Manila Popfest to showcase indie music on June 2

“If you don't do what you love, you might go mad.” This was what one of Mei Bastes's collaborators commented on her decision to continue having independent music gigs. 

 

This June, her new project Dope MNL launches the Manila Popfest, an independent music evening which provides a glimpse at some of what part of Manila's independent music scene has to offer. It will be held at the Fort Strip Open Plaza on June 2 starting at 3 p.m. Admission is free and features, among others, Nyko Maca and Gafiera, Ciudad, Pedicab, Ang Bandang Shirley, Twin Lobster, and DJ sets from Kiko Escora and Gian Romano.

 

Bastes, founder of a music production, has not stopped doing independent music gigs. Even with her new day job (as an events management specialist for an agency), she says she decided to create a new production called Dope MNL, itself inspired by similar (and more hip-hop oriented) gigs across the region. Its first three stagings were held at Saguijo in Makati, and while the first Dope MNL gig featured hip-hop, the others featured different genres and artists.

 

Inspired by the NYC Popfest, a multi-day event in which local singer-songwriter duo Outerhope recently performed, Manila Popfest is meant to raise awareness of the independent music scene and the importance of supporting it. Hopefully, its organizers believe this would be the first of an annual series of events highlighting what independent music has to offer.

 

“The [independent music] scene is much stronger than before,” Bastes said, adding that even the more prominent rock bands nowadays such as Itchyworms and Sandwich had their start as independent bands themselves. 

 

The Manila Popfest gig is being backed by Doc Martens Philippines, with additional support from Phillips. 

 

With the recent overseas trips of independent bands Taken By Cars (to the SXSW event in Austin, Texas), Outerhope (to the NYC and San Francisco Popfests), and Wilderness (to Bandung, Indonesia), local independent groups are finding new live audiences. New technology, especially social media, has allowed bands and other performers to make new friends and fans both here and elsewhere. 

 

And while mainstream popular music tends to take a more homogenous shape, indie groups are able to explore different sounds and get noticed for it. In fact, such growing prominence has led a young German ethnomusicologist to town to explore the indie scene and write a doctoral dissertation on the nexus between Philippine independent music and new technologies. Monika Schoop, whose blog has become a record of her adventures exploring part of the Manila independent music scene, told GMA News Online, “I guess that Mei has a very good sense of which bands go together. She knows how to put up a good lineup.”

 

Supporting the music is what the Manila Popfest's organizers hope to achieve. And perhaps, with time, more people would come to know Philippine independent music for its vibrancy, variety, and creativity. –KG, GMA News

 

Ren Aguila wrote about the independent productions Folk U, Meiday, and Admit One for GMA News Online.