The Writings on the Corridor

August 28, 2010

the Unityfest 7 should have started 7 in the evening. and 7 in the evening was three hours ago.

Unityfest is an annual gathering of indie rock bands from across the islands, with guests from either Cebu or Manila, or both. and ICONOCLAST is one of the partners of the said event. and because of the non-cooperative mood of the weather, it rained on the parade that Budit de la Cruz formed. Budit has been around the circuit for quite a long time now as he is one of the original founders of Corridor Music Group, Cagayan de Oro’s answer to Hopeless and Sub City of Van Nuys, California.

PAST

personally i love most kinds of music but i always gravitate to listening to rock music – especially indie rock (although i admit i love some notable pop artists like Madonna, Lady Gaga, and some boy bands – true). and perhaps there must have been a time in my life that i erased or somehow sorted out and thrown away, because for the longest time i have never heard that there is such indie scene in the City of Golden Friendship. i didn’t have a single idea that for a time it was very much alive, until my friend Rosanna introduced me to Punchbowl. Punchbowl is an event that is very much like Unityfest, the only difference that it is done more often.

very much interested, I talked to Rosanna who are the guys behind the Punchbowl and if it is possible that I could get in

touch with them. thankfully she did help me in getting in touch with Chuck Bollozos and Jeffrey Siojo. if you find their names familiar, then yes they are just 2/5 of the band Gasulina that is included in this year’s music portfolio. they’ve been around for almost five years now and, no matter how disbanded they may be (two of them are in Manila and the other one is in Cebu), from time to time they volt in and create music in university gigs and events such as Punchbowl. I also learned from them that the indie scene started out really really early – way back in 1994 when music still matters to most of us. that time I wasn’t even pubescent. with our little talk together, I also learned that indie music scene is not dead – it’s just keeping a very low profile.

PRESENT

for today’s rock loving people, one place that they go to for rock worship is just near the pretty alabaster building of Capitol Hall. beside the tennis court there is a little shack that serves as a food counter and piano bar during weekdays. but when Saturday night kicks in, it transforms into a place where indie rock bands can play gods of their own right. Capitol Park Cafe is where it happens and also where Unityfest 7 is going to happen any moments from now.

i got to a deeper understanding of the CDO’s indie rock scene when i talked with Budit one time about the Corridor Music Group. if it wasn’t for the Corridor, mainstream media should have made a dinner out of the local indie rock scene six years ago. the Corridor started out with their frontmen Jose Ramon Calixto of Story of My Scab and Killy Mickey’s Rage Fajardo, who wanted to create a Drive-Thru records-like group in the hope to retain the scene, no matter how much mainstream can dominate the entire place. true enough, their hope came into fruition, with what is Corridor today: a strong bond etween indie rock music groups from different cities, especially with Iligan City with its Defiance Network. Budit also shared the times they had to hitch a truck for a ride going to Iligan City just to play music, then hitch a truck ride back home. just imagine the passion.

presently, the Corridor Music Group is based in Cagayan de Oro and still has a strong connection with Iligan’s Defiance
Network.

FUTURE

10 pm was an hour ago and the rain kept pouring down. but these guys are trying their best to come up with a solution. the rain suddenly stopped. it was their signal that they have to sweep the water off the court, put some lights on the stage and get ready to rock and roll the Kagay-an Festival away. despite of the heavy rain and the power mishap, they managed to continue with the show.

you may find it funny or dramatic, but yes it only goes to show that really, rock never dies – it only keeps a low profile. for a time.

*the pictures presented here are not the actual Unityfest 7. pictures of the said event will be published later on*