"Sometimes people think I'm unreal. So I'm trying to express humanity and that which is real. [These days] everything is processed in the studio. You can even tweak your voice to perfect. So this one is really bringing out that which is human and that is what I am as a songwriter really, capturing the warts," said Cynthia Alexander to hollow-eyed reporters at three o'clock in the morning of Nov. 29.
The singer-songwriter had just finished her first live recording and fourth album, Walk Down the Road, performing a set of 25 songs spanning her 10 years as an independent artist to an appreciative audience of 100 at 19 East in Sucat, Parañaque. The album, as well as a DVD of the performance, will be available this March. It had taken four rehearsals, and roughly five hours of recording time with the live audience. Still, Ms. Alexander managed to sound like a female version of the Dalai Lama.
"Everything that is personal is universal; and everything that is universal is personal. So how can you extricate that from the other? You can't... People who come to the gigs, they find that which is for them, in that which is mine, which belongs to them. And that which is theirs, which belongs to me. There's that belonging-ness, and that's what I'm saying, it's like that sense of comfort, that sense of home, really," she said.
Getting personal
While most of her songs are deeply emotional and certainly very personal, they contain a sense of the world and tap into the very core of humanity. But beyond that, Ms. Alexander wants to capture the act of creation, the music of the moment, and the energy throbbing at a live performance. The songs may be familiar, but they are given new life; Ms. Alexander herself is used to playing to an audience, attuned to their moods and what they want from her, and it's really about that communion, the shared experience of the music, whether creator or spectator.
She compliments the crowd of strangers listening to her play by pronouncing them "family," joking that she spends more time talking to audiences than to her daughter Tala, laid up at home with a cold. (The 12-year-old was formerly listed as the "ears" of her albums, and now "manages" her mom at home, making sure she eats on time and gets plenty of rest.)
Ms. Alexander's ability to instantly connect with her audience explains part of her popularity; her frequent eye contact and occasional asides to her fellow musicians onstage betray an easy intimacy, and explains why the music is played so well. They look like they are having a good time together, and though the music was originally written by her, in that moment the music is theirs.
"That chemistry is important. And I think that music has gone further because of the group as well. You don't know what else I do with the music that I've written, andiyan sa CD, hanggang dun na lang ba iyon, hindi eh, may buhay pa kasi iyon eh, (it's there on CD but that's not the end of it because it still has life) and then it comes out onstage. This is that extension. It's like you're honoring life, honoring the people with you, and honoring the presence, the spirit of now, which you don't really get in the studio. It's quite an experience."
This time Ms. Alexander was fortunate to have on board violinist Coke Bolipata (of the Pundaquit Virtuosi) and guitarist Kakoi Legaspi (of Wahijuara), bassist Simon Tan (of Peryodiko), and her stalwarts, keyboardist and percussionist Mlou Matute, percussionist Charanjit Wazu (specializing in the North Indian dual-drum called tabla. and the barrel drum called dhal which produces treble and bass), and drummer extraordinaire Rickson Ruiz. Quite an intimidating cast of characters when they get going.
But although the audience was initially stiff and formal, ever-mindful of the eight-rule leaflet given at the door asking for "earnest cooperation and utmost respect for the recording process," Ms. Alexander broke the rules herself by addressing the crowd – "You have to talk to me because we're nervous, no?... Too many rules, no talking, no ordering, no smoking, no fun is it? – and drawing out laughs, catcalls and eventually, insistent song requests.
I'd seen her perform in the late 1990s, just as warmly, at a similarly intimate gathering. The song then – "Comfort in Your Strangeness." When this crowd favorite was performed early – the ninth song to accommodate the violin since Mr. Bolipata had to catch a flight that night – audience members were already loose enough to sing softly to themselves. Far from being annoyed, the artist encouraged, "It's okay, you can feel free to sing, no one's going to tell you off, don't worry," and "This is a live recording, so you want to hear your voice, too, right?"
Above and beyond...
It's not a hardship to have been part of that cult following of Cynthia Alexander, considering that this talented musician ups the ante when it comes to performing (she was supposed to play only a list of songs; she exceeded it by taking in requests). In truth, she's better live than on her studio albums – she's more playful with the arrangement, her voice is powerful in its rawness and spontaneity. And while anyone with the merest flicker of introspection can take any song and dive into its meaning, hearing it live can arrest you, suspend the moment of reflection, and you slide along until its conclusion releases you.
Anyone who grabs a copy of the video or album will not be disappointed. If the producers choose not to edit it, the song list is almost a complete anthology of her 1997 debut Insomnia & Other Lullabyes ("Comfort in Your Strangeness," with Mr. Bolipata, "Hello Baby," "Rose," "Hiroshima," "Insomnia," "Wait," "Malaya," and the crowd-pleaser "No Umbrella"), the 2001 sophomore album Rippingyarns ("Walk Down the Road," "U&I," "Intertwyne," "Motorbykle," the famously chipper "Weather Report," the haunting "Knowing There's Only Now," and one of my personal favorites, "Owner of the Sky" (again with Mr. Bolipata), and the 2005 Comet's Tail ("Comet's Tail" with Mr. Bolipata, "Gopala Govinda Rama Madana Mahana," "Heya!," "Mortal Merry Go-Round," "Emptyhanded," "Moon Over You" – all the latter songs with the magic touch of Mr. Legaspi.
What you want to find in the previous studio albums is the cover of the Indigo Girls' song "Love Will Come to You" (from the album Rites of Passage) with Mr. Legaspi, plus three outstanding Filipino songs, most notably "Santuaryo" and "Berso/Dumaan Ako." The latter song contains the poetry of the late Maningning Miclat, set to music by Ms. Alexander's brother Joey Ayala (for his Bagong Lumad album titled Lupa't Langit) and it's quite simply beautiful to hear.
"I used ["Walk Down The Road" as] the title for this album because it's like taking another step...it's like wrapping up that bundle of years. People live and they don't really look back, and they don't really examine if they've learned anything... I was walking and then it occurred to me that I'm reviewing a lot and examining myself, actually, how I've lived and what have I learned and how does one become a better human being, how does one become a better person, how does one help other people become better people, how how do you do that?" said Ms. Alexander.
It's all in the music, of course.
"A long time ago, when I was a kid, I knew I was born to play. I didn't know what I was going to play. But I knew when I left home, I knew it somehow. Somehow I was walking, maybe they'll think I'm eccentric, perhaps they'll think I'm selfish, perhaps they'll think I'm crazy... [but] that's what my music is really all about, it's about being human, make mistakes, learn from them, don't forget. I mark it down in a song or it marks me."
Originally published in BusinessWorld Weekender.
Photos provided by the artist's promotions team.
Addendum: In January 2018, Ms. Alexander performed "Dumaan Ako" together with folk-pop group Ben&Ben during the launch of her fourth studio album, Even Such is Time, at the Music Museum. To promote the event, Ben&Ben released a cover version of the song, remarking that it has "left such a huge mark in [their] writing and music."