SURELY, Pinoy punk’s not yet dead but one of its pioneers, Al Dimalanta of proto-punks Dead Ends and neo-noiseniks Throw is moving on to other spheres of interest. He is retiring from the local punk scene whose rise, fade and resurgence his music and his bands have documented in loud gritty albums, such as Complaints (1986 debut), Mamatay Sa Ingay [Death By Noise] (1995), Wag Kalimutan Ang Ingay [Unforgettable Noise] (2010) and the sprawling Stand (2014).
In volume and stance, Dimalanta is used to kicking the pricks, but in his more recent engagement, a different kind of mean ass kicked back. To his dismay, The Punk Connection (TPC), a three-hour radio show he started with well-meaning friends in the punk and hard-core scene, became the target of undue brickbats from staunch DIY advocates.
Dimalanta tells SoundStrip, “TPC was and still is a good idea but there are purists who claim that TPC is a sell-out; that punk should not be on the radio. It can’t be part of mainstream media. By extension, the bands we play are sell-outs also.”
He continued, “They’re just a handful of ‘haters’ but I don’t understand where the hatred is coming from. To say that the radio show is the antithesis of what punk is all about is a stretch. To me, punk is all about the freedom to express yourself without sacrificing your basic principles.”
The bandleader explained further that he himself has maintained the “do-it-yourself (DIY)” ethos through the past 33 years with Dead Ends and then with Throw. They record albums in their own rehearsal studio without help from big-name producers or big-time record labels. They sell them at shows and at shops that promote the DIY disposition.
It is the same make-it-on-your-own enterprising spirit that he and his partners hope to foster in airing TPC every Saturday afternoon at Jam 88.3 FM. Their detractors, however would rather kill it at the bud.
“Actually, the most pressing reason we came up with TPC is to encourage new local punk bands to produce their own music,” Dimalanta added. “But then, some old school scenesters would rather put them down. They’d say on Facebook that the budding talents are pretenders; that real punk happened in their time, the 1980s. They’re saying the new bands have no right to play punk.”
“I mean, come on, these guys weren’t born yet in the 1980s and their know-it-all elders would rather put them down. To me, these cynics seem to be advancing a culture of exclusivity. Then again, punk’s otherwise; it should be inclusive. It’s there to whoever loves it. If you need credentials to play it, that’s not punk at all.”
The disappointment has led Dimalanta to distance himself from the punk scene, but he is not retiring from playing music at all. He said he just wants to move on. He is done with everything as a punk rocker: He has written over 100 original songs, and that is enough to prove his worth in the scene he is now withdrawing from.
The front man is currently writing new materials for what could be Throw’s fifth album and, at the same time, he is moving into the music he loved and continues to love before punk shook him up seriously in heart and mind.
He confided, “My bandmates in Throw are contemplating on taking a new direction. Throw has always been partly thrash-metal. You can’t figure us out as purely punk like The Clash or strictly hard-core like Black Flag or Fugazi.”
“We’ve always been metal-influenced right from the start. Now, we’re looking at new materials that are not quite punk, not quite hard-core but the noise remains the same. We’ll incorporate the things we love about punk rock but our new sound will no longer be [like that]. Think Slayer, for instance.”
Dimalanta is also thinking of indulging in his love of classic rock and the blues. He is in the midst of forming a blues power trio.
He considers himself an eclectic music listener having at one time or another been exposed to Top-40 pop, jazz-fusion, heavy metal and punk. He admitted, though, that he is not keen on lending an ear to today’s young sound from the international rock scene because one can hardly hear the guitars, leading him to consider championing the return of rock guitars in popular music.
On heavy rotation in his player on the road or at home are the enduring rock of Descendents (“Everybody loves them…”), Living Colour (“Hardly punk rock…”), Led Zeppelin (“Their entire discography will sustain you for a lifetime and they’re the personification of heavy metal…”) and Deep Purple, among others.
This author asked him who then are at the forefront of the new Pinoy punk/rock scene:
“The Go Signals: Melodic Britpop.” (From their Secret and Lies album, check out Time, “Sinong Aling Gloria?” and “Bullet For Your Eye.”)
“The Isidro Project: Earnest, straight from the gut.” (Top tracks from their Mabuhay ang Pilipinas album: “Angal ng Angal,” “Bitay” and “Desaparecidos.”)
“Bonifacio Republic: Not exactly punk but well appreciated in punk rock shows. From Unang Sigaw (Primal Scream), slam to the sound of Sa Diyos and Magnanakaw.
Image credits: Ivee Johnson