Pepe Smith: Rockin' then, rockin' now

MANILA, Philippines - Joey “Pepe” Smith sees a younger version of himself in the rockers of today. What he sees pleases and worries him at the same time.

First, the good news.

“I love today’s rockers,” he says. “Magagaling sila. I like Bamboo, Ely Buendia, Rico Blanco and 6Cyclemind.”

But while the Father of Pinoy Rock is happy at what he sees, he can’t help but notice that some things still leave much to be desired.

“Ang musika ng mga bata ngayon masyadong nagco-complain,” he observes. “They’re not doing anything about it. They’re waiting for other people. They’re waiting for their parents to do something for them. They’re like robots.”

The 62-year-old musician admits he doesn’t feel good about hip hop and heavy metal.

“Maybe it’s just because I’m already old. But what they’re playing is not rock and roll. Rock and roll is rocking and rolling and making people enjoy it. People dance to the music. It’s not just talking and going ‘wrannggg!’”

Smith will show just what he means by rock and roll when he reunites with his peers in Ugat, The Concert on Dec. 3 at the Araneta Coliseum. Performing with him is his group, The Juan dela Cruz band and other familiar names in the ‘70s music scene: Sampaguita, Mike Hanopol, Wally Gonzalez, Lolita Carbon of Asin, Heber Bartolome and Banyuhay and Gary Granada. Contemporary folk rock star Noel Cabangon of the hit song Kanlungan will join the show.

The concert will make them and the audience look back at the heyday of Pinoy rock – when songs like Bonggahan, Tao, Laguna, Masdan Mo ang Kapaligiran, Nena, Kahit Konti and others ruled the airwaves.

Smith looks back and can’t believe his luck. New sounds and new artists have come and gone but he’s still there, standing tall.

“I was just fooling around in second year high school,” he recalls. “All I wanted to do was learn drums and play the guitar.”

Now that young rockers look up to him as their icon, Smith feels overwhelmed.

“Wala akong masabi,” he admits. “Awa ng Diyos umabot ako diyan. I never expected this will happen. And I thank God. Now, I’m glad to perform onstage for the audience.”

He is just as upbeat about today’s rockers.

“I was like that when I was just starting out,” he remembers. “Ganoon ako kagulo. My sound had no direction. But that will change in a few years. They will get tired of the noise.”

Changes in the music scene – the rise of K-pop and other foreign sounds don’t put Smith on edge. Live and live, he reasons out. Other kinds of music will come and go. But they still can’t hold a candle to Pinoy rock.

His advice to today’s rockers?

“Attitude is number one. You must be original. Don’t expect to make it big just because you can sing and play the guitar.”

That doesn’t mean you can’t borrow from other artists though. Smith says he has yet to meet a musician who just woke up one day knowing what he will do.

“You have to have your own musical influences,” he allows. But a musician must always know how to march to a different drummer.

“You may play the same chords and the same lyrics . But the delivery or arrangement could be different.”

And even if you have all these things you’re not guaranteed of stardom. You have to go through the proverbial eye of the needle, Smith relates.

That’s why luck is just as important.

“You may be talented, but if you don’t have luck, nothing will happen,” he warns.

Smith humbly admits Lady Luck smiled on him and his band. Smith – and fellow musicians – had what he calls an ‘art mother’ in former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

And while he admits today’s musicians don’t enjoy the same kind of protection they had in the ‘70s, the reed-thin performer has high hopes for P-Noy’s administration.

Smith knows President Noynoy Aquino is open to all kinds of music since he’s a music lover himself. Thus, Smith is crossing his fingers P-Noy will listen to the voice of today’s musicians.

Meanwhile, it won’t hurt to look at the songs of the past – the sounds of Pepe Smith and his ilk. In remembering songs like Smith’s Ang Himig Natin, we wear our patriotism on our sleeve once more.

Rock and roll not only becomes relevant again. It becomes a key to understanding ourselves and charting the direction we should take.