The element of surprise

It’s a nice, cozy afternoon at Balanan lake; in the distance one can clearly see the mountain range surrounding the area, and around us flock hundreds of freshwater fish, waiting for food. We are in a huge covered hut, where in the center songwriter wunderkind Jonathan Manalo, pop music sensation Jay Durias, hip-hop guru Jungee Marcelo, rock god Rico Blanco and the legendary Joey Ayala are engaged in an intense discussion on music genres.

“What you have to remember is that genres are not music. They’re classifications. It’s not about songs, it’s about taxonomy. Parang inaayos mo ang musika sa isang aparador, and it’s really more about boxing in types of music for commercial purposes,” says Joey Ayala. Blanco goes on to address the pupils: “But that’s the job of record labels. Their job is to look for the next big thing. Your job is to be the next big thing.”

At the back Jim Paredes watches intently, raring to give his two cents’ worth. Chito Miranda and Ebe Dancel start snickering, wondering if it’s a good idea to ask Blanco about his newfound Vampireserye acting career. Gary Valenciano nods, listening with his eyes closed. Beside him is his wife and manager, Angeli Valenciano, who goes on to say that in her 30 years in the music industry this is the most meaningful thing she’s ever experienced.

Rock your body: Rico Blanco shows Gary V he isn’t the only one with pure energy.

Many people feel the same way, and yet less than one hundred people are present.

This all just happened last week, at the Elements Songwriting Camp in Dumaguete. The camp is the brainchild of three people from very different backgrounds who got together because of their love for music — Julio Sy, Jr., CEO of Tao Corporation, Twinkie Lagdameo, who has dedicated her career to marketing music for everyone from Tower to EMI Records to Nokia, and Ryan Cayabyab, who is, well, Ryan Cayabyab. Together they put up 7101 Music Nation, an organization “dedicated to the development of programs and platforms that will serve to discover and enhance local artistry in music.”

Elements is the initial program, a camp that’s more like a songwriting convention featuring panelists like Jim Paredes and Jonathan Manalo talking about the history of music; Louie Ocampo, Top Suzara, Ebe Dancel, Jay Durias, Gabby Alipe and Joey Benin on creating music; Gary Granada, Noel Cabangon, Trina Belamide, Chito Miranda and Yael Yuzon on writing lyrics; Ricky Ilacad, Raul Sunico, Debbie Gaite, Angeli Valenciano and JV Colayco on the business side of music; Gary Valenciano and Jimmy Antiporda on music production; and the speakers mentioned above on music genres. I’m pretty sure that during the week of Nov. 14 to 18, there was no greater concentration of talent in the Philippines than in Dumaguete. This includes the campers, who were impressive in their own right. Among them were fashion designer cum singer/songwriter Kate Torralba, QYork’s Knowa Lazarus and Flava Matikz who were behind the hip-hop hit Mainit, veteran musician Inky de Dios, Cebu-based singer/songwriter Cattski Espina, and 60 other talents who are destined for greatness.

Camp council: Joey Ayala, Jonathan Manalo, Rico Blanco, Jay Durias, and Jungee Marcelo “breaking” into song.

Many of the panelists came just to hang out and give talks, but what they went through was more significant than they could have ever imagined. Campers stayed up until 4 a.m. to jam with their idols, panelists listened to great new material from the campers, the rock contingent formed a superband called Row 4 that looked like it could have been the next big thing, the seniors were getting drunk and soon became the most rowdy set of the bunch. And then there was Gary Granada. Everyone’s lives were changed by Gary Granada at the camp.

During the last night of the camp campers and panelists performed their music. Promising new talents like JM Quiblat and Bullet Dumas played songs that could have rivaled their teachers. Groups came up with songs in a day that were instantly signed by MCA and Star Records. Joey Ayala effortlessly shared his wisdom — both in music and spoken word. Gary Granada made everyone cry one minute and crack up the next. Row 4, after two days of existence and a planned debut album and tour, broke up and set forth Ebe Dancel and Rico Blanco to fend for themselves. Noel Cabangon made everyone swear to be good citizens while singing Ako’y Isang Mabuting Pilipino. Gary Valenciano capped it all off by doing Hataw Na, ending in a dance-off between him, Jungee Marcelo and Rico Blanco. The whole night was illuminated by lightning in the surrounding regions, and as soon as the last song finished it started raining. From afar one could see a small pocket of light of people enjoying music, and one another, in the vast darkness, with wind blowing the rain horizontally above so as not to dampen this celebration. It seemed like God Himself was cheering them on.