WHO IS DONG ABAY?
Dong Abay is a
wordsmith and musician from the Philippines who writes and sings his
own songs. He had his beginnings in the local music scene during the
1990s while he was still an Arts and Letters student at the State
University. As founder of the seminal Filipino rock bands Yano, Pan
and dongabay, he penned and voiced classic original Pinoy tunes such
as "Tsinelas" (Flipflops), Banal na Aso, Santong Kabayo
(Holy Dog, Saintly Horse), Esem (Mall), Senti (Sentimental), Perpekto
(Perfect) just to name a few. With his strikingly simple narratives
and piercing social commentaries, he has become one of the country's
principal storytellers.
Currently, he performs
with a rock band while living other forms of artistic life. He has
various channels of expression such as in visual and multi-media
arts, exhibiting works in small spaces of contemporary art. As an
independent resource person invited by the academe, students,
people's organizations and other institutions, he shares his
knowledge about creative songwriting, cultural history and rock
education. In the age of social media, he is a humorist who
microblogs. He loves ink and nature.
HUMANIDAD ALBUM
"Humanidad"
is Dong Abay's 7th studio album and his first full-length release
since "Flipino"(2006). It is a collection of 14 musical
ideas written and processed at different phases of the artist's life.
This body of work consists of artistic choices spanning more than two
decades of putting words and chords into paper.
The songs are diverse
materials ranging from his folk and punk roots to modern alternative
rock sensibilities. Nonetheless, these tracks have the inimitable
trademark of effortlessly weaving melodic stories about the human
condition through Abay’s brand of humour, biting sense of sarcasm
and basic common sense.
Dong Abay welcomed a
reliable and equally ingenious cast of players from the country’s
indie and mainstream scene namely: Kakoy Legaspi (guitars) Simon Tan
(bass) and Abe Billano (drums) to breathe life into and play his new
works with him. These dedicated and hardworking musicians comprise are part of a group with a vision known as Dong Abay Music Organization.
"Humanidad"
consists of random songs about being an earthling, a human being and
as a part of a great society of humanity living in a greater
universal scheme of things. "Humanidad" is a timeless
thought, the new language of Dong Abay beautifully crafted into an
inspired music album.
SONGSLIST
1. Dakilang Araw
(Great Sun)
2. Atake Sa Puso
(Heart Attack)
3. Trade Mark
4. Oligarkiya
(Oligarchy)
5. Vulgares (Living)
6. Karera ng mga Daga
(Rat Race)
7. Bulalakaw (Comet)
8. Porky
9. La Song
10. Bahaghari
(Rainbow) lyrics by Pete Lacaba
11. Dasal (Prayer)
12. Writ Of Kalikasan
13. +
14. Oyayi (Lullabye)
WHAT WE NEED
After more than a year
of working and polishing the compositions, studio production of the
album is now on its initial stages. As you may know, professional
studio time is quite expensive but we, in the artistic production,
always aim to keep the music independent as much as possible without
forfeiting its quality. Though the group has already begun tracking,
the final stretch of studio work needs financial requirements to be
able to move forward. This is the reality which enables us and
everyone involved in the production to focus on what is needed to be
able to finish this project. And thus we need your help.
We will reward your generosity with exclusive music from the studio; unique mementos; art pieces by Dong Abay himself; album-related collectibles (very limited); album credits; and, tickets to a grand CD launch concert where the band will play LIVE for the first time all the songs in the album.
We fully understand
that not everyone can assist or contribute financially, but we will
be eternally grateful if you can spread the word around and share
this campaign to as many people as you can.
If you wish to reach us directly in support of our Humanidad campaign, please contact us at +63 9424861044 or you can email us at dongabaymusicorg@yahoo.com. Thank you very much.
