Penning Pilar

CEBU, Philippines - Carlo Pez uses basic chord progressions mainly because he wants his songs to be easily played, should the people who listen to them want to.

“The playability is important to me because I do not wish for the songs to be mine alone. I want people to find themselves, their stories, their sentiments in my songs and I would want them to be able to play them for and as their own,” he said in an interview prior to his mid-week gig at The Outpost in Lahug recently.

A good example, so far, is Nato Reyes who covered his “The Forty-Three” for Hilom, a benefit concert for the 43 health workers who are reported to be illegally detained in Camp Capinpin.

Another one is “A Glasgow Smile,” wherein he used a very common chord progression because the story it tells is also very common. “The only clincher would be my use of a capo, to fit my – currently – limited number of harmonicas,” said Pez or “Carlo” to his circle of friends/colleagues in the Artists and Musicians Marketing Cooperative, otherwise known as Artist Ko.

With regards to the lyrics, he mentioned of drawing inspiration from personal experiences, events taking place around him, and other people’s stories that are told over afternoon coffee or drinking sessions.

“I try my best not to deviate from reality, and to keep my lyrics as relevant and as simple as possible. My use of metaphors and wordplay is meant to add a bit of spice to the songs and to tickle the audience’s brains a little.

“If you do find some ‘smart’ lines in the songs, most of the time, they were the lines I initially came up with. I just look for stories in which they would fit and then build a song on that foundation,” he further said.  

Generally, he also said, he always keeps in mind Woody Guthrie’s words in his book “Born to Win” that “all the songs are already written; floating around in the universe, ready to be picked up.”

In Cebu, he has also recommenced writing songs under the influence of artists such as Peter, Paul & Mary; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Simon & Garfunkel, George Harrison, John Lennon, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, The Wolfe Tones, The Jerks, Buklod, ASIN, Gary Granada, Inang Laya, Sampaguita, Coritha, Heber Bartolome, and Florante – all stemming from his father’s collection, which he had listened to during his growing up years.

To date, he has performed in various events and still continues to pop up whenever and wherever the stage is empty, and often appears onstage with a guitar and some harmonicas.

As for this article, he highlighted the song “Pilar” as it is the central point of the album he is working on. 

“The album, The Disappearing Act, is the result of 12 years’ worth of stories I have gathered from my being, as my friend said, ‘a dog-ear in the books that are people’s lives.’ He said that I ‘would rather be a fold in the pages than a whole chapter.’”

“You see,” he said, “I have this habit of popping in and out of people’s lives because I do not believe that friendship requires constant contact, and I always love hearing the stories that they have gathered in my absence.”

Actually, Pilar was written about in an incident that took place five years ago, the details of which he is hesitant to disclose publicly.

He mentioned that, basically, Pilar talks about an aspiration for a family, albeit a very simple one, as he is not one to delude himself with grandeur. “I believe that happiness comes in small packages,” he added.

Lopez also said that there is this girl who really got him inspired to write songs and carry on with his music. “We are still in touch and I am waiting for her to come and visit Cebu,” he said.

Why Pilar? “I asked her once: If we had a daughter, what would you want her name to be?”

“Pilar” was the girl’s reply.