Filipino indie musician Abby Clutario on why fans should support OPM like K-pop

Indie musician Abby Clutario has been making waves in the OPM scene after releasing her debut single, a cover of UDD's "Tadhana," on Friday.

The multi-instrumentalist gave the 2012 hit a new twist with her Chapman Stick, an electric instrument with approximately 10-12 strings.

Abby is also a vocalist and keyboardist for the progressive rock band fuseboxx, a member of the world fusion group Manila Sky, and pop jazz band Lenses.

She performs solo gigs as a singer-pianist and is a session musician for contemporary Filipino artists, such as Ryan Cayabyab, Noel Cabangon, and Kate Torralba.

Having worked with several top local musicians, the GMA Music and AltG Records artist talked about why fans should support OPM just like they support K-pop.

"We always tend to look for something that's not here, di ba, that's not available? But once we do support local stuff, local music, artists, products, then we can say, mas marami tayong makaka-get out there para mas makita nila," she said.

Abby said K-pop and other K-entertainment became popular precisely because Koreans supported and promoted the artists and the creativity workforce.

"Ang K-pop, Koreanovela, everything that's Korean, bakit ba siya umabot dito? Because sila, mismo, they can promote themselves kahit sa kanila lang, di ba, even with their language," she said.

"Kahit di natin naintindihan, di ba, puro subtitles lang. Diba 'yung K-pop sobrang dalang lang makita natin 'yung English doon para maka-relate tayo, but still, alam natin siya."

Abby said if the government itself, just like in Korea, promote Filipino talent, OPM can reach the same heights as K-pop.

"If they can recognize the talent ng Philippines, then we can; puwede natin talaga 'yun magawa 'yan worldwide also," she said.

Abby's "Tadhana" is no. 5 on iTunes Philippines' Top 100 Songs chart upon its release and is included in Spotify's Fresh Finds Philippines playlist.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News