Gabbi Garcia, Khalil Ramos, Ben & Ben for LSS

Sat down with the stars of LSS, one of the entries this year for the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos are reel and real life partners, this comes in the prime of their careers and is at the perfect time to experience that dreamers do succeed. This is what they want you to feel.

Ben and Ben says "This is the first time that we’re having a blogcon and we didn’t know what it is. It almost never happened and more than that, we are so thankful to everyone we worked with because we are new at this. When the film rolls, we knew the value of pre prod, scoring, it is such a unique experience. We appreciated it more when we saw how dedicated Gabbi and Khalil. When we said yes, we got into an acting workshop, it wasn’t easy even if we were playing ourselves in the film. We overthink simple scenes and they do the heavy dramatic scenes, we saw them doing it again and we don’t know how they did it. We started here as a budding band, the timeline is aligned with our story and progressed until today. We related to their story instead of ours, we cried in one scene and you will love that.”

Khalil says “We were offered this last year, early 2018 so it’s almost a year. We didn’t know this would push through, when everything was in place and pitched to us, we didn’t know it was coming true, we are from different networks, but when the whole project and ben&ben and the producers came in, we felt really right. We fell in love with the characters right away. We did a workshop and we felt open about the challenges on cam, we prepared a lot before we shot it. Zach is on his way to profess love with his best friend but he was really a hopeless romantic, so he struggled. Their path crossed when Zach was singing a Ben&Ben song, that wad their LSS hence the story.”

Gabbi says “I thought it was all a rumor. The movie felt awkward in the beginning, I felt it was an advantage because we were not a loveteam, we were friends first and we used that part for the project, we felt we did a good job. I felt I had to fight for it and GMA was very considerate about what I wanted to do as an artist, it was a long process but all worth it! I play Sarah, an aspiring musician and is willing to do everything but she had priorities. For a time she didn’t believe in her dreams until Zach came.”

Jade Castro says “We met the band November last year and got them in the organic process of doing the film. We laid out the possible stories, they had a semblance of the story and casting them was a dream. There are very few options, but it was a great actor Khalil and Gabbi, even if we castes them separately. We wanted this to be his first music film. He did not have a music based film. Our dream was also doing this as one film industry, no networks, just them working together. We didn’t know Gabbi was okay but we did send our intentions."

The film will feature the songs Ride Home, Branches, Leaves, Kathang Isip, Bibingka, Fall, Maybe the Night, Mitsa, Araw Araw and Sunrise. Produced by Globe Studios, Dokimos Media Studios Inc and Ben&Ben.

Gabbi Garcia, Khalil Ramos and introducing Ben & Ben directed by Jade Castro. It will be shown this September 13-19 during the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Watch the other entries too.

You have to watch it!

Get Ready for HUEniverse Music Festival

HUENIVERSE is one of the most awaited Music Festivals in the country and since last year, the industry was abuzz with what could be the biggest party brought to us by Brightbulb Productions, but really, what is about to happen this September?

Artists like Bita and the Bottles, Agsunta, Spongecola, Written By The Stars, Claudia Baretto, around 12 Big names of in OPM music will converge in Filinvest Concert Grounds in Alabang. This is co-presented by SUN Cellular and has several partners. They will also have an international DJ to play music til the wee hours of the morning so you better get ready to party all day!

John Pratts, Camille Pratts, Isabelle Oli, Angelica Panganiban and Sam Milby form Bright Bulb Productions and originally they were just planning for Moira’s concert, then the music video came, then Kyla, then another one for Moira, then a movie but they want to concentrate in HUEniverse first. Their motivation is the artists dream so they start for that. Angelica have attended Coachella and Fuji Rock but in the country they wanted to spread positivity and learn from musicians here. To forget their worries, to get the artist spread their colors, to be positive. This is HUEniverse. It’s going to be fun!

Party starts at 1PM and the lineup will be a huge secret, so people could look forward and get to watch their favorite artists. There will be food stations, VIP section, food trucks, but if you have entered, you can’t go back. You will wear your status, there will be no dead airs (I hope this is true) and will have two band setups so you will enjoy music in the venue  continuously. This is also a product of listening to local artists (as John mentioned), they fell in love with OPM. It is a long term project and they are also planning ahead of what to do next year. Thing is, they are only allowing people 18 and above. They have also complied with security requirements of the city because they want everyone to be safe. They will be very strict. You can enjoy all the instagrammable areas especially the huge rocket which they will be placing in front of the stage. This will be really huge. Proceeds of this will be for the Hueniverse foundation. Details will be at Hueniverseph.com.

The ultimate dream is for Pinoys not to actually have to go to other countries because this is the perfect thing to happen in the country. They are hopeful it would encompass ages, people can bring their friends and family, make this a yearly event. They have a secret performer, but it will be divulged on the 14th so watch out for that. They also announced tickets will also be sold at 399 for the Gold Lite Section so everyone has the capacity to go there. They will also have arrangements for security, no things should go beyond 12 inches for bags. The long party will be from 12pm noon til 3am the next day. They will be also encouraging to report those who wouldn’t follow their guidelines, security is tight so don’t even try doing something bad!

Ticket Prices are at Php 2,999 for Platinum, Php 999.00 for Gold and Php 399.00 for Gold Lite. There is a VIP section but of course is offered to a select few.

So for those evil doers, you got no place here. For those who want good vibes, who want to have a good time and forget about your problems for a few hours, come and get entertainment at the HUEniverse Music Festival. This will be at the Filinvest City Events Grounds. 

You shouldn’t miss this!

LISTEN Campus Tour: Championing Mental Health with Music

The Listen Campus Tour in FEU Manila

Mental Health has been one topic everyone feels a little uneasy to talk about. That alone is a problem there because one of the reasons it flourish IS because of the fact that nobody is talking about it. You and I, a lot of people in general have some issues with it and have relatively one or more people we know who are suffering from it. Has anybody listened to you? Do you feel alone in the battle against it? Well, you shouldn’t - and I’m telling you one way to make it easy to deal with.

A few nights ago, I was invited to the Listen Campus Tour held in the Far Eastern University grounds in Manila. I am foreign to the place but felt right at home in the university belt because I have been going to nearby UE when I can for other matters. It was a concert, filled to a brim with students as it was an annual affair to welcome students in the Tamaraw’s Green and Gold camp (via Tatak Tamaraw Welcome Freshmen Fest which is a yearly event). LISTEN Campus Tour is one of a few activities that the organizers, partners Media.Xchange (a pr corp) and Sindikato Artist Management would want to do in order to address mental health.

Fern and Me

Artists who joined the cause

The Department of Health also had a representative to explain the mental health law

Our interview after their set

For those who don’t know, the youth ages 18-25 have had the highest incidence of mental health issues and much of this have gone unnoticed, untreated and with music, they aim to inspire people, set examples of themselves and perhaps change the minds of those who are suffering of it. The power of music is insurmountable, it sets the mood, it has the ability to encompass ages and make moments relatable. During the concert I saw students take a breather, sit, stand and talked to their classmates (which makes it healthy btw). On stage, the organizers sought help from the Department of Health, their institutional partner (together with private firm Philippine Mental Health Association) represented by Ms. Clarence J. Fernandez, a registered nurse who was tasked to talk about the newly passed Mental Health Law. I felt assured the information they were giving the audience was accurate and apt since the implementing institutions themselves were involved.


Sindikato was awesome enough to include some of their artists (who came in and helped as soon as they knew what the cause was about), which in general was greatly giving of their time and patience, to somehow get involved in efforts for awareness on mental health. The performances from Hulyo, Dionela, Arthur Nery, Syd Harta, Nathan & Mercury and Fern (of which I’m a fan btw) just took my breath away. Although it was raining in the venue, students braved it all and kept listening to them while artists share how they related to their songs, and hoped it could help one or more people in the audience seeing how even if some of them are suffering from it, they’re completely okay. Here’s our interview with them after their set:

Meanwhile, it was awesome to talk to Fern and Nathan and Mercury about their thoughts on the cause. I have high hopes after hearing them all so positive about this and think another tour in other campuses/schools would be so good. Fern made me realize how we all are, especially "artists like us" who are a little crazy after all and we in some ways suffer with mental health issues.





Kean Cipriano and the whole Callalily band on the other hand was amazing on stage. I expected no less than that because I’ve seen them live several times. They’re the type of superstars which the crowd knows all the songs, requests for it after a song and listens to it intently. I was surprised to see Kean and the band taking a few moments to ask the crowd to put down their phones so they could feel and be in the moment. Kean also mentioned how every time he performs, he wants to connect and see their crowd, look them in the eye and take them to church, to let them feel the exact emotions of the songs they’ve written. Some of the songs may have come from a dark place, of failed relationships, but it also has a message, to triumph over obstacles just like in real life. Check out our interview with them after the concert.

 



I would like to take this bit to thank the people behind Listen Campus Tour for having us cover the event. I believe they have several of these arranged in the next few weeks, I hope to see them in my own alma mater too. If you want to talk about their cause and see them in your part of the woods, you might as well contact them via Facebook.com/ListenCampus and @ListenCampusTour on other social channels. Get connected and help them achieve their goals, help a joe out who’s suffering from mental health as well.


It's a good cause.

81st Oktoberfest at the Solaire Tent

Had another wonderful taste of Oktoberfest once again at the Solaire Tent in Parañaque City this morning. This is officially their 81st year of doing this and yes, it's just becoming bigger and bigger.

The German Club Manila happily shared how they have been able to break records in the number of crowds and liters of beer, German sausages consumed every year and 2019 should be no different. This year they are doing it in three days on October 17, 18 and 19. It is expected to be full so make sure you wear those lederhosen trousers and fancy dirndls because this is the authentic one, it comes with a full Bavarian band called Bavarian Sound Express (OMG I miss the 99 Luft Balloons medley)!

The desserts like the classic strudel and Kaiserschmarnn have to be noted because it just was heavenly with the cream and vanilla ice cream.

I heard they are prepping about 4-5 liters of Weihenstephan per person so there won't be shortchanging on the beer supply. You can book tickets via Oktoberfest.ph and purchase them online. 

The event was graced by the current German Club President Tobias Rast, Solaire VP for F&B Knit Becker and VP for Culinary Michael Dinges. The first photo above was the yearly dance we had to do before the start of festivities, it's a great way to break the ice and celebrate Oktoberfest like how the Bavarians do. 

Call the German Club via 8942899 or 8184236 because this is going to be the biggest authentic German Oktoberfest in Manila, and you wouldn't want to miss this for the world! They will also have separate raffle draws including trips to Europe. Not even joking!

Raise your glass and say Prost!