During the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival in Puerto Galera, held February 28 to March 3, three artists retraced their roots as they performed for the crowd.
Low Leaf
Los Angeles-bred Low Leaf, who played during the festival’s second day, was on her fourth visit to the Philippines. It was “definitely the best so far.”
Her Filipino parents supported her and her two brothers’ music education. The girl with leaves in her hair, symbols on her face, and dreamcatchers on her ears presented her unique soundscape featuring electronic, mellow, and even rap weaving in and out of the songs she performed during the concert.
“I don’t have a label because it’s always changing, and I feel like it doesn’t need a label. It’s all just whatever comes through me,” Low Leaf told InterAksyon.com.
Fun and charismatic, she flitted around the stage and played the guitar for a live audience for the first time.
She performed “As One” and “Paradise”, both of which she wrote for the Philippines, and put her own spin on “Bahay Kubo”.
“For some reason, Bahay Kubo just warms my heart. I like that it’s about vegetables and food. Promoting people to eat healthy. I don’t know, I just like it,” she said with a laugh.
The artist who cites Grace Nono and percussionist Susie Ibarra as her Filipino idols is in the country for two months to record, collaborate, and make videos. She hopes to play more shows in between exploring the land, getting to know the people, and reconnecting with her ancestors.
“(I)t’s interesting ‘cause the world has yet to know our sound. But the time is now. I feel like for centuries the art has just been brewing underneath. And it’s coming out in the surface,” she said.
Low Leaf names “nature, God, compassion, peace, (and) togetherness” as her influences. When making music, she begins by “acknowledge(ing) the divine creator, God. I ask to be worthy to receive the music. And from there, everything just unfolds.”
Mishka Adams
British-Filipino Mishka Adams has been away from the Philippines for many years now, studying her masters in music in London and traveling the world for the last year and a half.
Absence did make her followers’ heart grow fonder. She was received by the audience so warmly that she was prodded to say, “I’ll give you free entry to all of my gigs!”
Adams performed songs from her first album and her latest, Songs from the Deep, on the fourth day of the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival. She sang some Brazilian tunes, too, such as “Juazeiro”, where a lover addresses a tree who witnessed his love story die out. She got the audience to sing harmony with her in “Volta”.
She also sang “Home”, “Weight”, and “My Love,” tracks from her latest album for which she drew the cover, played the guitar, and wrote the lyrics. The set, formerly celebratory, became as intimate as a candlelit dinner.
“(I)t took me a long time before I could play my songs without crying,” she told InterAksyon.com. Songs from the Deep was the most “her” she had ever been. While she is known for jazz music, here she went back to her old influences such as Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
It is inspired by what she experienced, what she learned about herself, and what she was and was not afraid of. After her masters in London (“It was a really, really difficult course.”), she lost her confidence and it took some time before she was able to not worry about her music. After that, she finally got herself to write.
Travel also played a part. She had been in Brazil, Argentina, Iran, Turkey, and Greece recently, and will soon be based in Berlin.
“You get to know another side of yourself when you’re taken away from your old environment,” Adams explained.
She recorded her album in the Philippines, and though she cannot describe the sound, she has one thing to say: “(I)t’s honest.”
Adams hopes to return to the Philippines after a year and do a tour.
Mellow Submarine
The last day of the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival showcased homegrown talent, including Mellow Submarine. According to vocalist and rapper Jaybee Brucal, who had returned after working as a DJ and dubber in Manila, they have only one influence: Bob Marley.
True enough, the band behind “Malasimbo Lady” practiced for the concert at a seaside shop called Make Waves, where art, secondhand books, and Bob Marley paraphernalia were sold.
Local reggae acts like Coco Jam and Tropical Depression also contribute to their sound. Add to the fusion punk rock, soul, RnB, and hip hop, as well as instruments such as the flute, percussions, guitars, and the kubing.
They are inspired by nature and island girls, said Brucal. As compared to the city, the sea is a more inspiring place to make music.
“It’s like paradise, man.”
source: interaksyon.com
