00:00 If not, his baton, Maestro Ryan Kebyab has a paintbrush in his hand.
00:05 Dozens of his paintings are now on display at the Mall in Makati for his first solo exhibition.
00:11 The maestro joins us now in the studio to tell us more about Tunay na Ligaya.
00:17 Mr. C, great to have you with us.
00:19 Thank you, Rico.
00:20 I only watch you in concerts and now you're here.
00:23 Me also.
00:25 Promoting your very first art exhibition.
00:29 How did this all come about?
00:33 You know, it's a good thing that I have a team who really pushed me to mount it because
00:38 otherwise I wouldn't even think of how to do anything like it.
00:43 But what happened was from 2022 to 2023, I was able to collect so many paintings and
00:54 I said I wanted to have an exhibit.
00:57 But you rediscovered your love for the visual arts during the pandemic.
01:02 Rediscovered, yes.
01:05 But as maybe a lot of people know that I had been delving in art, doodling, sketching,
01:16 ink and paper.
01:17 Yes, yes.
01:18 When do you do that?
01:19 During rehearsals?
01:20 When you're judging a singing competition?
01:23 Exactly.
01:24 You know, when we're doing auditions especially, my panel would be wondering what I do, you
01:31 know, like waiting for et cetera, for what happens.
01:34 I just doodle.
01:36 But otherwise I do sketches and sometimes, you know, all the doodles, they have been
01:42 taken by all my panels or all the people around me.
01:46 They say, "Can I have this one?"
01:47 That's why none of these doodles, none of these sketches are showcased in your art exhibit
01:52 of 53 works.
01:54 And I'm sure everyone would like also to know that you won the national YMCA National Arts
02:02 Competition in 1968.
02:04 Yeah.
02:05 So, why didn't you pursue visual arts?
02:07 Why music?
02:08 Nah, I was, visual arts was a, what do you call it?
02:13 I was just sidetracked I think into visual arts.
02:17 But the focus or the interest is really in music.
02:22 But I don't know, maybe the other story would be, people know that my mom is an opera singer
02:30 and when she died when I was six years old, she told our father to discourage any one
02:40 of the children to pursue music.
02:43 So I did anyway.
02:45 By the time I was a graduate of high school, I started working as a pianist or a bank choir.
02:53 But did you not think, didn't it ever cross your mind to balance the visual arts and music
03:00 so you can make double the money?
03:02 Never, never, never.
03:03 I never thought about it.
03:05 This is only now.
03:07 Only now.
03:08 In 2022, 2023.
03:11 Because I didn't know that, when I started music, I also didn't know that I can make
03:17 a living out of music.
03:19 All this time I was playing for people, I was doing all this work and I was just doing
03:25 it for fun.
03:26 I didn't know, one day I was paid a check for arranging something.
03:30 I said, "Oh, this thing pala has a value."
03:34 And the same thing with the painting.
03:36 The first time somebody offered to buy, I said, "What, are you kidding?
03:42 You want to buy this painting?"
03:45 And he said, "Yeah, I want to buy it."
03:47 That started it.
03:49 And when I started posting on Facebook, it only took maybe a day, three days, and then
04:01 that's it.
04:02 And he would go and say, "It's mine, I want to buy it."
04:07 And after that, Rico, I realized this was pandemic.
04:12 I didn't have any job, like 2021, 22.
04:17 And you know-
04:18 Basically the entertainment industry was the first one to shut down and the last one to
04:22 restart.
04:23 Exactly.
04:24 So no jobs for me, no concerts, no arranging, no...
04:28 Except that I wrote a lot of music in that period.
04:31 I wrote a lot of music.
04:32 I gave it away because-
04:34 More music than you ever did.
04:36 More music I ever did in probably a decade, in two years.
04:41 But the catch is I gave it to organizations who needed like PAWS, organizations like a
04:49 lot of-
04:50 Jingles?
04:51 Theme music for a lot of doctors.
04:55 You have this group of doctors and they need...
04:59 I did a lot of that during that time.
05:01 And taking a look at this body of works, 53 of them, which are currently on exhibit at
05:07 the Power Plant Mall in Makati, it's an eclectic mix.
05:11 You have abstract, you have floral, but what really caught my eye, Mr. C, was the IFE series.
05:19 I'm very familiar with the selfie, with the wifi, but you have the IFE.
05:25 What made you get into this concept of the IFE series, which is like half of your face
05:32 with some very important objects and symbols in your life?
05:38 Actually it's a quarter of the face because it's only just the eye, one eye.
05:42 There it is.
05:43 It's right now on television.
05:44 How many works are these, this IFE series?
05:47 There's 16 of that.
05:48 16.
05:49 I started with four and then my daughter said, "Why don't you do 12, one for each month?"
05:53 And then Raymond Latchenko says, "Oh, why don't you do 16 in celebration of your one
06:01 voice won?"
06:04 In 1981?
06:05 Yes.
06:06 Oh my goodness.
06:07 You remember all that.
06:08 So I followed your career since I was a little boy.
06:13 Oh, I'm sorry.
06:15 It started because when I started doing social media, all the pictures that I posted were
06:24 IFEs.
06:25 And then it became so popular that even all my friends, they all want an IFE with me,
06:30 like my eye here and them there.
06:33 So it hasn't surfaced yet, but I'm sure one of these days, a lot of those friends will
06:40 show you photographs of them with my IFE.
06:45 Very interesting.
06:46 If you take a look at the contrast of all of these IFE works, you have one where you
06:51 really look so young.
06:53 That was like UP High School 1970.
06:57 And then you have ... Did you ever have green hair before, Mr. C?
07:02 And of course, our white hair, the black hair, the salt and pepper.
07:07 I mean, just across decades.
07:11 Beautiful.
07:13 And of course, all kinds of eyewear, different shapes.
07:17 Yes, during the time that I had ... Because it's not only about IFEs from 2011 to now.
07:25 That's why I picked up a photo from my graduation, from my high school yearbook, and I said,
07:33 "I'm going to do an IFE of that."
07:37 Just a quarter of the face, and then put UP High 1970.
07:42 And you have really proven, Maestro, that at any age, we can still pursue a passion
07:48 or whatever moves you to create.
07:51 And now you're creating art.
07:53 Will this continue from your first solo exhibition?
07:57 Are we going to see a second solo exhibition anytime soon?
08:01 I'm not predicting a second exhibition yet, but I'm going to ask you, what is your passion?
08:07 What is it that you want to do, Rico?
08:10 Is there anything that you have been wanting to pursue?
08:15 What I'm doing right now, interviewing a national treasure.
08:20 My passion for journalism.
08:24 Yes.
08:25 Writing a book.
08:26 Eventually writing a book.
08:27 Yeah, and publishing.
08:28 And publishing it.
08:29 And what about yourself?
08:30 Me?
08:31 What do you mean?
08:32 Yes.
08:33 I mean, also write a book.
08:34 That will come.
08:35 That's the next project.
08:36 I hope so.
08:37 I'm not a good writer, so that's not my core competency.
08:43 I still remember things that I can probably tell the stories to somebody who would like
08:50 to write it, but that's it.
08:53 Through the age, I mean, I'm getting older.
08:57 I seem to forget.
08:58 You're only 57.
08:59 No, I'm 69.
09:03 Revealing his true age.
09:06 I always say I'm seven months to 70.
09:10 But if you would choose three songs, of course, apart from the Ify series, which was inspired
09:16 by the 16 voices of your one in 1981, your abstract works, your floral works, what would
09:24 be maybe one or two songs from your long list of hits that would best describe this body
09:31 of works?
09:32 I guess any song that is full of joy, exuberance, and fun, because that is my character, and
09:43 it shows in the paintings that I have done.
09:46 I'm really more of a very spontaneous person, and I like fun.
09:52 I don't like any problems, if that's possible.
09:57 Absolutely.
09:58 Of course, that's not possible.
09:59 But my escape is, see, it's already there.
10:03 It's my music, and now I have visual art.
10:09 And maybe eventually, Mr. C, integrate your music into a musical with your artworks as
10:17 a backdrop.
10:18 That's an idea.
10:19 That's an original idea.
10:22 Yeah.
10:23 Well, I did an opera for Spoliarium already, so you can imagine that backdrop of Waluna.
10:29 Yes.
10:30 So, yeah, looks like a good idea.
10:33 So until when, Maestro, is this exhibit Tunay na Ligaya at the Power Plant Mall?
10:40 Tunay na Ligaya at the Power Plant Mall will be held until November 5.
10:46 It has a move-over engagement at the Estancia Mall from November 10 to November 26.
10:54 So those guys who don't have a chance or no time to go to the Power Plant Mall, it's
11:02 going to move over to Estancia Mall.
11:06 National artist for music, and maybe one of these days, national artist for the visual
11:11 arts.
11:12 Never.
11:13 Never.
11:14 Maestro Ryan, Mr. C Kayabyab, congratulations on your first solo exhibit, and thank you
11:18 so much for joining us on The Final Word.
11:21 Thank you, Enrico.
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