On Cynthia Alexander and OPM

I still remember my first Cynthia Alexander set.  It was around 2003 while I was working as a bartender in Sanctum*Unmasct.  It was a small, quiet, intimate set.  The kind of set where you just lose yourself in the darkness and the music.  Where everything just stops and you’re focused on this woman and her sounds. I think I fell in love with Cynthia’s music on that day.  I had heard her music earlier that year while working at Rock Radio Cafe, but being able to experience her songs in a setting like that threw me over the edge.  I watched her many times since then, but the magic of that first time will forever stay with me.

That’s why it bothers me so much to hear that she’s packing up and moving to Seattle.  To think that the Philippines is losing one of it’s most talented musical geniuses due to a lack of support doesn’t just make me sad.  It angers me too.

I’m angry because of the frustrating lack of support given to local artists.  I’m angry that we spout all this Pinoy Pride nonsense for people overseas while we can’t even take pride in our local artists.  I’m angry that we’ve taken one of our most incredible musicians for granted.

It’s all well and good to get excited over foreign acts coming here.  Hell I get excited all the time.  This year alone has seen a massive amount of concerts from Death Cab for Cutie to Lady Gaga.  From Taking Back Sunday to The Backstreet Boys, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Just don’t forget the artists locally who are doing the same thing with the same amount of talent and passion.  It’s fine to be proud of singers like Jessica Sanchez.  We’re proud of her because she’s tied to us by blood, but in the process of cheering on those overseas, we’re neglecting those at home.

I feel like people don’t realize how hard local musicians work at their craft.  Many of them have day jobs, some even more than one; yet they all manage to find the time and the energy to craft some of the most amazing songs you’ve ever heard.  The Filipino music scene has been touted as one of the best in South East Asia.  Musicians from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, etc all look at the talent and venues here with awe and a tinge of jealousy.  No other country in the region has such an abundance of constant gigs.  My friends based out of Singapore will tell you that a good month for them is about 2-3 gigs in a month.  And that’s if they get lucky.  Here, we’re spoiled with shows almost every night of the week and the talent of local musicians is through the roof.  Yet where is the crowd support?  What happened to the surging crowds at Saguijo, eager to catch the new band they heard about from their friends?  What happened to the excitement of hearing songs on the radio that your friends performed in Freedom Bar the week earlier?  What happened to passing by Mayrics before heading home to check out who’s playing that night?

We got spoiled.

With so many bands and so many venues, I feel (and I’m guilty of this too) that we, as music lovers; were spoiled for choice.  For so many years we knew that on any given night we could go out to Saguijo or Freedom Bar or Club Dredd or Mayrics or any one of the numerous bars in the city and KNOW that we’d see a good show.  For so many years we said “nah, I’ll just watch em the next time.”  How many times have we said that about artists like Cynthia Alexander? Too many.  And now there isn’t going to be a next time for Cynthia after this month.

Her migration should send a message to every single music lover here in the Philippines and that message is clear: Support your OPM artists.  I’m not saying that no one supports them anymore. There’s still a large fanbase here, but with the demise of NU107 it’s become harder and harder for bands to get their music to the crowds.  Really, the only way they can is through social media and gigs.  So go to the gigs.  Support the artists.  Pay the entrance fee, pay the bands, and make them feel appreciated.  Let them know that we do care, and that we do support them and that they CAN make a living here doing what they love without resorting to Adele covers while suspended in mid-air.  Watch a new band once in a while.  Explore.  Appreciate.  Enjoy.  Fall in love.

Let’s support our Cynthia Alexander’s just as passionately as we support our Jessica Sanchez’s. Let’s show our local artists the support they deserve.  Let’s find an answer to the question posed by Francis Brew:

“Does Cynthia need to go abroad and “make it” before WE wave the flag for HER?”

And let’s make sure that the answer is NO.

Support OPM.

Race and Football

It seems that several Indonesian fans were accused of Racially Abusing members of the Azkals during the 2-2 draw with Indonesia last Tuesday.  Actually they were chanting “Hindi Kayo Pilipino”, which while pretty scummy, isn’t exactly racist.  Misleading headline is misleading.  Good news is, some of those involved have apologized on twitter (probably due to the internet hate brigade) and the local crowd responded well by unfurling a banner that read “SAY NO TO RACISM” then applauded the Indonesian Team.

Now that’s pretty awesome.  FIFA has a hardline stance on Racism in football and they tend to come down hard on any chants/insults that come up during the game. I understand it’s easy to get riled up during sports events, I’m a massive football fan and I smack talk with the best of them; but there’s really no need to stoop so low to bust out the personal insults against players.  At least some of those involved apologized.

What’s sad is that these Indonesian fans aren’t the only one’s who have said things like that.  The Azkals get criticism from their own supporters too.  I’ve seen many tweets, comments, articles bashing the Azkals for their supposed non-pinoyness (I’m looking at you Arnold Clavio).  Yeah they may only be half Pinoy, but that doesn’t mean we should support them any less.  They’re our national team for christs sake.  They’re representing ALL OF US on a national stage and they’re doing WELL.  Crab mentality will kill us all.  Honestly.

“But they aren’t Full Filipino!” people cry out.  Well so what? They’re half Filipino and that makes them 50% more Pinoy than pretty much everyone else in the world. They have roots and family here in the Philippines as well as England/Germany/Holland/Spain/whatever.   Yeah so some of them don’t live here, or some of them just moved here, some of them can’t speak tagalog; but they’re representing their heritage, and they’re proud to do it.  If the Azkals continue to be role models (let’s not let a sexual harassment case against a few players ruin what the rest of the team is doing), continue to succeed, then why can’t we be proud of them? Yes, they’re half foreign, but they’re also half Filipino. And that didn’t stop everyone from cheering on Jessica Sanchez (she’s half Mexican too you know)

Don’t get me wrong, I know this is just a vocal minority and a lot of people are proud of the Azkals, it just really riles me up when the same people that diss the team for some really REALLY shallow reasons.  Haters gonna hate and all that.

What makes someone Filipino?  To me It’s not just their blood, their ethnicity or their ancestry.  These are only portions of what it means to be a Filipino. I think it’s something else entirely. Something that isn’t limited to what nationality your parents are.  It’s how we immerse ourselves in our culture and roots.  It’s how we strive to represent our country in a positive way, both locally and internationally.  It’s how we love our country.

But that’s just me.

Blogging V3.0 and the Double Standards of Filipinos

I gave up blogging for some time because I just found myself too damn busy to keep doing it.  Years later, here I am typing out my first entry while sitting on the toilet, because I realized that I have A LOT more to say than anything that could be fit into 140 characters or less. Most of my amazing ideas happen while I take a shit.

My twitter account was buzzing today about Bayo’s new “What’s Your Mix?” Campaign.

For starters, I’d like to say that I’m not attacking or defending this ad.  Personally I think it’s burdened by poor copy and unrelated imagery but that’s a whole different animal all together.  Bayo as a whole has always always left a poor taste in my mouth since their plagiarizing problem back in 2005.

Now the problem stems from people who are getting their tits in a twist because they seem to feel that Bayo is promoting the idea that Filipinos are more successful when they are of a mixed ethnicity (which really ISN’T what the ad is trying to say, but that’s besides the point).  I’ve come to realize that people will raise the internet hate brigade over almost anything; and while I love a good online lynching, sometimes I feel people can be entirely too oversensitive.

Take this “What’s Your Mix?” campaign for starters.  I’m not going to try and analyze what it’s trying to say vs what it appears to say because I could do that all day.  Instead let’s look at exactly why everyone is offended.

“The new Bayo “What’s Your Mix?” campaign: 100% clueless.“ they scream.

“Can’t we celebrate Filipino beauty simply because its home grown Filipino beauty“ they cry.  

“Would have been better if you get pure Pinay models and say something like 30%Ivatan + 70%Cebuana, since Bayo is a local brand..“ they tell me.

It seems that Bayo is offending full blooded Filipinos because they feel that they should be promoting the natural ethnic Filipino beauty rather than those of mixed bloods.  It looks like they’re insulted that a campaign by Bayo is implying that those of full Filipino blood are not as classy/creative/attractive/adjective.

Why is everyone so mad about it?  Look around you.  We are CONSTANTLY bombarded with celebrities of mixed heritage.  The media turns them into TV Stars, Singers, Models.  People look up to them as role models, idols, pin-ups.  We practically WORSHIP those of mixed heritage, celebrities like Anne Curtis and Georgina Wilson (who have garnered ONE MILLION views on their Call Me Maybe video in TWO WEEKS.) If our stars AREN’T of mixed blood they we try our damnedest to make them LOOK that way.  Skin whiteners are everywhere.  Look around you.

This sort of campaign that Bayo is promoting has been punching you in the face repeatedly since you were old enough to see a commercial on TV.  Now Bayo has stopped being subtle about it and the internet melts down.  This kind of idiotic false patriotism isn’t a sense of nationalistic pride.  It’s borderline ignorance and intolerance.  It’s hypocritical and is indicative of everything wrong with people and the media today.  We are surrounded by a western/mixed version of beauty because that’s whats fed to us.  No one questions it.  Only when we tell you “OH BY THE WAY, THESE PEOPLE AREN’T 100% FILIPINO” do people freak out.

Yes the copy is stupid and yes it could have been worked differently, but it’s really nothing new than what’s already shoved in front of you.

People are stupid.

On that note, it seems to me that most people don’t realize that being Filipino doesn’t mean you’re 100% Filipino blood.  That’s ETHNICITY.