A Filipino from the Philippines, for the first time ever, has been selected to participate in a prestigious music program in Paris.
John Paul “JP” del Mundo was among 61 who bested 4,000 applicants to partake in the Red Bull Music Academy for an edition to be held from Oct. 25 to Nov. 27.
“I still couldn’t believe it until now, because I know how hard it is to get into,” Del Mundo told Rappler.
The academy, since 1998, has been “a platform for those who make a difference in today’s musical landscape.”
Among artists the academy has mentored include producers such as Flying Lotus, Mohawke and Tokimonsta. It has also hosted lectures from industry legends Nile Rodgers, Questlove and Brian Eno, among others.
Operated by music journalists and label heads, the academy accepts beatmakers, instrumentalists, producers, vocalists, among other “committed music lovers.”
During the session later this year, program participants will also have the opportunity to work with each other using a wealth of live instruments and other music technology, indulge in the local music scene and may play alongside the music industry’s finest at concerts and club events, Rappler reported.
Del Mundo is a largely self-taught musician who relied on YouTube tutorials. He told Rappler he was first inspired to learn guitar after listening to the Green Day album “American Idiot.”
These days, the spectrum of music he plays is much wider.
“As a musician, I’ve gone everywhere from pop-punk to technical death metal to blues to bebop to Hip-Hop,” he said.
Del Mundo calls his sound “electronic textural maximalism” and said his exposure to French House music was pivotal for his shift to electronic music production.
“I was really blown away the first time I heard Justice’s ‘Genesis,’ and my early influences were definitely the French electronic acts like Madeon, SebastiAn, The Toxic Avenger and Daft Punk,” he recalled.
The Filipino musician also compared his sound to his favorite sitcoms, which include “Arrested Development,” “Community,” and “30 Rock.”
“You have the main jokes going on, but at the same time, there are a ton of tiny jokes going on in the background that you won’t even notice until past the 20th re-watch. With my music, you have the main things going on like the beat, bass and melody, and at the same time, there are a lot of microtextures flying past each other.”
Del Mundo is involved in the music collective Logiclub. He has also scored two short films – “Agos” and “Pasan” – by young filmmakers from Ateneo deo Manila University. Both films competed in the Court Metrage section of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, Rappler reported.
“The center seems to be Metro Manila, but we also have great acts from Visayas and Mindanao like Womb and Kaapin! It really is all over, and it is here to stay,” he said. (With reports from Rappler)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend June 27 – 30, 2015 Sec B pg.2)
