EP37
Dong Abay -Rockstar of Freedom
(Cover Image by Bolichie Suzara)
Dong Abay is a Rockstar, a poet, an activist, a scholar but most of all he is a Filipino. I've known Dong as one of my frat brods from the Pi Sigma Fraternity sometime in 2004 although we met as activists during the time I worked on the campaign for reparations for the damages from the Marcopper Mining Spill in Marinduque many years ago. His music was the anthem of a generation during the 90s and early 2000s with such hits as 'Banal na Aso, Santong Kabayo', Naroon, Kamusta na?, Trapo, and many others that fueled my and others of my generation's college drinking sessions, activism, and captured the vibe of our generation.
Today those songs from his first band Yano are classics of Filipino OPM and even if you don't know the band you can be sure you've heard his songs over the radio or even over the eskinita videoke sessions. This conversation is about life as a musician in this covid19 era- a vocation he aptly describes as one of the most dangerous in a pandemic but we also chat about his passions for cycling, Jose Rizal, and so many others. I've always admired Dong as one of those Rockstar poet academics -he is a voracious reader and wonders why more Filipinos do not read more and this poet academic genius bleeds this knowledge into his songs through his current band D.A.M.O (Dong Abay Music Organization). I am releasing this episode on Philippine Independence day weekend because I feel this conversation with Dong transcends so much of how the Filipino feels and experiences the freedom which we have that is constantly evolving. And Dong Abay puts it so apt in one of his old songs: Liparin mo sa ulap, Sisirin mo sa dagat, Hukayin mo sa lupa, Baka naroon ang Kalayaan.
-------
As part of our evolution in this second season we are working towards making the Wildcast more sustainable by creating avenues where listeners can help us continue to provide you all with these amazing conversations so you can show your support for the Wildcast by buying us a coffee through www.buymeacoffee.com/Wildcast. This helps us invest in better equipment, allow us to host the podcast online, and create better content for all of you listeners.
SUPPORT THE WILDCAST BY BUYING US A COFFEE:
www.buymeacoffee.com/Wildcast
