For the members of the P-pop boy group Alamat—Alas, Jao, Mo, Taneo, Tomas, and Rji—the past three years have been nothing short of transformative since they made their debut in 2021. Now that they are gearing up for their highly anticipated concert, Ragasa, happening on Dec. 6, at the New Frontier Theater, the group reflected on their evolution as artists, the sense of unity within the P-pop community, and their deepening connection to Filipino culture.
As a group with the mission to promote Filipino pride through its music, for them, being an Alamat member is more than just doing music, but also bringing pride to the country.
For Taneo, the group’s main dancer, the best part about being part of Alamat is the strong sense of community that has blossomed among the members.
“One of them is being part of, like, this community where people have a lot of common denominators. Like you’re helping to raise the flag and you know that while you’re helping, you’re also growing together,” Taneo told Manila Standard Entertainment. “And I think it’s a big thing to have a community like that, especially as artists so you don’t feel like it’s lonely. I guess that’s the greatest thing.”
On the other hand, the group’s youngest, Jao, echoed this sentiment, highlighting Alamat’s mission to promote Filipino culture through music.
“As an artist and an Alamat member, I can’t deny that it’s humbling to know we’re here for each other, like brothers and that’s one beautiful thing. And, not only that, through Alamat’s concept, which is to promote Filipino culture, it’s like hitting two birds with one stone. From the start, we weren’t familiar with this, but now, it has grown in us that the culture of the Philippines is very rich and we get to represent it,” Jao added.
Since their debut, Alamat members shared that they are continuously evolving, both as musicians and as individuals. Reflecting on their musical journey, Alas, one of the group’s vocalists, believes their improvement is a result of both their experience and the guidance they’ve received from industry professionals.
“Music-wise, maybe we have improved because since we’ve been in this industry for a long time, anyway, we were able to work with producers, musicians, and composers. So, we were able to receive lessons on how to do this and that since they are the ones who worked in the industry. I think we have improved a lot,” Alas explained.
Meanwhile, the group’s main vocalist, Tomas, gave credit to the group’s collaborative spirit for their artistic evolution.
“We’ve been working together for quite a while now and during those years, we were able to find the flavor we wanted in our music because we have different tastes in music, and we got to know a lot of people who were artists as well. So, we got to know what we wanted in our music,” he stated.
Lead vocalist Rji added that Alamat’s growth has been fueled by the constructive criticisms they openly received from the people around them.
“In terms of improving our music, maybe, we also take constructive criticism from the people around us. And, we take it as motivation so that we can create music that people can love,” said Rji.
As the “Maharani” singers are gearing up for their upcoming concert, the group is focused on delivering an even bigger and better performance than before.
“We want to work harder because, of course, we want our next concert to be big. So, I think, we’ll push ourselves to be bigger. Not just only in the industry, but also as people,” Jao stressed.
“The journey and the process, it’s the most enjoyable part. Because just like our concert last year, in ‘Dagundong’ last year. So, we already went through and experienced the tiredness, the blood, sweat, and tears. But I think, we’re ready and we can do it. There’s pressure, but it’s a good pressure that we can push ourselves to the top,” Mo added.
