Found an article written by Quark Henares in the year 2000 on the state of Pinoy Rock. 

This was supposed to be a surprise for Quark last year for his birthday, but when I told him that I had a surprise he said I just ruined it. So I delayed it until he probably forgot that I had something for him by now.

Quark says, “Do You remember the time when the Eraserheads would outsell Ariel Rivera? You should”. That sentence is all sorts of win. I keep reading this article again and again and having been too young before (I was in 7th grade in 1997 sheltered in an all girl Catholic school), I notice that there’s not much difference now — We’re still curious, wondering, planning on the next step assessing which bands made a mark and who’s going to grab that empty throne in the years to come.

Also I really love seeing the old photos of Razorback and Greyhoundz on page 2, and reading about Slapshock and Cheese and all the other bands. It gives me goosebumps every time.

Click to view and read the article HERE.

November 7, 2010 was the last day of NU107’s broadcast. Here are just of some photographs of the last NU107 jocks taken in the course of a several week period before the shutdown. I can say that everyone was sad, some pretend to be happy just to get by. They are my heroes, having stayed until the very end working despite the undesirable circumstances — all for the love of music and for the promise to fulfill a dream job which in reality, is not all that heavenly. 

Exactly one year ago we anticipated dead air at the stroke of midnight. It is said that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself, but when complete silence was heard, nothing can compare to the pain coupled with the daunting thought that we will continue to live a life without our source of music guided by the friendly voices that point us toward the right path. 

Everything turned out okay in the end. This country’s passion for music is too great to put down. Despite everything, no feeling can replicate the ordeal of making something continue to work, knowing very well that all efforts will be for naught. That was the general feeling in the last days of NU107.

19 October 2011

I was just thinking about this photograph when I saw a tweet from @myxphilippines that it’s Christian Bautista’s birthday today. This was taken during the MYX Awards after party. He arrived in Mondial and he was standing by the bar, called me from afar and asked me to take a photo of him because he was going to pose. The lights were difficult so I had to edit the photo. It isn’t perfect also because I was laughing at this deliberate cheeky pose. He is really funny (and that’s just water he’s holding).

I think it was 2003 when I met Christian at an MV shoot. He had a cameo role as the love interest of Nina, the singer. I think he was just starting his career around that time and he was nice enough to sing in the dressing room, entertaining everyone who was trying to kill time. 

Around 3AM, one of the extras dropped my car keys on the canal beside it. I was pissed because I don’t know how else I was going to go home with all the clothes I brought.

When the whole set knew my predicament, Christian was very nice and told me that problems like that are usually solved in no time. (It did actually, but not without me hassling two households and some production people in their failed attempt to reach for my keys in a stinky canal). He was trying to make everyone laugh and forget that we were all tired and just waiting for the shoot to finish. 

Fast forward to late last year, Haw invited me to shoot Rain’s concert. Christian Bautista was the opening act. Suprisingly the production did not allow us to take photos of him (I don’t know why, but I actually mentioned that  to him when I saw him during the MYX Awards and he didn’t know why either).

So, I was in the photo pit and Christian goes and says something like, “I need a volunteer to go up on stage” (actually I don’t remember what he said because I was checking my camera). Apparently, Haw, was jumping up and down and pointing at me. Given that we were in the photo pit, very accessible to the stage, Christian saw me, said something like, “Hey I know you!” and asked me to go up on stage — IN SNEAKERS, A HOODIE, A HUGE CAMERA, with MANANG HAIR in front of maybe 15,000 people?

Then he sang Jose Mari-Chan’s classic song, “BEAUTIFUL GIRL” 

O_o

Even before I got home, the news already reached my entire family because a friend of ours was watching the gig. I think my brother laughed knowing that the song is a little bit to cheesy for me, then my mother reprimanded me for not fixing myself up enough or dressing up like a girl. She even told this story to my hairstylist.

As you can see, because of that incident, I am making an effort to look better before I forget that I’m a girl. I think that there’s there’s no better excuse to remind myself of that with the experience of Asia’s best balladeer singing to you.

Happy birthday!

Music knows no boundaries.

In this digital age, music brings to surface the emerging connection that exists in oneself and others. Being a country with music at its core, the Philippines is known for its relentless support of local artists, some of which have shared their craft in distant places, most of them discovered online. Their foreign counterparts also travel thousands of miles to share their music to Filipinos. They are just as greatly appreciated and welcomed like old friends found online, unifying countries and cultures through the common love for music.