Mindanao poet Gerald Castillo Galindez releases debut Poetry EP ‘From Kabacan-Buluan-Tacurong, With Love’

Mindanao Poet, Gerald Castillo Galindez, is releasing his debut 6 Track Poetry EP ‘From Kabacan-Buluan-Tacurong, With Love’ by Bigkas Pilipinas Records with Executive Producer Kooky Tuason.

The EP’s tracks revolves around the ideas of Topophilia, or the strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place.

Listening to these tracks transports you to the suburbs of South-Central Mindanao, the beautiful and diverse cultures of its people and their realities.

The EP’s Carrier single ‘Ginapasaya Mo Ako’ is a short ode to sexy TikTok Dancers that the persona enjoy watching especially during the hard lockdowns, it’s a sort of coping mechanism to survive the stress of being imprisoned in our own homes, it is also an edgy and trippy prelude to the other tracks like ‘Kabacan Blues’ and ‘Ode to Enya and Limewire’ are tracks dedicated to Kabacan, a progressive town in North Cotabato where the poet spent a portion of his youth. ‘Buluan Pag Naga ulan’ is a memoir in verse about childhood reminiscence in Buluan, Maguindanao.

‘Orange and Sky Blue’ and ‘Maalikabok Ka Lang Pero Kaganda Mo’ is the poets love letter to Tacurong City of Sultan Kudarat Province where he is currently based. If you have not been in these places, listening to these tracks will give you an idea what to expect, the tracks will try to break stereotypes. Mindanao is not all armed conflict and insurgencies.

The tracks strength lies in the authenticity of the language used by the poet. Mindanao Tagalog is a hybrid form of Tagalog mixed with Hiligaynon, Binisaya, and Iluko. It is as real as any creolized language in the world. Gerald uses this common language of his place, the language closest to his heart thus, empowering and lifting the culture of his hometowns. This is a first in all aspects of language and literature in the new media.

A team of great artists conspired to create this milestone of a project: Kooky Tuason as Executive Producer, GP Abrajano for music, Marty Tengco for sound engineering and Diego de la Paz for the album’s layout.

‘From Kabacan-Buluan-Tacurong, With Love’ by Bigkas Pilipinas Records will be available on leading Online Streaming Platforms like Spotify, iTunes and etc. starting February 14, 2021.