Indie music on splintr.com

MANILA, Philippines - Mainstream music has always been at the front seat, as far as the music industry is concerned. It has already gained so much buzz and popularity, enough to keep it humming in our heads over and over. Independent music or indie music, however, has yet to have that kind of status. It speaks of freedom, individuality, and innate Pinoy talent — in its purest, most raw form, but it hasn’t reached the spectrum of popularity that mainstream music is currently reaping.

splintr.com, an on-line music channel, answers this call of giving credence to independent Pinoy music. By giving indie music enough exposure and creating a venue for the artists, splintr is able to showcase the best of the best in the Pinoy music scene. “Not that we’re against established music, but they have a platform, they have labels to promote them. What we really want to do is to push our Pinoy independent music artists,” says Jasmin Cabrera, co-founder of splintr.com and a self-confessed fan of the local music scene. How does splintr do this? splintr started recording live gigs/concerts and making the footage available on-line. “Of course we don’t record all live gigs, there’s still quality control,” adds Cabrera. To date, splintr has already come a long a way starting with its first video shoot of Razorback on its 16th anniversary at Gweilos. Add to that the groundbreaking Alive 2007 concert in Music Museum with Wolfgang and Razorback.

These series of live concert recordings inspired the idea of capturing this magic of local indie artists, this time in studio, and making these performances accessible to music fans. They record exclusive live studio performances and make these accessible via streaming and are aptly called Splintr Sessions. It’s worth noting that the studio performances, which splintr records, and streams, are absolutely free of charge — proof that splintr has definitely gone the extra mile to help so many talented Filpino musicians. Greyhoundz, Faspitch, Kitchie Nadal, Salamin and Pupil are just some of the many artists who are loyal fans of splintr. As Ely Buendia, lead vocalist of Pupil puts it, “Fronting for Nine Inch Nails was one of the highlights of Pupil’s entire career. A front act wasn’t needed, but splintr went out of their way and made sure Filipino music was represented. That’s the kind of dedication and support the music industry needs.“