Psyching 'n rocking with Chris Carandang

MANILA, Philippines - If there is such a thing in entertainment as showbiz royalty (think KC Concepcion), there must be royalty, too, in other fields such as psychology and music. We lump these two seemingly disparate fields together after we met Chris Carandang, psychologist by day, musician by night.

He is the son of acclaimed clinical psychologist Dr. Honey Carandang and neurologist-internist Dr. Brigido Carandang Jr. who is also dean of St. Luke’s Medical School; is younger brother to neurologist-internist Rafa Carandang; is married to Olive also a psychologist and psychology teacher at Miriam. Broadcast journalist Ricky Carandang is the only non-doctor in the family.

Brother Rafa who taught him chords on the guitar in Grade 5, also has twin pursuits and was a tenor with Bukas Palad shows and recordings. Chris entered the world of music through the children of famed sculptor Agnes Arellano-Adams (Honey’s sister) Datu Arellano, his best friend, and Mishka Adams, jazz singer now in London.

With Datu on the guitar, e-bow and computer soundscapes, Chris on vocals and guitar, the cousins formed a band called Dirty Kitchen since they did all the dirty work of marketing, recording and distribution at gigs in 2004. Joel Alagao, BJ Villanueva, Nick Formoso completed the band which hasn’t been too active in the scene with each member having other interests to prioritize. We would come across blogs on the Internet, however, still referring to this independent release from six years back.

In 2006 Chris released his solo Quiet Fire album of nine tracks and an easy favorite in Maligo sa Ulan. “Nami-miss ko ang probinsiya. Iyon siguro ang hindi ko pa nagagawa dito sa Maynila, maligo sa ulan,” a blogger wrote.

Manahimik Managinip is the mellowest of the tracks found in both albums, written in Filipino, and a lullaby that speaks of hope in tomorrow. Chris admits that it is a favorite at live gigs, and one where the audience at Merk’s applauded loudly the night we watched. Another OPM crowd favorite, says Chris, is the bouncy Gusto Niyang Sumayaw which he says he wrote as an angst-y teener about finding your own voice.

A most interesting collaboration we found between the cousins is in Florante at Laura, the Anino Shadowplay adaptation of the Filipino 19th century metric romance of Francisco Baltazar. The music is credited to both Chris and Datu. The work is said to be quite faithful to the original in preserving the story line but introduces some irreverent lines and situations. Still, in the end, all join forces to defeat the evil Adolfo and peace talks between Christians and Muslims get under way. Yipeeee — tayo’y magsaya!

It is in his work for CRIBS on abused children and adolescents that Chris as music therapist combines music with his psychology. Rock? We ask, how can that help? “It helps connect to a lot of the kids,“ Chris explains. “Besides, I don’t believe in putting all the blame on music. Maybe one kind of music can trigger anger or depression but other factors like school and family, and not only music should be blamed.“

Chris says that many of the new songs contain lyrics that say a lot about what kids are going through nowadays, and parents are enjoined to study them. His being a guidance counselor at the Ateneo has helped Chris enjoy being with kids. He teaches Tuesdays and Thursdays at De La Salle, Wednesdays and Fridays at UP while completing his PhD in Clinical Psychology at UP. He works in his mom’s clinic as a clinical psychologist.

Small wonder Chris looks forward to his regular gigs at various venues in Metro Manila to loosen up his nerves. Expect to hear apart from the favorites any of these originals — Waves, a song from Dirty Kitchen with lyrics by Mishka; Moon Song “counseling” song, brought about by experiences in doing counseling. And cover selections by Chris like the beautiful and sad love song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, one of the songs from the movie Shrek which happens to be a favorite of his mom Honey, and Roni Merk; Shower the People by James Taylor; and Blackbird, one of his favorite Beatles songs

Chris returns to Merk’s Bar Bistro at Greenbelt 3, July 16 and 20. For details, call 757-4720 to 21.

(E-mail the author at [email protected])