Pinoy Rock Radio Online provides a voice
for the underground and the extreme
by rick olivares
If you spot this chap wearing a
grey baseball cap and a vest filled with band patches and pins holding up a
phone and fiddling with a laptop all the while videoing or streaming a live
performance, chances are that’s Paulo Tamayo Legaspi.
Paulo is the man behind Pinoy
Rock Radio Online, a 24/7 independent online radio that plays mainstream but
also a healthy chunk of independent, underground, and extreme music from bands
throughout the entire Philippine archipelago.
Legaspi travels the club and bar
circuit to stream performances – when allowed – and every single day sets a
playlist for his online streaming station. Sometimes, he goes to at least two
shows a night such as last weekend when he first attended the Full Blast Pinoy
Super Bands concert at the Cuneta Astrodome before moving to Mulligans in
Makati to catch American death metal band, Devourment. “I know it’s tough, but
this is a commitment to music and showing everyone that we have a healthy music
scene,” explained Paulo.
“Hindi ko naabutan ang DZRJ nung
kalakasan niya,” he added. “The stations that picked up the baton for rock
music -- NU 107, XB, LA 105 - they are
all gone. Meron pumalit yung 88.3. Pero kulang. Marami pa rin banda na hindi
napapakinggan’. So I decided to create a music streaming station that consists
of mainstream, underground, and extreme bands from not just Metro Manila but
all over – Cagayan De Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and more.”
Over Pinoy Rock Radio Online, the
programs range from all the sub-genres of rock – metal, punk, New Wave,
rockabilly, classic rock, blues, ethnic, ska, and so forth.
“My tastes were already wide. But
doing this broadened my horizons,” he bared of his passion.
Initially, Paulo, who works in a
IT company, digitized his cassettes and vinyl records then added the music of
his own compact discs to a central server. Then he scoured the band circuit for
independent and underground releases. “Right now, I spend about 15 thousand a
month to maintain and run the station. Plus, I also spend on buying compact
discs and records of new bands. I sometimes get freebies but I mostly buy a
lot. Support na rin yan sa kanila.”
Since Pinoy Rock Radio Online
went live on the 1st of January, 2013, the reception has been
fantastic. With some 8,000 listeners from all over the country, it has provided
a means for other bands to be heard.
“You would think that with the
internet, bands have a venue to be heard pero marami pa rin clutter,” noted
Legaspi. “This is an opportunity for them to be heard.”
Right now, Pinoy Rock Radio
Online doesn’t make money. Hopefully, it will, wished Legaspi. “I just do it
for the love of music especially Original Pilipino Music.”
For those interested in listening
to Pinoy Rock Radio Online, try this link. http://pinoyrockradio.listen2myshow.com
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