Ang Kalatas November 2015 Issue | Page 16

12 ENTERTAINMENT THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 6 Number 2 | NOVEMBER 2015 THEY’RE here to get people dancing. And last Halloween proved to be a great night of fun and dance for many Pinoys who attended one of the latest gigs of the BPM – Beats Per Minute Disc Jockey Entertainment Group – at the Blacktown Recreation and Bowling Club. “We envisioned that there should be a local dance Pub or Bar or just a place to unwind with the great music hits of the 70's, 80's and 90's. We couldn't find a place where the local Filipinos in the area could dance and gather to enjoy their favourite disco beat so we thought of providing our services,” says veteran DJ Jun Cabrera of BPM. Jun formed BPM together with Tony Concha from Manila Disco, Johnny Zarate from First Audio and Pines Hotel, Andy Co from Rumors, Manila and they came up with a theme called ‘Disco the way it was’ guided by the management skills of Christine David Concha and Vangie De Leon. The group was formed after a successful gig at the Atura Hotel in 2014. It first launched its own gig in October last year at the Blacktown Leisure Centre, Stanhope Gardens. After several events, the group has offered services to private functions such as weddings, birthdays and parties. “Playing for the young and old makes Beats Per Minute 'Disco the way it was' us all happy most especially when people appreciate your music mix. It's not only Disco that we play. Mixing music is part of our lives and a good mix keeps us on an all- time natural high!” says Jun. “Being a DJ is not as easy as some would think. As long as you can get the crowd on the floor, we're all happy and proud of it. The lighting plays a vital role to create a good dance atmosphere.” The group has invested in their own equipment including two pairs of Dave15G3 High powered speaker systems, Pioneer and Numark Controllers, laser lights and strobe. “As we played during the Disco Era, We are familiar with the wonderful memory of Disco. But as a DJ, the new music keeps catching up and we now play music that caters all kind of audiences - whether young or old.” BPM offers Live Entertainment emcee, hosting, and dance music. The group can be reached at 0410 714 888, 0488 381 155 or 0404 492 295. See them on Facebook - Beats Per Minute Retromuzik, BPM Entertainment Sydney. Veronica Alonzo Living the Dream “I have been singing my whole life, but just decided to take it a little more serious this year”, says the Filipino-Australian singer Veronica Alonzo as we chat at the Opera house on a hot Tuesday afternoon. By Jake Atienza SHE smiles as the words come to her. This casual line becomes a catalyst in understanding the contradiction of career and passion that so often pulls people in different directions and how Alonzo is bringing these together. Born to Filipino parents, 27 year old Veronica from Wolli Creek in Sydney reiterates the importance of music in her family. As a four year old, “there was a microphone at somebody’s house and I just picked it up and started singing. My family is very musical and we sing all the time.” She explains that this musicality is an important part of her singing career. As the years passed, she continued performing but went on to “do the proper thing” and obtained a Business Property degree thinking it would make her parents happy. All the while being “still inher-ently unhappy because I wasn't living out my passion.” Alonzo’s background tells the story of how she is carving out a career from her love of music and musicals. As a child of Filipino migrants, she understands the dilemma of the Filipino diaspora. She hints at a tug-of-war between Filipino creativity and the ideal career path and aligns it with what she calls the need for “security, or this idea of security.” She observes that “Filipinos are very creative and they love to sing. However, “there was always this idea that we have to make our parents happy, get a good job.” at the same time “we have a creative side so it’s like I don't know which to choose”. In recent years the singer has been decisive saying that, “I don’t want to give up on that dream”. Contrary to Alonzo’s initial perception of her parent’s desires, they have been very supportive of her. Alonzo is learning that one can pursue passion and career real- ising that “a lot of Filipino-Australians are very successful in their fields”. The most prominent example is her idol, Lea Sa-longa most famous for the musical Miss Saigon. Attending the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) to study Musical Theatre was an important milestone in Alonzo’s life. She discovered that there was a place for what she did. Her involvement with like-minded people in her early 20’s was really important because “they are on the same level, we have the same energy, we have the same interests and If you're surrounded by that, you tend to want to excel in that field.” In the past years she has performed in amateur societies’s renditions of RENT, Jesus Christ Su-perstar, and Miss Saigon. Her most recent performance during the Enchanted Evening fundraiser for underprivileged Filipino students at the Burwood RSL left her audience captivated. She has combined her singing with her work at the Opera House where she is inspired by the art and cul-ture that surrounds it. Her upcoming cabaret, aptly titled “State of Mind” at The Vanguard in Newtown, will be performed together with her cousin and friend from NIDA. The show is inspired by her love for New York and the music that forms part of that city’s identity. They will “basically [be] doing some numbers that remind us of New York City. Its just going to be a really fun, chilled night, [a] melting pot of all gen-res” such as musical theatre, jazz, pop, R&B, and a little bit of acoustic. Alonzo confesses that the idea of finding success in music is “scary but I don't wanna regret, when I get older, that I didn't try to do my creative stuff”. In this spirit, she plans to move to New York in the future to pursue her love for musicals.