Club gig presents new Filipino songwriters

KAT Lopez

THE LOCAL music industry is often beset by a lack of new, original songs—the kind that would excite a discriminating youth audience. But last Saturday at the Casa Nami on Jupiter St. Makati, alums of the 1st Elements National Songwriting Camp proved otherwise, by performing live their own compositions.

Product of 5-day workshop

A project of the young organization 7101 Music Nation, “Elements” gathered 60 aspiring musicians nationwide for a five-day workshop held November last year in Dumaguete City. The campers were mentored by Ryan Cayabyab, Gary Granada, Jim Paredes, Noel Cabangon, Joey Ayala, Gary Valenciano, among other artists, who talked about the nuts and bolts of songwriting and music production.

Nervous excitement

The atmosphere at Casa Nami simmered with nervous excitement. While some performers chatted over drinks with family and friends who came to watch, others busied themselves with sound checks and a last-minute run-through of songs.

The front acts were camp buddies Jessan Mirador and Charmi Santos. Both Jessan, 23, and Charmi, 25, have never played a gig before, and were admittedly tense. She was still a kid the last time she went onstage, “yung tipong pang-Linggo ng Wika,” Charmi told Inquirer Entertainment as she strummed a random chord on her guitar.

Jessan and Charmi were met with applause as they proceeded with their act. Blessed with charming singing voices, the ladies gave a sample of their simple yet arresting melodies. Jessan was first with a rather self-explanatory song called “Playboy.”

Then Charmi followed with her melancholic “Hunted,” before proudly announcing that her next song, “Dreaming Away,” will be recorded by a mystery artist soon.

Wrapping up the set, Jessan gave a poignant performance of “Untitled,” about long-distance relationships.

The next three hours blared with non-stop original music from the talented bunch. Sabu Bulahan and Denise Sagun gave the audience a healthy dose of mush.

Speech pathologist Kat Lopez was impressive in her bluesy, a cappella performance of a newly written song whose lyrics she read from her phone.

Len Calvo teamed up with Migi de Belen and channeled Up Dharma Down in their electro-infused “Lunod.”

Commercial jingle and Christian music composer Danny Estioco sang with wife Joana, while Marc Baluyan spoke of love and betrayal in his smooth R&B tone.

JM Quiblat incorporated beat-boxing to his song “Tick Tock Tick.”

Intriguing

BULLET Dumas

Bullet Dumas’ syncopated compositions, “Awit at Liriko” and “Pahinang Ito,” sounded intriguing. The unpredictability of the tempo, rhythm and melody was a refreshing breather from the usual verse-chorus structure of most songs.

Not to be outdone were the full bands that played, despite their having to use a drum kit with battered cymbals. Activist Mark Ramirez and his band Plagpul poured his social commentaries in “Makibaka.”

Kishin Javier and his group FreeFish drew laughter for their cheeky, festive sounds coupled with manic stage showmanship.

Carlos Velarde, lead guitarist of the band Dagsin, closed the show with slow rock and sultry beats in the songs “Sala” and “Untitled Pero Para Sa Isang Dancer.”

Lessons learned

From their recollection, the Elements workshop touched on almost everything they needed to know about becoming a professional composer, down to the ins and outs of the industry. But for some campers, the most important lessons didn’t come in the form of lectures or presentations.

Charmi appreciated the camaraderie and her rediscovery of passion for music. After joining the camp, she said, her heart felt at ease on the thought that music is not just about fame: “We want to write songs because it makes us happy.”

She also realized the importance of spending time to hang out and jam with the likes of Rico Blanco, Ebe Dancel, Top Suzara, Chito Miranda, Yael Yuzon and Gary V. It was a humbling experience, she recounted, because these stars all showed enthusiasm and wanted to learn more—in spite of their status.

For Bullet, the lesson was finding the right balance between writing music for his own pleasure and what his audience wants to hear. But more importantly, he said that the camp gave him confidence.

He was overjoyed at the campers’ warm acceptance of his songs while performing them, even if he felt the tunes were quite long.

Joining Elements has fueled Jessan’s desire to write more songs, and eventually make a name for herself. Whatever happens, she said, it would be nice to hear her compositions being played on radio one of these days.

Keeping in touch

Their time in Elements might have already ended, but the learning and the interaction among the campers and mentors continue, thanks to Facebook.

“Elements has its own internal Facebook group where some of them are members. They have access to everyone. They’ve gone out on field trips and visited record label offices,” said 7101 Music Nation chief operating officer Twinky Lagdameo.

“We’ve all become very good friends. And since we’re in the music industry, we always keep tabs on the campers. We want to hear what they’re doing,” she added.

Aside from the continuous learning process, Twinky said that 7101 Music Nation helps the campers through networking—informing them about projects they might be interested in.

“It’s cool because now I get calls from friends like Jed Madela and Christian Bautista. They tell me that they’re doing a new album and that they need songs. So I call the campers and ask them to send some of their compositions,” she pointed out.

OPM Internet radio

All the Elements mentors were thoroughly impressed by the sheer talent of the campers during the workshops. But what’s the point of having all that creative output if they’re not going to be heard?

The good news is that 7101 Music Nation is putting up an Internet radio station dedicated exclusively to Filipino music. And with the help of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit, the Internet radio is expected to be up within the next few months.

“In order to become successful, you need to have a good product and find the audience. We just have to create the platform to be heard. It’s great that there’s still traditional radio, and that there’s a lot of other Internet radio stations coming out. We’re focusing on OPM,” Twinky said.