpis ang langit. Okay. Kailangan magdesisyon. Sayang ang event. Unang subok pa naman. Sayang ang speakers. Ang gagaling pa naman. Sayang ang venue. Cosnpiracy pa naman. Sayang ang beer. Kinuha ko pa sa San Miguel sa Ortigas. Sayang ang tsibog. Naorder na namin. Walang mangyayari sa maraming “sayang”.

Game daw sabi ng speakers. Dami tumatawag sa Conspi. Plinug daw ni Julia sa Eat Bulaga. Sige na nga. Bahala na si Batman. Brave the storms, ika nga.

Buti na lang itinuloy. Astig ang speakers. Saya ng discussion. Galing ng performers. Nangahas ang mga tao kahit nagbabadya ng lakas ang bagyo.

Ganoon yata talaga. Wala kang mapapala kung di ka tataya.

Sabi nga ni Lualhati: “Ang payapang pampang ay para lamang sa mga sasalunga sa alimpuyo ng unos sa panahon ng bagyo”.

In the end, it was worth it. Kahit pa tumirik ang kotse mo sa gitna ng baha ng Commonwealth ng alas dos ng umaga. Sa mga di nakarating, eto ang masustansyang speech ni Bb. Ces Rodriguez ng makasaysayang Jingle Magazine.

Define Pinoy Rock.

When I first saw this question, I said, utang na loob! Ayokong i-define ang Pinoy rock. Mahirap. It’s like asking ano ba ang meaning ng life or ano ba ang Pinoy art.

Speaking of which, when my brother went to Berlin to exhibit his art, nung time na may wall pa sa Berlin, medyo disappointed yung mga Aleman. Wala raw silang nakikitang magde-define na Pinoy ang art niya. They were expecting bamboo installations and ethnic chuvaru.

So sa liga ng Pinoy rock bihira rin naman ang gumagamit ng indigenous instruments sa tugtog nila pero Pinoy rock din ang bansag sa kanila.

Siguro pwede na lang sabihin na may sensibility ang Pinoy rock na nagpapahiwatig na atin nga ito. The Juan de la Cruz Band began by aping their Western heroes pero in time natumbok rin nila yung feel na Pinoy.

Ano yung feel na Pinoy? Isang immediate connection. Isang kurot sa singit.

Pero maski walang kurot, weno ba? Hindi ako kinukurot ng Drip pero super type ko sila. Ang ibig ko lang sabihin, iba’t iba ang karanasan natin. Iba-iba tayo mag-isip. Iba si si Aimee kay Bobby. Ergo, iba ang gagawin nilang tugtog. The only thing Aimee and Bobby need to do is to be true to themselves and their music. Everything that comes after – the effect, the adulation, the kurot sa singit – are only byproducts of the music itself. And maybe the byproducts are also just figments of the public’s imagination. Tayo-tayo lang naman ang gumagawa ng meaning . . .or not.

So ang sa akin, musicians should simply create. The sensibilities will out. And perhaps stand our preconceptions on what Pinoy rock should be on its head.

General Philippine Situation (economic, political, social, cultural)

In the mid-70s to the mid-80s, when I was with Jingle, and then later when I ran A2Z Records with my partner Les, the scene was totally exciting. Maybe because we were totally immersed in it. I saw the transition from traditional rock groups to punk and new wave.

Economically and politically, we were in the pits. It was martial law. Without political expression, I like to think a few kids turned to music to express what they could not out in the open. It seemed especially fitting that local punk bands flourished just before Marcos was ousted, at a time when people who had the means were fleeing the country in droves and those without the resources and connections like the rest of us could only brace for what I believed would be an impending civil war. Not in the provinces where it was already happening but in the city itself. So music became a way to get the confusion, the fear and the anger out in the open.The Urban Bandits said it best in their song, “No Future sa Pader.”

Historical Events

Martial law, nabaril si Ninoy, nag People Power, umalis si Macoy

International Music Scene and Music Trends

Well, the 70s before punk was a bore. Talagang corporate rock. Nagta-trabaho ako noon sa international labels ng Vicor then I moved to Jingle. Nagdisco si Rod Stewart, groups like Boston and Foreigner were proficient but robotic.

Time din ni Michael Jackson pero wala kang mabili dahil walang local representation ang CBS records.

I remember though the stuff that got us all agog at Jingle. That was when we first got the U2 album, Big Country, The Cars (first album), Dire Straits (first album).Then when Les and I opened A2Z Records on Jan 1,1984, we got a true earful. Ang daming ibang klaseng music nangyayari elsewhere. Thanks to our own customers, we got into everything else, digging the underground past and all the edgy new stuff that was happening overseas. Walang internet, Walang download. New vinyl was like contraband. We swooned.

Music Industry (Recording Labels, Radio Broadcast Industry)

Katulad ngayon, pa-safe din ang industry noon. Kung ano bebenta.

Ganun din ang radio. The KBP mandated the playing of OPM every hour. Galit ang radio. Kulang daw sa pondo. Hindi raw fit sa format nila. They were right. DZRJ only seemed to get off the hook because they solicited demos from artists. No such thing as digital recordings. Naka-cassette. Book ka ng oras sa studio. Etc.

Conditions of Pinoy Musicians

Exploited siyempre. Maski si Ka Freddie na tambak ang benta ng “Anak,” may issue sa royalties niya.

Content/Message of the music

Moon, June, spoon. O di kaya, hoy, magbago ka. Mahina ang mga local musicians sa letra. May moral lesson palagi ang kanta. Wala silang story-telling abilities. Walang vignettes. Or at least yun ang impression ko. Gusto ko kasi, kuwentuhan mo lang ako sa kanta. Wag mo kong pangaralan.

Culture/sub-cultures

• Yung hippies, punks, panggagaya sa West para cool ka. Thing is, this is what separates the good from the mimickers. After a while kasi, yung mga good, naa-assimilate nila yung pangongopya until it’s tranformed into something that becomes truly theirs.


• Classic example yung Sex Pistols. Sila yung boy band nung panahon nila. Created to sell a clothing line. Kaya lang ang tindi ng dating nila sa mga manonood. They conveyed a sensibility that electrified their audience. They became the catalyst for genuine bands to form and snowball into a true-blue movement. The bands that followed in the wake of the Sex Pistols were truly galit sa nangyayari; they weren’t around just to purvey shock value para lang makabenta ng T-shirts.


• So like punk, what’s musically trendy simply becomes the medium with which musicians find their voice.


• Kaya okay lang ang uso, no matter how brainless. Kopya lang ng kopya. Lalabas at lalabas din ang himig natin.
  

Do you think that Pinoy Rock reflect social realities?

Only insofar as the music reflects the social reality of the songwriter. Which is how it should be. Maybe the torturous musings of a college kid tell us more about what he and his ilk are undergoing better than a full-on “message” song. Maybe lang ha.

Ayoko kasing ina-agenda ako pag nakikinig ako. As I said, kwento me. Don’t tell me what to think or do. If you’re really good, I’ll get it.And even if I don’t, that’s fine by me as well. Kasi I also subscribe to the motto: the more the messier. Let’s not limit what can be said.

What do you think of the current rock scene?

I love it! I love that there are bands I can’t stand. That nagkakagulo sila sa entablado. Na kinasusuklaman ko ang mga videos nila. Na wala silang saysay sa buhay ko. I love it because they’re around. Because lalabas at lalabas ang mga gifted child, kung meron man. Pabayaan lang.

Is the current Pinoy Rock Scene apathetic? Are musicians today politically indifferent?

Apathetic to what? To Manny Pacquiao? The Millennium Development Goals? To the latest SWS survey? Maybe most of them are. But I have no doubt there will be political flagwavers in the mix. Or maybe meron na, maybe yung mga subcultures sa Cavite, etc. Di lang natin alam. Or baka alam niyo na. Baka naman may mga hidden meaning o political undertones sa kanta ng Orange and Lemons, hindi lang natin nakikita or naririnig. I’m serious ha. I can read social realism in tripe. So that’s really not the point.

The point is, it’s music. It’s not propaganda.

If there’s something you want to say that’s not out there, e di magtayo ka ng banda mo. Or magsulat ka. O maging political commentator ka. O mag-rap ka. Or, like this forum, punahin mo. Maraming paraan.

Does the emergence of “revivals” reflect empty musicianship?

Not at all. It’s just commercially expedient. Uso lang. Kamikazee could write their London Calling tomorrow and use “Dobidoo” as their takeoff point.

What do you think are the prospects and challenges of Pinoy Rock?

With niches, subcultures, technology, always angsty kids, and people like Joey Smith bravely gigging away, Pinoy rock will flourish. It always has, it always will. Bukas, pag nauso uli sina Ariel Rivera, nandiyan pa rin ang Pinoy rock and its permutations. It may be less visible on TV or heard less on the radio, pero nandiyan pa rin ang Pinoy rock.

It will simply change according to where the wind blows, to what’s uso or not. Which will keep the music fresh and hopefully, compelling.

The biggest challenge of Pinoy rock is its audience. Are we willing to go where its evolution takes us? If not, then we ourselves can always pick up the guitar and invent the future we want for Pinoy rock.

Many thanks for braving the rain and for the wonderful experience!!!

SUSAN FERNANDEZ . BOBBY BALINGIT . CES RODRIGUEZ . ROBERT JAVIER . PATRICK REIDENBACH . AIA DE LEON . LC DE LEON . AIMEE MARCOS .

DRIP . REKLAMO .TIKAZ GREGGY .YANNA ACOSTA AND THE PROJECT GANYMEDE