As a music columnist who plays in a band, I naturally get the privilege of listening to various artists, becoming friends with them, and sometimes even musically collaborating with a few.
DJ Angela, wife of Indiepinoy label head Nolit Abanilla, has her vocals featured in a couple of songs I wrote and had recorded with my longtime band Syato. Having laid in some tracks at their home studio, she eventually did a duet with our vocalist Mark Villagomez for our Christmas song “Regalo” and put in extro vocal lines for “Alay Sa Mga Bigo,” which also includes rapper Blanktape. She simply possesses a voice rightly influenced by the ‘90s generation of raw power singing.
I recall she was profusely sweating doing her part as she purposely kept the room’s air-conditioning turned off while recording. It was a good take and you can hear that when you stream “Alay Sa Mga Bigo.” No sweat!
DJ Angela is, an online radio jock for radiopilipinas, anchoring a daily 9 to10 morning show called It’s All About Music. Being informed she’s releasing her own album with the same title is, at least for me, an exciting development given my band’s good experience working with her.
It’s All About Music (The Album) will be launched tomorrow at Taumbayan Restobar on T. Gener St., Kamuning, Quezon City. The package will be available for streaming and downloading on Spotify, Deezer, iTunes/Applemusic, Amazon music, and other digital platforms, with limited CDs to be made available during the event.
Digging from her singing bouts at several bars and restaurants in both Marikina and Cainta, DJ Angela took the opportunity to work with tried-and-tested musicians from the indie scene, including her husband Nolit who plays bass for The Boxers. Nolit’s bandmates drummer Mon Valdecantos and keyboardist Samuel Valdecantos, along with guitarist Marvin Bea, backed her up on recording, while topnotch live performer Skarlet provided back up singing on the carrier track “Umasa.”
The album is peppered with melodramatic lines pushed on by alternative pop-rock arrangements held together by her consistently relaxed singing — never-ever sounding forced.
More than half of the 10 tracks (produced by Indiepinoy) are written by herself, namely, “Only A Dream,” “Panahon,” “Kapit Kamay,” “Kasama Ka,” “Sana’y Muling Magkita,” and the opening, lead track. Other collaborators in the album are Wendell Quinto of Date with Fate, Bandstand champ Carlos Miguel Beer Araneta, and composers Jing Enriquez and Leo Fantone.
Even with the relatively easy process to release proper recordings, it still requires a dedicated talent to be able to produce at least one song. Few artists nowadays come out with albums especially a debut one.
That alone makes DJ Angela’s statement powerfully tuned in.