09 February 2009

The Patience of Paolo



















In this era of pre-fabricated everything (homes, film stars, pop artists, boobs and noses), I'm endlessly confounded by the fact that my son, Paolo, seems to be a relic from an era long extinct.


Let me explain...

When he was 15, I gave Paolo the keys to the fully equipped recording studio in my residence. I had grown tired of working at home (and weary of the daily phone calls to the village guards to reassure them that the haggard looking persons at the gate were not junkies but my session musicians for the day -- genuine musical virtuosos, at that). And off I went to set up shop in a 'proper' business location in Makati.


I was certain the new set of circumstances would further fire up his passion for music which Paolo started to dabble in at age 5.

So now Paolo had a recording studio all to himself... left alone with a workhorse mixing console, a Pro Tools set-up, banks of then-popular ADAT machines, synthesizers and even a vintage Fender Rhodes.

In no time at all, he mastered the art of recording.

But one year... two years... four years passed by.

Still no 'new' music from Paolo.

He was in a constant state of recording and revising and trying something new. Yet again.


The much awaited 'new' music was not forthcoming. What there was plenty of was a stream of young, great looking female friends who started frequenting the studio.

Paolo claimed they were 'singers' -- 'singers' with exotic names like Armi and Kat and Savannah and Julianne and Camoi and on and on...


I reckon some hanky panky was going on -- hormones on overdrive when it's the creative juices that should be hyperactive...

Until, one day... music... glorious, fresh, unpretentious music started wafting through my bedroom window.


And the voices - drop dead gorgeous vocals - from the exotic named singers simply took my breath away.

And that's when I started to genuinely appreciate Paolo's patience and the one unshakable fact that he demonstrated -- true genius lies in creating music, not at the first moment, but at the right moment.

And now, let me share a cut from the 'new' music that took a lot of care, nurturing and patience to create...





(Advance copies of Paolo's album 'The Distinktive Sounds of Pasta Groove' are now available at Fully Booked.)