{image by P4L}
Philly4Life is a group which promotes and supports all Filipinos that contribute to increasing awareness and profile of the Filipino Community. Ray Domingo is the driving force of this movement for the past two years. With each year, it has continued to grow and build up recognition for its support of home-grown Fil-UK music artists.
Ray explains to LDNmeetsMNL the background and reasons for Philly4Life.
Why ‘Philly4Life’?
‘Philly4Life’ is very personal. It was some thing I came up with when emceeing. For me it was a reminder to always be me. I use ‘Philly’ as a label I’d give myself, as I don’t feel like a Pinoy. Being born here London, I never had any Pinoy peers. I didn’t actually hear the word Pinoy until my late teens. Back in the day, my peers were mainly white & black, and I had a few oriental friends too. With ‘4Life’ this is a statement I love. It is a simple statement of dedication.
What was your motivation for starting it all up?
There was no real motivation for it. I’m basically a worker; I always have to be doing stuff. About 3 years ago I was ill, and was told to take a week or two off. So during that time off I built a website.
I looked at what I might want to do a site on, some thing that would really interest me. I love music, so I knew it was always going to be music related. Anyway, I kind of remembered when I was trying to be an artist in the Filipino community. I didn’t get any real support, so instead of dwelling on it, I made sense to do what I could do to promote other young UK/Filipino artists. This should have been a lot more obvious, especially as I have worked in music promotions for 10 years.
Who are you aiming Philly4Life to?
Everyone who likes music. I know a majority of the music on the site and CD is urban, but that’s down to the artists who send me links and music. I know there are several artists out there making pop, electro, rock etc… but nothing comes my way. Can I say to the artists that you have got to remember people’s listening habits are so diverse these days. It’s cool to love Hip Hop, Rock, Pop, House and Drum n Bass, but at the same time the site and CDs are being given out to everyone regardless of what music they may like.
Why did you start the CD compilations?
I started the CD compilations because it made sense. I think it complimented the site and it is one of the best ways to promote the artists. If you like an artist, you can just check the track listing and from there you know who they are. Most artists have got this all wrong at the moment; they think it’s all about performing. Performing is great, I get that… But being on stage isn’t the best way to promote. It’s really quite pointless performing a great set then at your end of your set shouting out your website site or MySpace page. Most people can’t hear you properly, they’re either possibly drunk, and won’t have a pen.
So what promotional advice would you give to upcoming artists?
If you’re a struggling artist, you have got to give out something tangible, especially during your sets. Either flyers or CDs work as they’ll find you again and from there they can build a decent fan base. I know the compilation CD is more effective than the site, which is why I concentrate now more on the compilation than on the website – after all it is all about the music.
And how does Philly4Life fit in with this?
The CD is a great way of showing support to all the artists, who I know from experience have spent a lot of time, energy and money making the music. They often don’t have the extra money to press a few thousand CDs to distribute beyond friends and family, so this is a great opportunity of getting their music out there.
Which artists from the compilations so far, who would you recommend?
I support them all and for me to recommend a few wouldn’t not be fair. Unfortunately, I have done that in the past when put on the spot so I apologise for that. I have put nearly every track I’ve been sent, (regardless of if I like it or not) on the compilation. I leave that up to the listeners to decide. I know what I like, but if I started compiling the CDs based on my musical taste, I might miss something very important; especially as I’m pretty much an old school music lover.
Philly4Life has also looked into the possibility of developing itself as a clothing brand, especially with brands such as Nike, Adidas and New Era feeding off the patriot influences.
But for the moment Ray is dedicating his time to the music and the recognition of its artists.
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Posted on 20 February 2009 by Lani in Music, Profile
Tagged p4l, philly4life, ray domingo
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