Zerothreetwo Conversations: Interviews With The Creative Class

I have friends and relatives who have a favorite barber and don't allow anyone else to touch their hair, but I was never that way. So as I was preparing for this interview, I realized that I only know one barber. In a way, he's one of the few who has been able to cultivate a personal brand and make an impact to our city. To my eyes, Willow Hoods is the genesis of a new type of haircut in Cebu. He didn't discover it, but he found out about it, noticed that no one was offering that kind of style, and decided to bring that look to Cebu. The Fade Haircut found its way into the every day lives of Cebuanos. It's not often that someone is able to make a mark through a haircut. With that in mind, I wanted to talk to him and finally meet him for the first time. In this episode, we talked about his journey to cutting hair, how music has influenced his life, and the ins and outs of running a business like TUF and The Good Neighborhood. Enjoy this episode!   SHOWNOTES TUF article on Zerothreetwo Hoods Struggle for R

Over the years, Cebu streets have become more and more vibrant. Walk around, take your time, and you'll notice art all over. Walls plastered with colorful graffiti, giant murals of fun characters, and smaller wheatpaste pieces on crowded city areas. I've always had an interest in street art, but I never was really part of that scene.   This is where the Bart Bros come in. Fortunately, they sat down and explained the culture and history of Cebu street art. Composed of brothers Bart and Yummy, Bart Bros started by sharing their wild imaginations in the streets of Cebu, and have since been invited by various art galleries to exhibit their work. Their works are often seen as brutally painless and darkly cheerful with a tinge lowbrow humor.   In this episode we talk about, what it is like to be an artist in Cebu, the early days of the street art movement, the nuts and bolts of street art, and what exhibiting is like.   Enjoy the episode!   SHOWNOTES   Cebu Street Rat - documentary about Bart Brothers Ub

Another AMA in the books!   I realized that the Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes are really fun to do. Some of the questions forced me to think deeply and look back at our own history. This particular episode reminded me of how far Zerothreetwo has come, our early beginnings, and how we've hustled our way to what we are now. We're still not at the final stage of Zerothreetwo, maybe we'll never even reach there, but it's been one heckuva ride so far.   In this episode, we discuss podcasts in the Philippine context, how to support the Cebu art scene even if you are abroad, how artists should give people the ability to support them, and a look at the business history of Zerothreetwo.   Enjoy the episode!   SHOWNOTES Libsyn Monday Musings Gary Vaynerchuk in Manila Kahlil Corazo (Zerothreetwo Conversations episode) Vincent Eco (Zerothreetwo Conversations episode) https://www.patreon.com/zerothreetwo Kathryn Layno Patreon account Happy Garaje (Zerothreetwo Conversations episode) Urbandub Mandaue Nigh

In one way or another, we all enjoy art. Imagine what it would be like if you didn't have music in your commute, shows to watch after work, paintings to hang on your walls, or storytellers speaking the truth. Spoken word poetry and rap can be put into the category of craft that I know very little about. Which is why recording a podcast about it was the best way to dip my toes in this art form.   Fortunately, I had a chance to meet JP Arias. One day, we received a message on the Zerothreetwo Facebook page. He was asking if we were interested in sponsoring merchandise for a budding spoken word and rap artist. Here's a little secret - we are very willing to sponsor merchandise to people doing creative interesting things. A quick Google search of JP Arias showed his involvement in the rap scene as well as spoken word. One year later, he's showed up in a rap battle, tons of gigs doing spoken word, started a spoken word poetry group called Kasikas, and performed in the recent Bisaya Music Festival. He's been busy

It's funny. This is the second time in the short history of the Zerothreetwo Conversations podcast that spaghetti was used as a metaphor for art. I don't want to spoil it, so I'm not going to explain what spaghetti means, but I'll tell you this, there are times when more spaghetti is not enough.   Karl Lucente is one of the members of Mandaue Nights, but long before the birth of the group, Karl had his fingers dipped in the local music scene for years. His video work under Southernlads Productions helped many local bands. Then eventually he found his own way into music through Honeydrop and Hey! It's Your Birthday before eventually falling into Mandaue Nights.   In this episode of the podcast, we talk about Karl's early start into the music scene, his approach when it comes to music, the branding/business side of being an artist today, and his many music projects.   Enjoy the episode.   SHOWNOTES Joe Rogan interviews Elon Musk Kurt Fick (Zerothreetwo Conversations episode) Hahahahasula Christian Linaba

When someone climbs Mt. Everest, we think of it as a solo achievement, we don't realize that the climber had help along the way. Before he could even fathom summiting the mountain, someone inspired him to try, taught him to believe in himself, and ultimately mentored him through the ups and downs. Mentorship is not a word I hear very often. Seeking mentorship is even rarer. I've been guilty of this too. I'm very bad at asking for advice, and looking for people with more experience.   That's why this conversation with Kurt Fick surprised me. Here was someone who from a very early age reached out to others who knew more than him, others who had experienced what he hoped to experience. In fact, I think that his reliance on finding and learning from his mentors sped up his process of getting to where he wants to be. Doing anything whether it be photography, filmmaking, or even singing is really really difficult. The ins and outs of each discipline could take years and years to master. The hack to speeding up t

Five years ago when I first started listening to podcasts, I could barely find anyone else who did the same. They were rare people. No one else seemed to be listening to podcasts as often as I was. Thankfully after creating Zerothreetwo Conversations, I've met more and more people that swear to this wonderful medium. Hopefully our little show has a future. But back then, it was difficult to find people who knew of podcasts. Imagine my surprise when I reconnected with Dave Visaya. Turns out that he was making a living and growing a business through podcasting. His company, Podcast Engineers, is a service that allows creators to do what they do best by handling all the nitty gritty stuff like editing, posting, writing shownotes, transcriptions, etc. Not only does he make a living through podcasts, but he has one of his own called The Big Picture Podcast co hosted with Jo Librero. They interview entrepreneurs in Cebu to show the possibilities of business in the Philippines. In this episode, we talk about the opp

I can't stress this enough. I've said this a few times in the podcast already, but it is worth repeating. My few years playing music with Rescue A Hero really helped me meet many interesting people. This is especially true for many of my guests. It turns out that people who are involved in music do interesting things.   One of my discoveries when I started playing music was the existence of productions. Productions was the term used for groups organizing gigs around the city. In fact, one of our first gigs as a band was for Harakiri Mosh. It was dark, loud, alcohol fueled, and a lot of fun.   One of the ladies who selflessly organized the fabled production of Harakiri Mosh is Shak Mancao. Everyone called her Ate Shak. She really was like an older sister watching over her rock and roll siblings. Harakiri Mosh was responsible for helping keep the music scene alive. Tirelessly working through the years to provide fun gigs for many of the local bands.   Although Harakiri Mosh hasn't closed their doors, Ate

In the past few years, Cebu has released some of the most critically acclaimed films in the Philippines. Unfortunately, most Cebuanos haven't seen many of these films. There are many factors for this, but the sad truth is that we just don't have the infrastructure to support film making in Cebu. Unlike Manila, they already have the necessary ingredients.   It's no surprise then that many of the awarded filmmakers in Cebu have moved to Manila. We're about to lose two more filmmakers to our Northern neighbor. Christian Linaban and Ara Chawdhury are planning their move to the big city.   Fortunately before they bid goodbye, I was able to book an interview with Christian Linaban. We had a long conversation about the state of the movie industry in Cebu, how he likes to make movies, his experience producing Superpsychocebu, and even a little bit about nutrition and weed.   Enjoy the podcast!   SHOWNOTES Intermittent fasting Slow carb diet Vegetarian vs. Vegan Lilas: An Illustrated History of the Golden

Connecting with current artists is a by-product of producing Zerothreetwo Conversations. It's refreshing to hear the perspective of artists who are currently playing. I don't want to fall into the trap of featuring people who are my contemporaries. The ability to learn from the new crop of musicians and artists is valuable.   With that in mind, that's how I approached this interview with Luigi Miguel Balazo. Luigi is half of the music group called Sepia Times, and is currently promoting his new music project called The Sellout Club. Amongst musical circles, they've been making waves and I jumped at the opportunity to talk music with him.   In this episode, we talked about the process of making electronic music, appreciating the act of creating music, the need to raise our standards, and what it means to become a good musician.   Enjoy this episode!     Music is Piano March by Audionautix   SHOWNOTES Cattski (Zerothreetwo Conversations episode) Room Eleven 22 Tango Records Rescue a Hero (Zeroth

One of my personal joys of this podcast is to reconnect with old friends and learn more about what they went through in their craft as well as their life.   I first met Boots Brandon Pajaganas years ago. He used to invite our band, Rescue a Hero, to play music for skate events. Back in the day, I remember talking to Boots about his experience skating around Cebu. It's been a while since I last saw Boots, but I was updated on his goingons through Facebook and Instagram.   In the past four years, Boots made a name for himself as a tattoo artist. I remember seeing posts of him winning tattoo competitions, getting tons of clients, and finally tattooing celebrities like Angelica Panganiban and Kitchie Nadal.   He was a no brainer for the podcast. Here was another creative doing well in a creative industry. Little did I know, Boots has a really good story to tell. He is an example of what I'm hoping to see more in Cebu. Before he became a well known tattoo artist, he started with very little. At some point, he

When recording and interviewing creatives for Zerothreetwo Conversations, it became quickly apparent that there was a good number of listeners interested in the show. A few even told us that what we were doing was important. Important for preserving the stories of today for future generations, important for the young creative looking to hear the experiences of those before them, important in taking the steps to grow a creative community in Cebu, Philippines. With that in mind, we hope to continue creating podcasts, but the truth is that it requires a lot of work, time, and effort. We need to find ways to make it sustainable. With that in mind, we created a Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/zerothreetwo  

Many listeners of Zerothreetwo Conversations will know my tendency to lean towards my music background when it comes to interviewing artists. Music used to be a huge part of my creative life, and the podcast is an excuse to talk to current musicians.   The first time I really got a chance to see Vincent Eco play live was during a Listening Room performance hosted 22 Tango Records. The experience was surreal. I couldn't help myself and talked to the person beside me, "It's so good... But so fucking depressing!" And I mean that in the most positive way possible. Good music along with good art has the ability to make you feel.   In this episode, we talked about Vincent Eco's performing and writing on stage, music he listens to, and where he came from. Particularly interesting to me was where he came from. It's not often we get to listen to something truly good and different at the same time. His music is out at a time when many artists have gone the computer music route, while he is able to hold his own with

Every time we've had an interview, I've always come out of the experience surprised. I always forget that every creative, even the ones I admire, experiences trials and tribulations. I mistakenly assume a fully formed creative outfit. More often than not, this is never the case. The journey of most is filled with ups and downs.   My interview with Mark Deutsch of Happy Garaje is no different. I have always admired their work from afar. They are one of the few creative outfits that have managed to balance design work with personal art.   If you aren't familiar with Happy Garaje, they are a design/illustration studio comprised of husband and wife team, Mark Deutsch and Johanna Velasco. It was founded in 2009 and also includes associate artist Karina Cuizon who joined in 2015. They've received numerous awards and distinctions, notably the Gold Award from The Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles, inclusion in the list of 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide for the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 put together by

This podcast is an exercise of getting out of my comfort zone. From asking accomplished guests to be in an episode to trying to create an interesting conversation to realizing we have nothing in common in the middle of the interview, this episode is no different   Lawrence "Larry" Ypil is an accomplished writer and poet. His first book of poems, The Highest Hiding Place was given the Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award (2011). His work has received The Academy of American Poets Prize, the Philippines Free Press Awards, and the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards among others.   Let's talk about the discomfort about the interview. I know nothing about poetry. The first time I read poetry was when I was trying to prepare for this interview. Second discomfort, we did the interview on stage in front of a live Cebu LitFest audience. All of my conversations beforehand have been in closed doors, intimate settings, just two people having a conversation.   Fortunately, Larry was a joy to interview. The conve

This is part two of my interview with Alex "Phatboy" Lim. If you haven't listened to part one, you can check it out here, A Life in the Business of Music with Alex “Phatboy” Lim. This episode was a real treat for me. From my perspective, Urbandub came out of nowhere. I went to college in Manila and lived in a dormitory. The dorm organized lots of parties. To me, it looked like they just showed up one day and performed one heckuva rock show. From then on, I was hooked. I watched them almost every time they played in my college.  So to hear Alex talk about how Urbandub got together, how they played their first gig in Manila, and how success followed was a huge treat for me. If you missed part one of the interview, Alex "Phatboy" Lim used to be the manager of Urbandub. He was there very early on in the band's journey. To get his perspective of everything that happened was really fun to hear. Enjoy the podcast!   SHOWNOTES NU107 Gabby Alipe June Rabin Jed the Squid (Jed Honrado) Fatboy Slim Serendipity La

If you've listened to previous episodes, you'll notice  that I lean towards my music background to relate to the creatives in the show. The music scene in Cebu is near and dear to my heart. Ever since I was in high school, I wanted to  be in a band that played original compositions and gigged constantly. I was fortunate to have that experience, and it introduced me to a whole community that I did not know existed. Today is the best time for music in Cebu. There's so much good music coming out of our shores, it is difficult to keep up with what is happening. Hopefully in the near future, we'll be talking to some of the up and coming music artists in the podcast. For now, I wanted to examine what happened in the past. After all, the past is what you learn today to benefit the future. With that in mind, I invited Alex "Phatboy" Lim to guest in the podcast. Having real experience managing a band and organizing concerts, he has plenty of stories to share. If you were a band in the early 2000's, Alex needs no intro

The online marketing industry in Cebu is still new. When we started Zerothreetwo, we wanted to create revenue through sponsored posts and banner ads. In 2011, that was a tough sell. In 2018, plenty of local companies are advertising online. But how do these ads get made? What is it like working in a creative agency? Jude Crisostomo is the perfect person to ask about this world. Not only does he have years of marketing experience, he knows what it is like on the client side through his experience with his clothing brand, Strawberry Clothing. He is part of a very talented group of people in White Brick Creative Studio. In this episode with Jude, we talk about his start in music, his clothing brand and how the experience informed his agency work, the beginnings of White Brick, the makeup of their creative agency, and finding and dealing with clients. Enjoy the podcast! SHOWNOTES Carla Adlawan (Zerothreetwo Conversations Episode) Strawberry Clothing Rescue A Hero Mercado Central Boysen Pelican Street Pykee Felix

I used to be intimidated of Carla Adlawan. Most know her as one of the bubbliest and friendliest people in the world, but my high school memory of her is as the guitarist of the metal band called Dysmenorrhea. Imagine a six foot rocker chick head banging like a possessed demon, while playing a dropped tuning heavy metal guitar. That's how I remember her.   It's no surprise to find her in advertising. Over the course of doing Zerothreetwo Conversations, I realized that many of my friends in music found themselves in creative careers later on in life. But it is a surprise to find her teaching in a university. After talking to her, she sounded a little surprised herself.   In this episode of Zerothreetwo Conversations, before we talked about her experience as a copywriter in advertising, we spent a good chunk talking about her experience in the music scene under a metal band called Dysmenorrhea, and eventually how all that culminated in her teaching.   Enjoy the episode!     SHOWNOTES Kaloy Uypuanco (Ze

This is part two of the Spark Fest Cebu conference episode. If you haven't listened to part one (What I learned about Failure, Loneliness, and Red Lizard), you can listen to it right after this one. There's no need to listen in chronological order to get value out of this episode.   As mentioned in the previous post, Spark Fest Cebu is an opportunity to spend time with people you can learn from. In this episode, you'll hear from the likes of Ara Chawdhury, Jude Gitamondoc, Monica Villarica, Cecilia Martinez-Miranda, Cattski, Lynn Pinugu, Mel Yan, Cham Lopez, and Carlo Delantar.   There was so much packed in that one conference that I decided to make two parts for the Spark Fest Cebu episode of Zerothreetwo Conversations.   In this episode, we get into the weeds about the idea of a professional artist, the challenges of Vispop, the importance of collaborations, and finding your why.   Enjoy the podcast!    SHOWNOTES Spark Fest Cebu Zerothreetwo Conversations Part 1 Spark Fest Cebu Ara Chawdhury Mi