by Rcxy Bautista

Underground is dead! On this day and age, everything can be “Liked,” “RT’d,” or snapped with instagram. In a few seconds, they will surely go online and no scene gets away from the mainstream media’s radar. What was once considered ‘counter-cultural’ has become, in every way, a cultural movement of the youth. The rebellious and elitist whose “street cred” is touted as underground may have to contend with another movement which consists of various “youth cultures” who understand what it is to lead life that’s outside of the norm: the otherground. The
otherground can be best described as ‘underground which co-exists with the mainstream.’

Welcome to Manila Otherground! The new playground of the non-conformists in the metro where the young and the restless, the dazed and the confused, and the creative heads of the state converge!

The co-existence of these youth movements and mainstream media was best observed recently at the posh club/lounge Opus in Resorts World Manila where I celebrated my natal day in a night of music, dancing, and drinking. Random Minds brought four different sets of artists to play their own brand of music. DJ Mulan warmed up the crowd with his mix of sexy and atmospheric beat, which ranged from Detroit House to Bouncy House. The supermodels-turned DJ trio: The Zombettes (Ornusa, Mia and Sanya) played an interesting mix of familiar songs remixed and drip-dried in dance-tronica beats that were truly their own. Mia’s set was later joined by rock icon Ely Buendia as the latter accompanied her beats with live wails of his electric guitar. Sanya ended their set with a series of bass-heavy old school rock remix. By the time Geordon Nicol and Leigh Lezark of the NY-based DJ trio the The Misshapes took over the deck, I was already drunk. The only thing I can remember were flashes of lights, spilt drink on my shirt and Leigh screaming “Happy Birthday!” at me as I was jumping and dancing to their version of “Heads Will Roll.” Probably, the best greeting I had that night!

I sometimes think Opus is too posh a place for an epic-crazy time like I had but that night wasn’t about the place nor was it about the price of drinks in the bar. It was about the people I was with, the music we enjoyed dancing to, and the joyful state of mind (thanks partly to alcohol) that tell you, whichever ground you tread on - aboveground, underground or otherground, the most important thing is that you are having fun and that the people around you are having fun too.

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