Eveyone who knows us as Pinikpikan Band wonder why we changed the name to Kalayo. While each member will definitely give you a different answer, the important thing in the name change is that since that change, vegetarians have been welcoming us with a smile. We got that smile from famous environmentalist, animal rights protector and actress Chin Chin Gutierrez. It was bliss. No more they look at us as promoters of the brutal way a chicken is killed. It doesn't mean though that the name change implies that we do not revere indigenous ritual and music. Kalayo is still very much inspired by indigenous music and will always be guided by it. We still eat chicken, preferably the organic and free range. The name change implies that current members of the band do not pretend to be Filipino indigenous (reminding everyone that pure indigenous music is never easy to imitate, even by the most learned ethnomusicologist). It implies that we respect the original format of Pinikpikan, which is free jam, free structure. Having to choose between free jam and the need to present solid music pieces that listeners, particularly most of the youth, who look for nationalist alternatives to well-promoted western music, we had to pick the latter. To win the battle for nationalism, we had to present something more tangible, edible, visible and reachable not just to hippies or bohemians or special people with unique ideals. Kalayo accepts the fact that we are Filipinos who are mixed in ancestry, in influences, in preferences, in beliefs and so on. At the same time, Kalayo also implies our dedication to being Filipino in its various dimensions, and to contributing to a united nations (having different ethnicities, languages, cultures, etc) within a nation---- yes, even if Filipino nationhood was at the beginning a mere imposition by Spanish colonizers on the sparsed, unconnected islands--- yes, even if our nationhood as reflected in the pambansang awit is encapsulated in the history of the oppressed willing to die to defend the homeland, without a segue to what kind of nation we really want to build (national consciousness). Defend, die? Kalayo wants to contribute to beyond the dying. We do not conclude nationhood by dying, we conclude it by continuing. Consider Kalayo's name change as continuation, a march onwards. The chicken has died and, perhaps, may be reborn into another kind of life with a different set of feathers. Meanwhile, the FIRE that cooked the chicken lives on and is cooking another dish...
carol
