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I did not have too much sleep last night. No, my spirit was not bothered by rising prices and the other current travails of our country. I felt only a slight pang of conscience for misstating in a recent article the current enrolment rate of UP as P600 per unit when indeed it was really “a little over P1,000.” Such errors are easily rectified. My sleeplessness, in fact, resulted from hanging out with musician friends at a music studio near the corner of Gorordo Avenue and the Ayala access road.
We were composing words and music for a presentation by XO? for the show, “Fête de la Musique,” happening this June 21 at Paseo Center, Cebu City. We were told “Fête” is a day when France celebrates a day of free music. The celebration has spilled over to other parts of the globe, including, for the first time this year, Cebu. We know next to nothing about the event so far. When a friend invited us to present something we quickly said “yes.”
I have never composed anything in the way of music before, though, for a while now, XO? has presented improvised music and performances. The only difference this time around is that the music would be more structured. Last night was a learning experience for me. Winston Rallosa regularly plays drums and percussions but for this presentation he will be playing the keyboards. XO? has a rich supply of drums and percussions. We have Javy Villacin on congas, Niño Baring and Ermine Aledo on African drums and Pradip del Mar on the djiridu.
Well-known Bisayan composer and performer Eric will jam with us on violin. Chai Fonacier will be doing additional vocals while Russ Ligtas will do movements. It’s a regular XO? performance with a much greater leaning this time on music.
But we are told we will be given 10 minutes to perform to a large audience and in that sense it will be a first for us. We are not so inclined to admit it but we are excited. XO? has always been an experimental performing group. We do not do mainstream art. From the beginning the goal is to expose audiences to new (hereabouts anyway) art. We do this using at least two strategies. First, we present performance art in public spaces, like sidewalks, walkways and waiting sheds. In this way, the audience has no choice but to be exposed. We do not have to invite them to galleries and performance halls. We go where they are. The other strategy is to infiltrate mainstream outlets, like bars and bistros.
The act of infiltration is close to XO?’s heart. In many instances, we rearrange standard musical pieces into material for improvisation. These musical pieces are always recalled as impressions rather than as original scores. But the music is more accessible to the audience when it is recognizable. This gives us a good foothold into our audiences’ hearts before we bring in the more hardcore stuff.
We’re not saying it’s the best way to make music. For us, it’s simply the most enjoyable and, yes, admittedly the most convenient. Our deepest desire is to one day call what we do “sound” instead of music.
But for now, we do music and we would be pretending if we called it by another name. We are not yet good enough to design sound. But soon we will be. For now the problem is simply the way to get there. But by now it is clear. It will be a long sleepless journey but in good company.
