‘Help me if you can, I’m feeling down’
When Covid-19 struck, his circle of friends thought of ways to help gig-dependent musicians left jobless by the closure of bars and clubs
Stanley Seludo is a musician, the drummer of the band BRWN (pronounced Brown) and a member of the board of trustees of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
He likes helping people within his capacity. A few years ago, he went busking at Bonifacio Global City with his band for several weeks and turned over the cash donations to typhoon victims.
When Covid-19 struck, his circle of friends thought of ways to help gig-dependent musicians left jobless by the closure of bars and clubs. He set up Good Banda Ph (clever wordplay on Food Panda), a delivery service provided by musicians on motorbikes. It was a hit.
Last February, Good Banda (@goodbandaph) partnered with Max’s for a Valentine delivery promo with a live voice-and-guitar harana (serenade). Another hit.
Also recently, Stanley put the word out on Kanto Canta, an online competition for original songs by Filipino artists that comes with cash prizes. (Visit facebook.com/kantokultura)
In an email interview, Stanley updated us on these laudable projects.
Daily Tribune (DT): How many musician riders does Good Banda have at present and how are they doing so far? How much does a rider approximately earn every day?
Stanley Seludo (SS): At present, there are around 20 riders. They earn from P300 to P800 a day.
DT: Any difficulties or challenges the riders have encountered lately?
SS: For the riders, it’s the stability of income. We are a startup company partnering with a few merchants. Our business model is different from the same-day delivery services in the market. We are pre-booked. Merchants need to register and subscribe to our platform before we can provide our services. There’s a one-month trial period. So we need more merchants to subscribe to us, so we can give more work to our riders.
DT: Good Banda recently partnered with Max’s for a Valentine food delivery with harana. What other special promos has it lined up?
SS: Harana has been part of the Good Banda service since September 2020. Aside from the usual delivery service, we offer this as a separate package. For now, we have our regular harana package.
DT: Do you think the riders want to keep doing this, at least until the situation normalizes, although it seems the pandemic is not going away in the next few years?
SS: I think most of our musician riders understand how hard it is to earn in this pandemic. Regardless, if we go back to normal, this will be something that they can do on the side.
DT: What are your hopes for Good Banda at this point?
SS: We hope to provide more work for our displaced musicians. We hope for more merchant partners.
For professional musicians and artists, this pandemic had deeper meanings.
DT: Tell us about Kanto Canta, who thought of it and what is the objective?
SS: Kanto Canta is the brainchild of the CCP board of trustees. The objectives are to discover and develop grassroots talents; educate Filipinos on the beauty of indigenous instruments and their history; and fuse traditional music with modern music.
DT: An article on Kanto Canta says the CCP as contest organizer is looking for a “new Pinoy sound.” Please elaborate.
SS: The CCP is challenging young musicians/bands/songwriters to think out of the box and experiment on incorporating indigenous instruments with current music. Kanto Canta wants to discover a sound that has Pinoy roots but with commercial appeal. An attempt to capture such a sound is my band BRWN’S new single, “Bangon!” We fused the sounds of the kulintang, Cordillera chants and sword clashes in the arrangement.
DT: There are, indeed, notable Filipino songs that ushered in a “new sound” after they were entered in music competitions by their composers. Freddie Aguilar’s “Anak” is an example. Is this what the CCP has in mind?
SS: In “Anak,” Ka Freddie wrote and performed his own song. Similarly, in Kanto Canta, we want our entrants to write and perform their songs. We want to discover new artists, a new set of musicians with their own interpretation of their original compositions. I’m sure there will be good songs that will emerge.
DT: Good music is created during hard or challenging times. What’s your take on this?
SS: Indeed, this is true. This pandemic taught us to think, create and explore. Many of us started to learn different kinds of art. It kept us sane in these trying times. For professional musicians and artists, this pandemic had deeper meanings.
DT: Where do you think Pinoy music is headed in the next few years?
SS: I believe we are on the right track. We have artists like Gary Valenciano, Ben&Ben, KZ Tandingan, SB19, Nadine Lustre, Alamat, EZ Mil, BRWN and more who have incorporated Pinoy culture in their songs. We hope to discover more.
This is a long term-process. CCP’s Kanto Canta is an attempt to support the music industry. But we need help! Hopefully, other agencies will follow this advocacy.