A year ago, Don Jaucian wrote a very controversial article that pretty much called OPM dead. Of course, a myriad of characters called him a slew of names, while defending OPM. At that point, NU 107 had been off the air for two years already. Personalities from the scene had grown up, or moved on to do other things (Rico Blanco by then had “actor” on his CV) and the bars all felt unfamiliar.
Fast forward to today and we discover Foaming at the Mouth, a weekly radio show on the Internet hosted by Diego Castillo, guitarist of Sandwich, one-half of DJ duo The Diegos, and an old DJ of NU 107. In a short span of eight weeks, his show has garnered a modest amount of listeners, but what music fans — geeks, really — these listeners are. Which got us thinking: Hey, this feels familiar. We spoke with Diego about his new radio show, NU 107, the scene, and music of course!
How did Foaming come about? I read it was because of boredom.
I wasn’t exactly bored, Luis talaga o, ha ha. I just miss having Not Radio. I miss talking to Quark (Henares) and Myrene (Academia). I won’t lie: I also kinda of miss having an audience of people who liked stuff that I also like.
Which was what Not Radio was for you?
Well, Myrene started it by herself and I was the audience. I heard her, I met her, and this is why we’re here right now. It was a connection of geekdom. Foaming — you’re a bit nutty to listen to me for 2 and a half hours, that’s impossible. Kung mag-papa-cool ka lang, hindi mo to kakayanin. Two hours! Ang tiyaga mo. But I figured maybe there’s a person like me, or there’s an 18-year-old Quark out there na matutuwa [the way natuwa ako with Not Radio]. Baka lang. And of course, for my girlfriend. I counted the number of weeks before I saw her again so I thought I’d do this and talk to her.
So a lot of this has something to do with NU.
Well, yes, but Myrene specifically. Remember, NU was different na nga, tapos meron pang Not Radio that was different from the whole of NU.
And you called in Foaming at the Mouth…
Anybody who knows me knows that once I start talking about stuff that I love — which is of course music, na-ke-crazy ako. Hindi mo na-fe-fake. Also, pagka-masira ang ulo ko within the show, may disclaimer na.
Okay, so how do you go about a radio episode?
Punk rock, DIY! Wala akong mic; gamit ko lang yung mic ng laptop. Papatayin ko lahat ng electric fan, sisirado ko yung bintana, aircon. Labor of love talaga. In terms of themes, wala, kasi kalat talaga brain ko. When I press record, no holds barred na siya. You can never pretend to be anybody you are not. There’s no guiding factor here.
How very third world!
Kids have it easy these days. Before, we didn’t have anything. You had to go down to Landmark grocery [in Makati] to get Spin, which was the only magazine you had access to. I think that creates the foaming aspect, also. You could tell off-the-bat that someone is a huge fan; magku-kwento siya tapos parang ang saya-saya niya na dalawa na kaming may kilala sa so-and-so band. Not to sound like an elitist, too because stupid din yun. I thought the function of music was to be shared so you can have this community. That was the idea — I was telling the kids on the show na in the mid-90s, that was how we went about meeting friends. We’d bump into shows, watch the same bands, trade tapes and stories. I wasn’t fueled by the pitchforks or the stereogums of the Internet.
So would you say through Foaming, that there’s a scene there now?
Does that constitute a scene? Remember a scene should be buo. Hmm, I also talk about that aspect on the show. I miss the days when it was a small group of people you saw all the time, every time. And it was very personal. It was geeking out personified. And it wasn’t because anybody said you had to do it but because you don’t give a shit about what anybody said!
So yes, would you say there’s a scene brewing there right now?
The sad truth is, yes there is a scene out there, but nobody has any true blue passion for anything anymore, especially music. I can sense it’s really all prefabricated shit. Nobody will go out on a limb and say they’re listening to Tiffany. Dapat nga sabihin yun. [Kids] don’t get na pare-pareho sila. They say the new Arcade Fire blah blah blah but when pressed harap-harapan, hindi nila masabi why they said that to begin with. They’ve lost the point completely.
That’s pretty sad. But I see Foaming gaining traction. Music journalist Chuck Klosterman even liked your Facebook page! How big would you say is your audience?
Maliit lang, and it fluctuates. It’s hard because you see the likes on your Facebook Page but that doesn’t translate to a listen, right? And even with the listens, you have to be a member of mix cloud, so it’s difficult to say. The first episode we’re at 1,500 listens. The second one, around 900. The third, we reached about 2,000 listens. I don’t know. It’s a constant struggle this internet thing. I love it to death but I also hate it to death — it’s weird no? The immediacy on things, I find weird, especially in terms of music. To fully love the albums, it takes a few listens. Which is why [I think the immediacy of the internet] robs you of your own opinion of things. You have to listen to music, read books, and watch films. It’s a personal experience that you can share with other people — this is the building block of that scene that we’re talking about. At the end of the day, ito lang talaga ang alam ko.
And you’re doing that now, don’t you think? You’re sharing a very personal playlist to a growing number of people — international audiences included.
There’s a whole bunch of people who also follow me on mixcloud, who also have their own pages. Siguro there are four Americans, a couple of Londoners, there’s one from Singapore, another from Brazil. It’s a super small international crowd.
Which makes Foaming a good vehicle to get local material out there! Where does OPM figure?
I’ve played Tarsius, Spazzkid. A lot of local electronic stuff because I find them more interesting than the rock stuff. The problem is, you know how I work. As soon as I press play, no holds barred na yan. So sometimes, I intend to play, say Flying Ipis but I forget or I get off-tangent!
So which local acts are you looking into?
The Strangeness, Wilderness, Cambio. I like Twin Lobster, Outerhope, magaling naman talaga sila. Saab Magalona’s band, magaling ah! The Cheats ata name nila.
Make an episode, then!
Onga e. Pero alam mo naman yung politics. Also, you don’t want to alienate people. You want to rub the idea on more kids as to why we listen to music. Even as a fan, you can only listen to x amount of stuff. So this is also like telling them, music is a never-ending process. And that it’s okay not to know everything. Wag kayong magpapabraso sa mga hipsters na nagsasabi kelangan mo mahalin ang ganito, na hindi cool yan. Okay lang kung hindi mo masakyan ang Arcade Fire. That’s why we’re also sharing what we know di ba?
Tune in to new episodes of Foaming at the Mouth every Sunday night on Mixcloud.
Photo from Foaming at the Mouth Facebook page
