#filipino musicals

[filipinfodump]

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical

A Filipino Musical that hasn't left my mind since the mid 2010s

Poster for Kabesang Tales posted by Palakat Batangas City via Facebook

Although the Philippines is known for its many talented singers which include many that had crossed over to Broadway such as Lea Salonga, and Rachelle Ann Go, alongside many other Filipino-American talents like Conrad Ricamora, Arielle Jacobs, George Salazar, and Darren Criss just to name a few, the musical scene in the Philippines itself isn't as popular nor as successful in the country as it really should be.

Even with Filipino-majority musicals in states like the controversial Broadway musical "Here Lies Love" which narrates the life story of Imelda Marcos, one of the most controversial figures in Filipino politics and history today, and with Filipino stars often taking in lead or secondary roles in major productions, the musical boom of the 2010s did not come with a boom for the musical industry in the local level compared to the sudden popularity of American musicals like Hamilton, Heathers, Dear Evan Hansen, or Be More Chill to name a few.

The very few musicals that did garner the spotlight did not receive the same notoriety of these foreign productions save for one of the few musical movies to have gotten major media acclaim Loy Arcena's Ang Larawan (2017) (en. The Portrait) based on the 1997 play of the same name by National Artist Nick Joaquin which became a media frenzy as being maybe one of the few if not the only original movie not based on major series or created by a large production company to be released that year for the Metro Manila Film Festival. One of the things that had skyrocketed it to media attention was the fact that most theaters did not screen it and it was only shown in very few cinemas, but that's a story for another time.

Despite the time and devotion Filipino musical fans may have for theatre, rarely do Filipino made and produced musicals ever enter the pop culture zeitgeist due to many factors like the lack of advertising, accessibility issues, and honestly the lack of cast recordings. Out of the many throughout the 2010s, one of the few I was able to watch that I still think about at times is Ricky Lee's very own rap and rock musical Kabesang Tales.

Background

Photo of Ricky Lee, the writer of Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical) (en. Captain Tales - A Rap n' Roll Musical) is a rap and rock musical first performed in the year 2015 and was written by renowned Filipino writer and National Artist Ricky Lee. The musical was directed by Alejandro "Bong" Ramos, with music by Jeffrey Hernandez and Alfredo Ongleo, and produced by Red Lantern Production (Inquirer, 2015).

Photo of John Arcilla, the lead actor for Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

The musical stars John Arcilla as the titular character Telesforo Juan "Kabesang Tales" De Dios, famously known for his breakout role as Hen. Anotnio Luna in the historical film Heneral Luna released the same year as the musical, alongside other talents such as Dio Marco as Karyo, Kevin Posadas as Tano de Dios, Alecx Lorica as Juli De Dios among many other talented actors (Inquirer, 2015).

A cover of one of the book's translations posted by twitter user El Filibusterismo (@/joseriz15155899) via X/Twitter

The play is based on Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo (en. The Filibuster) and more specifically, the character of Kabesang Tales, the head of his barangay (a sort of Filipino village) and father of Basilio's main love interest Juli, who had turned into a guerilla bandit after his family and life were ruined by the Spanish friars. He becomes the feared Matanglawin (en. Hawkeye) who terrorizes the countryside. He plays a minor but important role in the books, being the father of one of the main secondary characters as well as being one of the main allies of the primary characters as they tried to start a revolution in the country.

The play primarily focuses on his perspective throughout the whole book with some scenes focusing more on the main protagonists Simoun and Basilio as well as his daughter Juli.

Performances and Releases

The musical had limited performances throughout some parts of the CALABARZON Region or Region IV-A, with some select performances in Metro Manila as well as some other provinces like in Mindoro, sometime during the years 2015-2017 with some being done in local cultural centers and schools throughout the region with very limited promotion outside of news stories.

The only promotional material I could really find are some posts on Facebook and a trailer in the Red Lantern Production's YouTube channel which could be seen here:

Trailer uploaded by Red Lantern Production via YouTube

There are no original cast recordings that I could find of any of the songs and the only material that I could find besides this are uploads on YouTube of scattered scenes from different parts of the play:

Full Playlist uploaded by YouTube channel pheejaypi here

I was also able to find a collection of clips of Karyo, a character possibly named after Karyo from Mga Ibong Madaragit which is a continuation novel of the El Filibusterismo written by Amado Hernandez, played by Terrence Guillermo.

Video uploaded by YouTube channel pinoy music maestro here

I remember some time in the 2010s seeing uploads of members of the cast singing in interviews I believe but I could no longer find any of these videos.

As of now, it is unknown if the production will ever come back with the last post on the Facebook page having been in 2021 with a post prior to posted on July 2019 calling for auditions in August 2019, possibly hinting that there was a planned 2020 tour for the musical before the pandemic hit.

Photo of the audition announcement posted on Facebook

The Plot (mostly from memory)

As there's barely any material of the live musical, I'll do my best to recollect what I could remember with the aide of the actual books to guide me. Of course, spoilers for Rizal's books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo if you haven't read them.

The plot follows the events of El Filibusterismo but mainly from the perspective of the titular character Kabesang Tales. It begins with an extremely happy and optimistic scene with him, his family, and barangay as well as the visit of Basilio, Tales's daughter's lover to their house. I remember that there was an extremely cheesy song here between the two that a lot of people squealed over.

Photo of the mentioned musical number between Basilio and Juli posted by Jayson Pascua

The perspective switches over to Basilio and his visit to his mother's grave where he is shocked to see a man there who is revealed to be the thought to be dead fugitive Crisostomo Ibarra who now goes by Simoun, a jewelry merchant from the United States. The two have a bit of an argument where Simoun tries to convince Basilio to join him and his rebellion and I don't recall exactly if there was a song, but it seems likely.

Perspective switches back to Tales as tragedy strikes as his entire family gets struck with malaria resulting in the death of his wife. I don't remember all the details here or if there was a song, but I remember a sort of depressing atmosphere for the rest of this part.

Photo showing all of the actors playing the De Dios Family posted by Jayson Pascua

The family struggles with money and friars come over to cause even more problems for them. There's a rap battle here between Tales and a friar. Here starts his downward spiral as he struggles to make ends meet as well as handle the friars that had been trying to gain his land. I don't recall if it's shown that he has to pay for a lot of lawyers, but he starts paying more and more for legal fees because of the legal drama with the friars and the government.

My sister tells me that there's a song about how good the friars are before they get properly introduced and I have a hazy memory of three friars wearing varied outfits typically associated with friars posing for the stage as people sing songs of praise and goodwill. My sister tells me that Basilio was in the ensemble here.

His son, Tano, gets drafted to the Guardia Civil (en. Civil Guard) and sent to the Caroline Islands because Tales could not pay money to prevent his draft due to their financial struggles. This is shown as a heart wrenching scene in the play where the rest of the family is left distraught.

He starts guarding his property in fear of bandits possibly taking his fields and taking whatever he has left.

Tales then gets taken by these bandits who demand ransom money for his return. There he meets Karyo, one of its leaders who tells him about the struggles of the working class and why he and the others had resorted to being bandits in the first place (?). I don't actually remember if this is the first they meet or what since I do remember that the two have a philosophical discussion about violence later and that Karyo is definitely a member of the bandits but there are scenes where he acts as the emcee during Tales's rap battle with the friar.

The bandits later lets him go back to his family where he finds that he has no one left.

Juli, in order to help with her family's financial struggles as well as pay for her father's ransom, leaves home and asks for loans and find work.

If I'm not mistaken, his father Tandang Selo goes mute with the grief of the continuous tragedies that had struck the family as well. It's hard for me to remember if this was shown in the musical.

When Tales returns, he finds himself at a loss for what has happened to his family. He is left with his daughter forced to work and his father mute. He is then met with Simoun, who comes to him as a jeweler. Simoun tempts him with some ideas of radicalization against the friars and he refuses at first before spiraling further and joining Karyo and his bandits, becoming the feared Matanglawin.

I genuinely don't remember if his meeting with Simoun was also in the musical or not but it's important context for the story.

The musical then switches perspective to Basilio, who gets implicated with a conspiracy against the government and gets arrested. A heartbroken Juli goes to Padre Camorra, a creepy priest that's been trying to corner her, to beg for his help since she saw no one else that could help her. This leads into a rather intense scene acted in shadows and lights where it is heavily implied that Juli gets assaulted.

After this, Juli sings a song about her assault where she contemplates getting revenge or retaliating but instead chooses to jump off to end her life.

The scene switches back to Tales who, unlike in the books, meet with his son again who has returned to the Philippines. This one, I know had a song in it since I remembered the extreme daddy issues punk rock vibes the scene gave off. He sang about how he no longer respected his father and that it's too late to repair things if I recall as he's now a bandit and he's a member of the Guardia Civil.

Photo of the confrontation between Tales and Tano where Tano sings about his frustration with his father posted by Jayson Pascua

Desolate and distraught at the loss of his family, Tales gets visited by a diwata (a forest spirit/fairy) and this part was extremely out of left field and absolutely not in the books.

Here, the diwata shows Tales visions of the future (???) and directly tells him, without any sort of subtlety, that the working class, and especially farmers like him, will continue to struggle in his country in the future. He is then shown a scene of farmers in a protest who were then taken down by police in what I remember as riot gear. He contemplates the future and is further given resolve to continue his rebellion.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales first meets a diwata who will later send him to the future posted by Jayson Pascua

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

I need to cut in and say that this was so on the nose and is by far the weirdest and personally maybe the worst part of the show. I'm not even against the message, it just ruined my immersion and just left a weird taste in my mouth. I think the play was doing a plenty good job driving that point across already without the time travel diwata scene but maybe that's just me.

The scene cuts back to the climax of the story where Basilio, distraught over then death of Juli, finally joins Ibarra as they plant a bomb in a wedding reception that the Governor-General of the Philippines was attending. The scene plays out like it was in the books where the lamp gets tossed out by Isagani and the revolution doesn't start.

It goes back to a scene of Tales and his men trying to fight the Guardia Civil where he is shot and killed in action, by the gun of his own son. Tano realizes what he has done and is horrified. This leads to a song which later leads to a finale that sings about Tales as the cast come together for the curtains to close.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

The musical ends and the cast is called on to the stage one by one, with the loudest applause going to Basilio who a lot of the girls found hot, and of course, the man himself, Kabesang Tales.

Photo of the closing song with Tales being shown front and center posted by Jayson Pascua

After the play and final thoughts

Ricky Lee actually attended the performance I watched and I remember so many people crowding around the actors to get their autographs. My sister bought one of Ricky Lee's book, his script writing guide "Trip to Quiapo" and had it signed but she genuinely can't find it anymore sadly. My sister also got the autograph of some of the actors and the director on that same book so I'm a little miffed that we can't find it.

I would discuss more things and even show off my old ticket but I'm pretty sure that I would end up doxxing myself if I speak any more details.

That's all I remember from it and I would love to say more or even discuss the songs but as you can see, I could barely remember them, with only maybe a solid grasp in about maybe four songs.

It's a shame that it doesn't have as much of an established release and media presence because despite that one glaring issue I had with the weird diwata scene, I quite enjoyed the musical and it remains one of the few that I actually got to experience live.

It isn't Les Miserables or Hamilton, but it's still a musical I'll probably fondly remember especially since El Filibusterismo is one of my favorite books of all time with the character of Kabesang Tales being one of the most interesting — a man of honor and virtue who slowly descends into extremist violence because society had failed him. It's sad to see this musical barely recognized and very little talked about today and I do hope that it will one day return to the stage.

References

Introduction

Palakat Batangas City. (2015, May 29). "The Batangas City Government and Red Lantern Production present Ricky Lee’s KABESANG TALES - Isang Rap en Rol Musical." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/palakat.batangascity/photos/a.1543377512565520/1636600273243243/?type=3&_rdc=1&_rdr

Background

El Filibusterismo (@joseriz15155899). (2019, November 13). "#TheFilibuster Ventura's salvificact made Rizal gave his original manuscript of El Filibusterismo, a pen and an autograph printed copy." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://twitter.com/joseriz15155899/status/1194459895657041920

Inquirer. (2015, December 12). John Arcilla stars in Ricky Lee ‘rap en rol’ musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tales/

Inquirer. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee writes rap, hip-hop libretto for new musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tales/

Lee, R. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee: “I have been longing to do a musical, music being a driving passion in my life.” PHOTO FROM RICKY LEE [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tale

Red Lantern Productions. (2015, December 2012). John Arcilla. PHOTO FROM RED LANTERN PRODUCTIONS [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tale

Performances and Releases

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical. (2019, July 27). Picture of the audition announcement posted on Facebook [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/kabesangtalestherockmusicale/photos/a.459803204196123/1309076952602073/

pheejaypi. (2016, October 3). Kabesang Tales: Isang Rap en Rol Musical clip 1 [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftRyZOpxAA&list=PL1Yv-w-s-ETvRYsDWtaMPw2q0QO0q8Nfc

pinoy music maestro. (2021, January 1). Kabesang Tales excerpts feat. John Arcilla and Terence Guillermo [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlOkDi8_D_A

Red Lantern Production. (2015, August 15). Kabesang Tales Trailer [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKKJsuBiuc

Plot

Pascua, J. (2015, October 11). Various photos [images]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://estranghero.weebly.com/photo-blog/john-arcilla-on-ricky-lees-kabesang-tales-isang-rap-en-roll-musical

[musings-n-museums]

being an immigrant child / growing up + away from your parents

"anak" by freddie aguilar // laundromat photos by @sunflowrrbabe // "everything everywhere all at once" directed by daniel Kwan, daniel Scheinert // "ladybird" directed by greta gerwig // "a letter to my 13 year old self" by laufey // "class of 2013" by mitski // "be brave be free" by zeppelinmoon

‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.

[machinegrl]

[ventique18]

The Filipino word for Faerie, Diwata, is not only used to pertain to actual fae but also to describe a person so unbelievably beautiful it renders you breathless.

I find it cute that Malleus is a literal diwata but he'd call Yuu that not because they're a faerie, but because they're so beautiful in his eyes that he can't find a word more superlative and perfect as that. 🙈💖

[blee-bleep]

old wip i never rlly posted becuz its corny asf but no regrets now, thank you @kiwis16 for fuckin inspiring me to do this

[reallyhardy]

thinking about the way vanessa hudgens and lalaine vergara paras played iconic childhood 'latinas' but they were mixed white-filipino and didn't get to show it or let ppl know it... so it was forever before i knew that the representation really was there... thinking abt standing at a bus stop waiting to go home after uni and some bloke asked me "you're from taiwan?" out of nowhere i said "no i'm half-filipino my mum's from the philippines" and he said "i've never even heard of it where's that" ...the obscurification of growing up filipino diaspora in the 2000s/2010s...

[kaydeneatsboys]

i actually love how so many poc falsettos fans (including me) headcannon whizzer every other race than white like the dude can be latino native american filipino and literally everything 🙏🙏

and the best part is that no annoying fly is in ur ear asking why it’s not ok to hc a poc character as white when we hc a white character a different race

[theproverbialpen]

Jay just posted a video talking about how he was recognized in El Nuevo Día, one of the biggest publications in Puerto Rico, and I HAVE to put this thought out there I have been holding onto it for so long-

Imagine Odysseus dancing with “Penelope” to Baile Inolvidable by Bad Bunny. Imagine him thinking about her and manifesting this vision of his wife that he spins around with, a wife he can’t hold in his arms because he’s lost at sea. Imagine him for yearning for one last dance with her, wondering if he’s ever going to make it home. Pensaba que contigo iba a envejecer/I thought I’d grow old with you.

Imagine Ody whispering to himself, “Si me ven solo y triste, soy culpable/If you see me alone and crying, it’s my fault”

Imagine Ody clutching nothing but open air, wishing it was Penelope instead. Tu me enseñaste a querer. Me enseñaste a bailar/You taught me how to love. You taught me how to dance.

I know it falls apart at some points because the song is about a breakup/ex but it’s just SUCH A GORGEOUS SONG??? And ofc Jorge Rivera-Herrans is our beautiful Boricua king and I fucking love salsa so much and ahhhhhhhhh. I was holding onto this idea because I was hoping to one day choreograph a dance or maybe take a shot at doing an animatic but FUCK IT I need to see this happen, please someone more talented than me make it happen 😭😭😭

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was defending my extended family from being killed via musical by some pan-Asian mafia (we’re Filipino).

[hinaypod]

Since Hi Nay has featured some Filipino folk songs in our musical episode, I wanted to share one of my favourite ones!

Whether or not the message holds true, it's still such a wonderful and underappreciated song.

[joasisart]

For context, I went to the Philippines last year with my grandma, and unexpectedly had to leave without her. In the Philippines, there's this tradition callled Babang Luksa which basically is the mourning period until the one year anniversary, where we come back to the Philippines. During the procession from the house, to the church, and to the cemetery, there were winds that me and my family now associate it with my grandma's presence. It was difficult to come back, but when is it ever, right? Now me and my family are spending the rest of the trip at beaches, resorts, etc.

[thewhizzyhead]

okay but mico's music aka epic telemachus is like really fuckin good tho

[musings-n-museums]

i don't know which one feels more like home. (the uncertainty or the chaos)

fireworks by jaedha godwin, pinterest // split by niki // post by @haykhighland (infinite thanks for letting me use your post // special by sza // images from pinterest // post-glacial by tori mccandless // "saga (i won't forget you when i'm gone)", andrei voznesensk - translated by @metamorphesque // split by niki // image from pinterest

[aflowerdrops]

Interview with Séance Scythe | Asian Drag/Music/Emo Scene

Séance Scythe is a creative – in the truest sense of the word. Based in Manila, he dabbles and excels in music, writing, cosplay, drag and various visual arts. The 24-year-old is also the frontperson of the band Séance and the Kleptokids. “I just love making things.” he says warmly. 

“Séance is a very cool name! I’m curious to know how you got it.” I asked on a Discord chat. 

“A lot of people always say - well, at first at first assumption - they're always like, did you get your name from Klaus from The Umbrella Academy? That is definitely a part of it, but this is how it started: a few years ago on Twitter - not a few, Jesus Christ. That was 2018. Oh my god. I feel old. I was on Twitter, and there was someone named Coven. This person tweeted, ‘I changed my name to Coven. Wouldn't it be so cool if someone was named Séance?’ And I was like, wait. They're cooking. What the fuck? And so I just kept that in the back of my mind. I was like, Séance, that sounds amazing.”

Being transmasc nonbinary, he started using the name before he socially transitioned, which helped him channel the kind of person he wanted to be: “I do consider it as part of my name, but there's definitely an aspect to being called [Séance] where it kinda makes me lock in to that persona, if that makes sense. I like being called Sésé because it kinda takes me away from the - I wouldn't even really call it a facade, but there is an element of, like, "oh, I'm THIS person right now because I'm Séance right now." Sorry if this sounds convoluted, but basically, it feels like a part of before I even started using it as my name, Séance felt like, I would always say that he was a better part of me.”

Both Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy and RuPaul’s Drag Race played a part in finding himself a name that feels as fated and natural as Séance did. When he started watching Umbrella Academy, he grew especially attached to Gerard’s favorite character Klaus. It made perfect sense to him because of his appreciation of Gerard himself. “It shares a connection with one of my biggest inspirations and one of his creations who I happen to empathize with a lot. So it felt really, really personal.” 

It started as a drag name for him, but he was in college at the time and didn’t have the opportunity to do drag just yet and had to continue using his dead name. When the pandemic started, he started to use the name on YouTube and other places online. 2022 was when he decided to fully embody the persona of Séance, an “idealized version” of himself. 

“It became less of a character and more of my identity. Initially, I went by Séance LeVey, inspired by Sharon Needles and her reference to Anton LaVey in a song. I loved how ‘Séance LaVey’ sounded, but later I didn’t want to share a name with someone who scammed people. A few years later, I dropped ‘LaVey’ and became Séance Edicius, though I eventually dropped "Edicius" too as it no longer resonated. I later added ‘Scythe,’ though I rarely use it now.” 

I asked him about Kleptokids, and he answered that it was between Kleptokids and Kleptocats - he wanted it to have a K. He ended up choosing Kleptokids because it sounded weirder, which makes it stick in people’s minds better. “I had this lyric about one of my relatives who kept stealing from us, and it said something like, “Kleptokids and their Kleptodads”. So I was like, oh, shit. Kleptokids. And also because when I was in elementary school, I got in trouble for stealing money from a wallet I found on the ground. Yeah, and then I got suspended for it.” 

“I don't know if I regret it because people always have a hard enough time spelling Séance sometimes. So sometimes people say kleptoids. Sometimes they say cryptokids or, like, cryptoids, so I'm like, damn. Sometimes my mom calls me science. I really should put that on a shirt, science and the crypto kids or something.” 

His journey as a performer started in the order of music, drag, then cosplay. Attending local shows in his local music scene since he was 16 years old played a part in how he saw himself existing in the scene - when asked if being a young, active performer and queer person in the scene made him particularly susceptible to creeps or queerphobia, he recalls a period of time in 2017 where tons of local bands were getting exposed for such offenses. “I felt, especially pretransition, pre-realization, I always felt like these men were so freaking shady and creepy, they could get away with anything and nobody cared.”

From his observation, the crowds of the shows back then were a lot different from the crowds now. He noticed the crowd getting younger and etiquette slowly being forgotten. “I feel like it's lost on a lot of people now to not be loud in certain parts of a set. And I hate sounding like a fucking, I don't know, killjoy or something. It's literally, like, a really, really serious part of the set or - one time, I was talking about my friend who died, and then someone was like, “Woo!!!” and I was so fucking pissed. I was so fucking pissed.”

It’s a mixed bag - just like with any scene, he says, the kids are extremely passionate and the older people know their shit. He finds that surrounding himself with a mixture of both helps keep his perspective fresh and grounds him, while still not letting people’s opinions influence his art too much. “If it's constructive, you know, especially from people who know better than me, then obviously, I'm going to listen. Especially if it's about my live setup and my sound, which is also a big part of why I haven't played a show since June as Séance and the Kleptokids, because I wanted to upgrade my live setup and also focus on getting a job because because I need to live - I graduated earlier this year.” 

“I wish I had the luxury to always focus on music, but I don’t. I took some time off to just be myself and be a better artist, better performer and take a lot of time to reflect on my life and everything as a whole. I feel rejuvenated in a lot of ways.” he reflects on the break. 

photo by xbloodysykes

Séance always knew he could be funny with drag. He recently did his first show for a friend’s project at his university - he went by Sir Ving Cunt. “It was so stupid, but yeah, I loved it. It was just for my friend’s project, him, me, and another trans guy who performed as a drag king. It was very DIY, very fun. In 2024, I did a show for a queer organization within my university. They invited me and I got paid and everything. It was a Dorian Electra song called Flamboyant. I also did Killer Queen by Queen. And Man to Man by Dorian Electra because it started to become like a tradition almost. I consider that my proper drag debut.”

He’s been attending drag shows as a spectator for longer than he’s been performing, but he noticed that there aren’t many exclusively drag king shows. “I'm not even talking about, like, assigned gender at birth or anything. You know? Just drag kings in general. I feel like it would be lovely to see more of them in the scene. I’d say that my drag is very mixed, but I usually just call myself a drag king. I feel like I haven’t seen enough of [the drag scene] to be honest. I’ve seen the ones that are more towards comedy, performing, and I’ve seen the ones that use it as a tool for activism. The thing about local scenes is that there’s always more to see. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. My foot is barely in the door.” 

“I’ve been wanting to cosplay since I was literally 16. My dream cosplay is Ramona Flowers, and I know people are probably going to make fun of me for that, but I just love her so much. I adore her. I have a tattoo of her door on my arm. I just have an attachment to Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. Literally my favorite movie in the entire world. I've always considered myself geeky and nerdy, but never had the confidence to really cosplay anything, (probably apart from the members of My Chemical Romance) until like last year. The first cosplay I put together, I think, was rainbow dash. I love My Little Pony. I went to a con as Rainbow Dash and my friend Trini was Cyclops aka Scott Summers. It was really funny when we would stand next to each other because people would be like, “what is going on?” I put together my Crowley from Good Omens cosplay last year as well, for a halloween party. I just told my friend to drag me around, we dress up and have fun. That's how I got into the scene.” 

Touching back on the subject of being susceptible to creeps, he recalls specific instances: “Random people I don't know putting their prop sword to my throat or something as I’m cosplaying as a demon and they're like, ‘I'm a demon slayer. I'm slaying you.’ This creepy guy who wouldn't leave me alone and literally followed me around the mall just to talk to me and say ‘Hey, I'm not creepy’ it was weird. It happened at two separate cons, the same guy. Crazy shit.”

“So far not a lot of queer folks [being creepy]. I also feel like it's a Filipino thing to not be as open with bigotry to someone’s face. They’d probably insult you online, but it’s pretty rare for someone to come up to you and call you a slur. I guess because a lot of people still perceive me as a girl because I’m very androgynous in my expression, they have a lot less confidence when it comes to trying to say that kind of shit to me, because they think, oh wow, a pretty girl or whatever. There are times when I take off cosplay and I have to kinda sit with myself and cry because I’m like, poof. I enjoy cosplay so much but it kinda fucks with your head a little sometimes. But I remember breaking down so hard after my first con. That was an experience for sure.” 

“There's more to be seen in the cosplay scene, but I think one of the things I love the most about the cosplay scene, like cons and stuff like that, is that there is so much room for different levels of cosplay. You can go really, really simple, you can go all out, and it would still be fun.” 

There’s many intersections in the cosplay, music and drag scenes for him – art and cosplay go hand in hand, being active in and knowing people involved in one scene leads to knowing people active in and involved in the next, which has also led him to find new opportunities. “That's also why I know a lot of people. I enjoy all these different scenes. Even just as a spectator, though I want to participate more.”

On the amount of support he sees artists and performers receive, Séance feels like he gets a decent amount despite not having released a lot of music, but he also said there could always be more support for lesser known acts. “I already had, like, experiences where people have just been really, really sweet. Like, people who have never seen me live before will approach me after a show and be like, ‘This inspired me to do this, this, this’ and it's really sweet. I wanna remember these things, so I like to write them down somewhere.”

He says that the funding for these spaces is decent too – it’s just hard for the performers and artists themselves to sustain living on playing music alone. Like many, he wishes he had enough privilege to fully focus on it. He feels that people in his scene are usually willing to shell out a reasonable amount of cash to watch local bands perform. For the drag scene in particular, he notices that the same people tend to get booked for the same shows all the time, making it a little hard to get your foot in the door due to the lack of connections a newcomer might have. However, he states that he wouldn’t necessarily call this an issue.

Séance developed his drag style because of the subcultures he’s already in. He says he’s heavily influenced from punk and goth culture. “Sharon Needles played a part in it, but yeah, ever since we knew more stuff about her it kinda shook my faith, in a lot of ways. Jinkx Monsoon became my favorite, my number one soon after realizing all those things. I also take a lot of inspiration from the vocalists and musicians that I look up to. I think a big part of it is also Gerard Way.” 

“And just I love the color black, and I love being spooky, and I love being a whore.”

I asked if Drag Race Philippines impacted local drag scenes in any way. He thinks that because Drag Race in general made drag more mainstream, it definitely draws in more crowds. “I don't even really think there's a bad side to it, except maybe if they were being disrespectful. I know that there's a lot of controversy that surrounds drag race when it comes to, like, how people perceive and view drag and things like that. But I feel like in our local context, it made it better.” 

“If someone does attend the show, you know, not really thinking much about whatever, but then they leave it feeling more impacted than before, then that's all you can ever ask for as a performer. You know? Like, especially if you're the kind of performer who likes to incorporate activism as part of your number. So it's definitely powerful. Drag will always be political in that sense.”

Locally, he hasn’t seen a very specific “emo” scene since the definition of the term isn’t widely agreed on. But emo as a subculture and the music itself is a huge component of Séance’s cosmos of art and music. “Apart from [emo] being my introduction to falling more in love with music, then getting into the western influences of it and everything, the beauty as well of the style and the subculture. I feel like a lot of things that I would that I was already experiencing and thinking about, I felt a lot more seen when I discovered the emo community and genre of music.”

“It felt like they were saying a lot of things that I was already feeling when I was a teenager, and I'm feeling it again now as an adult. So it's everything. It's everything. And I know that there's a lot of dirtiness in the past associated with the word, and people don't wanna be associated with it or they say it ironically, but I feel like there is some pride in it. And you know, sure, I'll probably call myself an emo. Absolutely.” 

He says it also plays a big role in his own writing and his music, sonically. He confirms that he is planning on releasing more music. Séance and the Kleptokids has acquired more members since 2022, making them a full band. They’re now working on a single and their album, called Star Nymph, which he’ll consider his debut. “I'm really, really excited about it. No set date yet, and I have been conceptualizing this since, like, 2022. I've been conceptualizing it and then making music, and then redoing it, and making it again, and just, you know, finalizing the final track list and everything. But the concept, the aesthetic, I feel like I've got it down.” 

“I'm just so excited for 2025. There's big things coming for sure. I'm still having to play around with the demos and people who will listen to it, help me produce it and everything, and getting more comfortable with more instruments and such. But, yeah, overall, I feel confident and super excited, especially after that break I had. And, you know, let's write some more shit.” 

Séance can’t wait to share more of himself with hopes of also resonating with people along the line. “I do try my best to not let what other people think affect the things that I'm making because I don't want it to purely be for the consumption of other people. I also want it to be a reflection of who I am at that specific point in time.” 

“I spend a lot of my time alone. And because of that, I also have nowhere to put a lot of what I feel, as a kid and as a teenager. That is just incredibly isolating. So I didn't really have anywhere else to turn to except words on paper mostly. Back then, I would just spend a lot of time writing in my notebook. And then when I got an iPhone I would write a lot of my stuff in my notes app and just never share it with anyone. A lot of it is just coping with life, coping with loneliness that I've always felt, undiagnosed mental illness when I was younger, and just the growing pains of existing, really. And when I got diagnosed with bipolar and OCD, I would journal even more.” 

For a lot of us who grew up on modern social media – and when I say modern, I’m referring to smartphone era social media – it’s getting increasingly exhausting to be on it. It’s the obvious result of being flooded with right-wing content, general negativity, constant forceful comparison to others and having to either willingly, forcibly or subconsciously feel like you have to maintain a certain image regardless of how big or small your platform is. Fuck that!! It’s no surprise then, that people including Séance revisit older forms of social media, especially ones where long-form content is common, and create for themselves a safe space within it. Although toxicity was never foreign to those platforms either - just less saturated now. “I've taken quite a liking to Spacehey and LiveJournal, specifically. LiveJournal in particular. Oh god. I love LiveJournal.” 

“Having your own blog that's also separate from, I guess modern social media. It helps you to slow down and really sit with yourself and it's so nice because it's kinda like screaming into the void. Especially when I started and I had, like, what, 2 or 0 subscribers. It was awesome. Whether people would like it or not, it just felt good to have an outlet.”

Séance was an English literature major in college which made him very fond of poetry. He likes the method of “learning the rules before breaking them” - his style is structured yet loose in terms of rules. “Mostly, what drives me to write is to express myself as an outlet, but also because I feel like if someone somewhere can genuinely feel like they resonate with the things that I say, then it would also be worth it, even being in that vulnerable position of sharing something that, people can literally, like, see right through you.”

“I know that a lot of it is cloaked in metaphor, but there's a reason why I didn't wanna share my writings when I was younger. It's because growing up and having a very Christian family and not really understanding all the things that were going on inside me. I did not wanna share stuff about my writing because it was very, very transparent when it comes to, like, queerness. Then in the last few years, transness.” 

Despite studying literature, writing for over 10 years, and experimenting with different platforms, he still has moments where it’s hard for him to share his work with the public because of it stemming from such a personal place in his heart. “You'd think someone like that  would be more comfortable with sharing stuff that they do. Right? But I still struggle with it deeply. I feel like it's an imposter syndrome thing. But, genuinely, it's a lot, and it still takes a lot for me to put it out there.” 

“I can be as dramatic on LiveJournal as I wanna be. There are times when it feels like I'm very self conscious about how pretentious I probably sound, but at the end of the day you just gotta get over yourself. Yeah, there are gonna be times when some people will find the things that you write pretentious, but who cares? If I spent so much time thinking about how pretentious I sound, I really would not get anything done.” 

Before I started aflowerdrops I told myself writing is my “weak point”, my attempts to write anything even slightly long-winded ended up badly because that was also the time I had never properly tried anything like that before! What writers (look, it feels silly calling myself that just yet) need is low pressure environments that you can literally just YAP in, for the lack of a better word. Write about your interests, write about emo!!! Write for yourself, write in your notebook and on blogs like Séance does. Lots of people believe art can’t be taught - just keep writing to get better, better for yourself. It’s fun. (Reminder - we are still open to submissions! If you want to write something on aflowerdrops, get in touch and we’d love to publish it for you) 

Wrapping this up, here’s a closing message from the amazing Séance himself, and his links - go follow him! 

“It means a lot to me, genuinely. I haven't done an interview in a hot minute. So I always love the chance to yap and talk about this stuff, but I always get really scared sometimes because I'm like, what if I talk too much? I don't know. So again, thank you so much, Mio. I really, really, really appreciate it. And thank you to everyone at aflowerdrops and anyone who’s reading this!”

“The readers can find me on Instagram, it's g0re.f4iry. For my music, I am Séance and the Kleptokids on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Bandcamp, basically almost every streaming platform where it's available. If you go to my Instagram, I have a linktree over there to show basically everything. We have band merch.” [The band can also be found on TikTok and Instagram as seanceandthekleptokids]

Written by Mio | aflowerdrops. Turn notifications on for us, and follow us on Instagram so you don't miss an update! 

[oldshowbiz]

For some reason this particular music was always heard in the background of Philippine-made exploitation movies in the 1970s.

[genderinvalid1]

made a lil meadowlark oc bc @yaelokre 's music has my brain in a death grip.

this is runo, hes a journal and story keeper and occasionally illustrates the stories told to him. also he has an opossum mask.

can you tell ive been fixated on the world yaelokre created for like. a month now.

i hope i can get new ohuhu markers soon to do a better ref of him and draw the other characters theyve made.