Busking in 2000's Metro Manila–A Pinoy Musician's Career Beginnings

Busking is the art of performing in public spaces like the streets, parks, malls, and other venues where artists can rely on voluntary tips from onlookers and passersby. Growing up in the Philippines, my idea of a street performer back then was a person with disabilities singing with a guitar at a street corner, begging for alms. It is only quite recently that I started seeing real, talented buskers treating the craft as a legitimate form of artistic expression and a real source of income. Most of them are musicians, but recently mimes have become popular buskers as well. I even passed by a juggler on a sidewalk along Commonwealth Ave, several moths ago.

Shifting the conversation to this lazy afternoon while rummaging through my PC's folders, I stumbled upon my old episode from The Powerful Komiksman Podcast's pre-pandemic, JAMcast era. Specifically, this crazy six-hour episode with my buddy, Ramiru Mataro. Wondering what on Earth we could have been talking about for that long, I skimmed through the episode and rediscovered this podcast gem of him telling the story about how he started his musical career as a busker playing different street corners all over Metro Manila, as a young dude in the 2000s.

---

Below is the six-hour podcast with Komiksman and Ramiru for getting through another all-nighter. Music talk, philosophical exchanges, songwriting, art, and lots of jams with Ramiru's original songs and covers.

From busking in the streets, Ramiru rapidly progressed to leading his band and growing as a singer-songwriter, ready to face the changing vibes of the local and international music scene. He joined the Elements Music Camp, became a finalist at Himig Handog, got signed as a recording artist, and started collaborating and producing music for top artists like BINI, Nicole Asensio, Chito Miranda, Sitti, Donnalyn Bartolome, 4th Impact, and many others. Not bad for a guy who only got a 25 PHP McFloat drink for his first gig.

Here is a supercut of his original songs, performed in the episode.