How to pull off a POP Shoppe gig

Let me tell you a story about a gig in Manila that I played solo and came very sooooo unprepared.  It was an Orange And Lemons tribute night for POP Shoppe, a regular monthly production organized by Lilystars Records at Route 196.

Well actually I went to Manila for several reasons.  First was to file some papers for a traffic violation I've committed many years back for driving in EDSA without a seatbelt on (yep I've been quietly driving without a license in Cebu mwahahaha).

The second stop was to watch supposed concert of The Killers.  Yes, that concert that got cancelled.  This was in January 2010.  And for the record, I'm still not happy about the ticket refund.

And since I'll be in Manila for several days, might as well get some fun.

Upon finalizing my flight schedule, I've decided to call my friends at Lilystars and asked if I could play in their gigs.  Tonet and Lui were very accommodating.  They booked me 3 or was it 4 gigs.  Hahaha... I didn't realize I had enough guts to present myself as a singer/performer to them.

And so, the concert got cancelled, fixed my MMDA mess, and ended up at Tonet's place cramming up for the night's gig.

I had to memorize the chords and the words to 'Hey Please'.  Tough.  Seriously.  It was a tough job for me.  I love lyrics and words but memorization is not much my thing.  I always almost flunk history classes back in school.

And so hours passed.  I had to keep myself away from distractions just to keep the words in.  Hours  passed again until gig time.  The crowd was warm and enticing.  The beer was cold.  So many people.  I was having fun.  And this is exactly what a gig should be - fun.

So I did.  I simply let the audience sing the lines.  And this is how I pulled off that one POP Shoppe gig.

I cheated pretty well, huh?

The first CARTONATA artist

I  was supposed to play 3 gigs with The Camerawalls one fine weekend in Feb.  The first was on the 11th at the Mellow Mangrove in Iloilo, the 2nd was in San Beda College on the 12th with Pupil, and 3rd was slated in Muntinlupa Bilibid on the 13th.  The 2nd was canceled the last minute and the 3rd never got confirmed.

I could've decided on changing my flight schedule and head back to Cebu.  But there are just things I felt I can't explain and at that time and my intuition hinted otherwise.

Talk about blessings in disguise, that accidental trip happened for a reason.

I spent that weekend in Lilystars Records headquarters in P. Tuazon st., Cubao.  Clem and I talked and he pitched in the idea of releasing Hellogoodbye's "Would It Kill You" album in the Philippines.

To make the long story short, Lilystars launched Hellogoodbye's CD on Apr2 in Route196 including a bonus track called 'Not Ever Coming Home'.  The song is exclusively available for Philippines release at CARTONATA.


Pre-recorded video of Hellogoodbye for the "Would It Kill You?" album launch in Route 196 on April2.

Hellogoodbye + Lilystars Records = Would It Kill You (Philippines release)

The first time I heard about Hellogoodbye was from Tonet of Lilystars Records.  That was about July or August 2010 over YM chat.  She'd let me watch their YouTube video.  It wasn't difficult for them to make me like their music.  Soon, I've developed the habit of starting my iTunes by listening to their upcoming release.

Hellogoodbye is an indie power pop band that originated in Huntington Beach, California.  In September of 2010, they came to the Philippines to promote their latest album "Would It Kill You?" released under their own label Wasted Summer Records.

Press fast forward to Feb 13, 2011 in Tonet's house.  Clem and I had a good talk about the band.  About their wish to get their CD released in the Philippines.  About their wish to get released by an indie label.  About their aversion to signing up with major labels.  And about their wish to get to their Filipino fans through Lilystars Records.

Good talk it was.  I somehow got so engaged and so involved.  Told him I'm working on a new project I call CARTONATA.  Clem is a good soul and mind to talk with and we got things rolled in for a spin.

But this will be another story to write about.

Free music anyone?

It's better to share, isn't it?  Well yes receiving feels good but would you agree with me if I say giving is better?

Music's been one of the most shared art even back when the internet is still in its incubation stage.  In the 70's and the 80's, you insert a tape in your cassette and wait until the first 3 notes of your favorite song starts spinning.  You press record and voila!  You got music.

Eventually the song grew in you and so you decided to buy the real stuff.

The 90's upgraded this with the CD.  And so the electronics companies also invented digital burners.  Voila!  You got music!

Apple catches up later with the iPod.  Who would've ever thought that you can actually carry a thousand albums with you into something that is as handy as a cigarette pack.  Voila!  You got music.

Then they invented the DRM to hopefully discourage piracy.  It failed.  Internet and satellite radios became another source of music.  This is good except that if there is no internet or wifi, you got no music.  Then there's TuneCore, Jingle Punks, YouLicense, Jango, and all other music avenues they can think of doing.

As far as I'm concerned, only Radiohead dared to do something different on 'In Rainbows'.  Then other bands adapted the business model.

My question now is this... are these music companies doing the stuff they do in the attempt to control a playlist?  Because it never really stopped the culture of sharing free music.  And sharing is a natural human need.

Change usually upsets people

If you want to change things, be sure you know who are those you will be upsetting.

The Beatles changed the world's perception of pop music - the ladies loved them but upset the male population.

Napster, CD pirates, and MP3 technology changed every consumer's preference but upset the labels and publishers.

Progress changes lifestyles usually for the better but upsets the skeptics, the purists, the politicians, and so on.

Change or any movement that resembles it, whether good or bad, leads to consequences, karma, feedback, answers, and so on...

Lily Stars Records, an indie record label in Manila is reviving the concept of selling singles.

Yes singles... one song instead of an album.

To me, this is interesting. But I wonder what type of change this could bring to both the general public and to the music community? Surely this will sooner or later upset people somehow somewhat. Question is who will these people be?