S TR
TR IDE
What’s the biggest insight you’ve gained from
haircutting, and how did this change your attitude
towards life?
Some people are shocked when they hear that we cut for
45 minutes to an hour. It’s because you really can’t rush the art
of haircutting. Fading, on its own, takes a lot of time. Not to
mention the scissor-work required in forming the hair shape.
I’ve heard feedback from people, like “Diyan yung matagal mag
gupit, di’ ba?” (“That’s the shop with long service time, right?”)
We take pride in that.
When you take your time and pour everything you’ve got in
whatever you’re working on, you’ll see significant difference in
the output. Stick to your process, no shortcuts.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of haircutting for you?
I’d say, the client’s appreciation of the haircut. Knowing that
the clients are satisfied with our cuts help me sleep soundly at
night. Haha!
What’s the most difficult part in cutting hair?
The most difficult for me is making your ideas and the client’s
ideas meet. Once you pull that off, you’re all set. Once you have
all the skills needed, everything is easy peasy. So the difficulty
comes in the subjective aspect of the haircut session.
Very scrapbook-ish of me to ask but who would you say is
your dream client, dead or alive.
I’d like to cut Mak Azores’ hair for sure. He’s my “barber
goals” and one of the barbers I look up to. He’s also a pioneer of
the classic barbering scene here in the Philippines. It would also
be awesome if I could get to meet myself. I wanna see myself
from a barber’s perspective, know how my hair goes, kung paano
di-diskartehan, kung okay ba ako ka-kuwentuhan (how I can be
approached, if I’m the type to enjoy stories). Haha.
Should you be given a chance to restart Underboss, what
would you have done differently?
If given a chance to restart, I would change when I
would establish the shop. I would have done this maybe a
year or two earlier.
A dashing do for every pomp and circumstance
What’s next for Underboss? What else do you want to develop
for the store? Do you envision opening other branches?
Underboss is kinda turning into a collective. We’re
pretty much DIY. My mom’s into sewing right now, so
we might venture into clothing and other merchandise.
I’ll be displaying some film cameras for sale. The tattoo
shop would be operating soon. I guess we’ll take in more
apprentices so that we can branch out.
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