FOR a little more than a year, some of the best live music venues in Metro Manila have hosted Posporo(s), a series of concerts featuring some of the best bands in the Spanish and Philippine indie music scene. Over the past few months, 14 bands from Spain and the Philippines and several local DJs have ignited the city with these magical music matches, the name given to this project organized by the Embassy of Spain and the Instituto Cervantes de Manila with the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

On Oct. 28, Posporo(s) brings together Spain’s Joe Crepúsculo and the Philippines’ Dong Abay in The Cabin at Poblasyon in Makati City, giving the artists themselves an opportunity to experience the music of their counterparts. As usual, Posporo(s) is more than just a concert. Once again music and visual arts come together as collective Mvltiverse will light up The Cabin with their video art.

Crepúsculo will also give a live promotional concert on OneMusic.ph, a digital music platform owned and operated by ABS-CBN Network’s Star Creatives Group, on Oct. 24; and a one-hour-interview on a radio program on the morning of Oct. 26 at Jam 88.3.

CREPÚSCULO AND ABAY
The landscape of Spanish indie music has changed over time, from being an attitude towards the industry to a style that is almost the definition of a generation encompassing all that pop and rock can offer. In this framework of renewed energy, Joe Crepúsculo is synonymous with “fiesta.” Crepúsculo’s album Supercrepus was named best Spanish album of the year in 2009 by the magazine Rockdelux. Crepúsculo lands in Manila with his 8th album, Disco Duro.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will be represented by poet, artist and rockstar Dong Abay. His music is best described as Pinoy Alternative Rock – he contributed significantly to the local music scene in the 1990s. His songs are mixture of poetry, rock music, and the alternative “kalye” (street) music. He has always managed to encapsulate accurately contemporary Filipino life in his songs and music.

SPANISH musician Joe Crepúsculo

In college, he was a member of the UP-based vocal ensemble Patatag before hooking up with two other fellow members to form Yano, a seminal folk-punk rock band of the 1990s. He was the band’s main songwriter and vocalist. After parting ways with Yano and a brief hiatus, Abay returned to the music scene in 2002 and formed the group Pan that led to the release of Parnaso Ng Payaso. A song called “Hula” from that album won the Best Folk/Pop Recording at the Awit Awards the following year. Other notable tracks from the album include “Rebolusyon,” “Dumpsite,” and “Mabuhay.”

Going solo as an indie artist, Abay released his EP Sampol in 2005 as part of his undergrad thesis. He then came out with an album in 2006 called Flipino which contained the songs “Perpekto,” “Tuyo,” and “Bombardment,” among others. His next solo effort was the album Rebulto in 2012. All the songs in the album revolved around the Jose Rizal monument at the Luneta.

Two years later, he formed the group D.A.M.O. with Kakoy Legaspi on guitars, Simon Tan on bass, and Abe Billano on drums. They started working on the yet-to-be-released album Humanidad in late 2015 – collection of 14 new tracks by Abay set to music by his fellow band members.

MVLTIVERSE
For the second time in Posporo(s), there will be a video installation by Mvltiverse, a multimedia collective formed by Derek Tumala, Megan Palero, Clarissa Gonzalez and Junie Linsoco that creates new forms in transcending the moving image through live performance, new media and installations.

The venue this month is The Cabin 420 Bar & Bistro, located in A Venue, the hearts of Makati City’s Poblasyon. This venue has served as a host for Fête de la Musique over several years.

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