The first thing I noticed about Manila was the traffic. And much to my expectations, traffic was intense. Not unlike Bangkok actually, but I had the feeling that there was a lot more movement going on at any given time. It feels like everybody is converging on the same impetus, and it seems also that there really is only one massive highway cutting across the Metro Manila megalopolis. Most main streets branch out of it, or at least that’s what googlemaps showed me. But in fact, as much as there is a lot to be said about the road congestion and the actual state of streets and highways, I felt almost at home there, considering that traffic is really not that much better in Sicily and I will always have the memory of my dad overtaking in the middle of two lanes, swearing, burning red lights when needed and what have you. You stop thinking that going from point A to point B is an exact science but rather something almost artistic.
It’s just a matter of knowing when to go and knowing when to give way, and it almost magically sorts itself out. To be perfectly honest, I am more nervous on the road here in Singapore, where drivers display the kind of aggressiveness that comes out of hours of frustration and pent up anger being stuck in a cubicle or pushing paper. And you really can’t blame it on the infrastructure here. It’s all about the people, once again.

So the people, precisely. I had to pass up the first edition of A*FEST last year because of a conflicting schedule with (real) work, but I wanted to make sure to accept Joff’s invitation this time. Joff runs Kindassault, an indie label and gig organising outfit, pretty much like my own KittyWu family here in Singapore. His cousin Paolo helps out for the festival, and writeups and overall MC duties, which he usually does by wearing a luchador mask. A self-professed cultural studies geek, I learn that he is the founder of a Facebook geekfight group. And when he picks us up at the hotel with a big Mercedes van and we load the gear at the back and start talking, I have this odd sense of familiarity: I am reminded of the small clubs I used to go to all the time, back in Lyon, or in London. I remember the friends I lost touch with after years of moving around, the same people with whom you know you could just pick up from where you’d left if you’d see them again at a gig.

And I think this is how Errol feels too. When we get to SaGuijo for the Friday night set of shows, half the people there already know him and remember him from last year. Keith, one of the “official” photographers who took some amazing shots of I am David Sparkle during the first A* FEST, Alice, who hands out handwritten questions to each of the bands for new-slang, a beautifully-written, beautifully-laid-out website about music, musings of all sorts and insights on everyday Filipino life. It feels like I’ve met them all before, and even though we all grew up in very different places, there is a connection that goes beyond boundaries and social constructs.

We quickly check that everything sounds all right and enjoy the bands for the night.
Bottlesmoker, an electronic duo from Bandung, are just so refreshing and irresistible. Their rig consists of a keleidoscope of musical toys, bells and circuit-bent contraptions. They create melodies that are as easy to remember as they are hard to get out of your head.
Sleepwalk Circus totally took me by surprise, and this is what i love about festivals. Their sound was reminiscent of Silversun Pickups in a way, only with more ambient leaning at times and an almost post-rock aesthetic on some guitar textures.
The Standards worked the crowd to a frenzy, and it’s not hard to see why: as a frontman, Matt would not be out of place among the iconic figures of Britpop. There is little you can do against a barrage of arpeggiated moog lines and post-punk guitar riffs, really. And we all got to dance.
Closing the evening at 2 AM after such a livewire act would have felt like a comedown, but i don’t think anyone expected me to up the ante. And that’s the beauty of a place like SaGuijo: the crowd is there for the music, for the bands and for a good time. We are all sharing a moment together. And when that happens, the feeling is magical.

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For more pictures: click here

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Funny how time works. Last week was mostly spent at the Recital Studio from morning until late evening, Monday through Thursday, setting up, rehearsing, improving, changing, improvising, performing, tearing down and packing up. And now that this show is over, it somehow feels like the whole process was a long-forgotten dream, a distant memory. Maybe it’s the nature of the music and the visuals, maybe it’s because you invest a lot into a project for months and then it’s gone…
But it was a great experience, and working with Darren has been an eye-opener. I’ve always treasured the friendships I make through music, and I can only hope something else with him will crystallize in the future. Of course, there are things we wish we had had more time to work on, but you have to know when to let go at some point, and give something to the audience.

“Returning home” was the last piece we added to the show, literally one day before the premiere. Darren wanted something dark, with a sense of foreboding, but also a hint at new beginnings. The piece goes towards the end, and the visuals at that point take us through a quick montage of the boy’s previous experiences, dreams and nightmares. That sort of ‘life flashing before your eyes’ moment.
So I tried to work with that, and at a subconscious level I must have had NIN’s “beside you in time” at the back of my mind, because the way Reznor places that song just before “right where it belongs” seems to fit that hopeless/hopeful dichotomy.
Clearly, the visuals add a lot to the dynamics of the piece, and if you watched the show, I hope you enjoyed that part. I think that’s what I liked the most.

Still, that is over.

What now?

I owe the Lard Brothers a remix, which I hope to finish in the next 2 weeks. It’s going to be released later in the year, along with other remixes of their songs by other friends and musicians in the local scene. That should be fun.
We have 2 dates in Manila! I’ve heard a lot of good things about gigging in the Philippines, and I’m looking forward to meeting friends there.
And in the slightly longer term, I suppose I have started working on the second album. I really want it to sound different, and this seems to be the natural direction the new stuff is taking, so we’ll see where it goes…

So I guess 2010 hasn’t treated me too badly yet…

Don’t miss next week’s special “the boy who sees with stones” EP!! it’s all happening right here…