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As Oh! Caraga phases its first full-length solo live performance, the Vispop band envisions Cebu as a inventive hub the place Bisaya music can thrive
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “Usbon nato bai ang Bisaya music scene (Let’s change the Bisaya music scene),” Sherwin Fugoso informed fellow songwriters Kenneth and Adam Corvera again in school.
Since then, the trio has change into champions of Bisaya songwriting, forming Vispop band Oh! Caraga and beginning its personal label, Oh Caraga Music Company, devoted to nurturing Bisaya expertise.
This October 24, the band members’ ambitions take a significant step ahead because the they stage their first full-length solo live performance, Bagani sa Gugma, on the Waterfront Cebu Resort and On line casino in Cebu Metropolis.
The band recollects how, for years, songs written in Bisaya had been dismissed as baduy (unsophisticated) subsequent to their Tagalog and English counterparts. They credit score campaigns just like the Visayan Pop Songwriting Marketing campaign — a Bisaya songwriting competitors the place every of them had been particular person finalists — for serving to change the narrative on how Bisaya songs are perceived.
“Ang Bisaya, mura siya’g gold mine (Bisaya is sort of a gold mine),” Kenneth stated, “Gamay pa kaayo ang na discover (So little has been explored thus far).”
Now, via Bagani sa Gugma, they hope to proceed that exploration, displaying how far Bisaya music has come and the way a lot additional it may possibly go. The live performance will function greater than 20 Oh! Caraga songs, together with “Ipanumpa Ko” and “Bagani,” which turned finalists within the 2020 and 2024 Worldwide Songwriting Competitions, respectively.
Although it’s Oh! Caraga’s first solo live performance, the group received’t be alone onstage. They are going to be joined by Bisaya artists from their very own label, collaborating as effectively with Cebu-based administrators, producers, and designers to make it an all-Bisaya manufacturing.
“Dili jud ni siya live performance na money-making (This isn’t a live performance for money-making). It’s extra of a cultural motion,” described Kenneth.
For many years, Manila has been the gravitational middle of the Philippine music trade, drawing Bisaya artists from throughout the nation who dream of success. Typically, the band remarks, this pull can compromise an artist’s Bisaya id, with many writing in Tagalog or English to discover a wider viewers.
Even in Cebu-based festivals, names from Luzon are sometimes prioritized, as seen within the 2023 Wavy Child pageant, which lower a number of Cebuano acts unexpectedly.
Oh! Caraga additionally needs to not break up the distinction, solely producing the live performance with no main label backing. “If amo ni i-push ang imaginative and prescient with different labels, basin naay different intention (If we push this imaginative and prescient with different labels, they might produce other intentions),” Adam stated.
The band envisions Cebu as a inventive hub the place Bisaya music can thrive. They consider a full-blown live performance like Bagani sa Gugma can present companies and authorities leaders that native music deserves critical funding. This imaginative and prescient aligns with Cebu Metropolis’s newly handed Bisaya Music Ordinance, which requires public institutions to allot 30 % of their day by day playlists to Bisaya songs.
“It is going to create competitors within the trade to supply solely high quality songs. Dili lang (Not solely) Spotify-ready however commercial-ready,” Adam stated.
Wanting forward, the band desires of organizing a Bisaya music pageant that may stack up in opposition to nationwide and worldwide ones. All these, nevertheless, are solely in service of preserving the Bisaya language via music, a purpose they’ve had in thoughts lengthy earlier than they got here up with this live performance and even this band.
“Moabot ra unhappy ang panahon na ma-appreciate [sa uban] ang Bisaya. Kung dugay pa gani na, we’ll die attempting (The time will come when others will respect Bisaya. If that takes a very long time, we’ll die attempting),” Fugoso stated. “The Bisaya language is price dying for.” – Rappler.com
