IT'S STILL A GROOVY NATION
From Radical Music Shop to Roving Dance Party to Laidback LAVA LOUNGE--- How Groove Nation Has Provided the Alternative
by Lionel Zivan S.Valdellon

published in LocalVibe.Com: May 1999

I remember visiting the old Groove Nation shop at the rooftop of Vernida Building on Amorsolo Street some years back. I drooled all over the records. Rack upon rack of rare new wave, funk, indie rock and jazz on vinyl. No place else at that time offered the same collection of music for sale, whether used or brand new. Remember, this was a few years before Music One, a lifetime before Tower Records. This was heaven for the collector of non-mainstream music… and fashion, since the shop boasted quite an array of vintage clothes and accessories.

It was a bit later when I learned about Consortium--- the progressive roving dance club organized by the Groove Nation collective (a band of eleven self-confessed music junkies) and initiated in 1993. The group decided that it was time to offer an intelligent alternative to the cheesy club music that was being played throughout Manila's nightspots, and came up with a regular "event" that would introduce the dance/DJ culture which the whole world was enjoying but which we hardly knew. They invited foreign DJs to spin their records for Consortium, they corraled venues and spread the word that Manila was invited to their regular out-of-bounds parties.

People called the Consortiums "raves"--- a term not exactly correct (since the local events hardly approximated the real things happening in Europe for example), but the term was bandied about so much that it gained general acceptance. Whatever term you used for it, Consortium was (and still is) always filled to the rafters with people eager to trip out to the sounds.

Groove Nation honcho and resident DJ, Toti Dalmacion explains: "Consortium is Groove Nation's platform for exposing and introducing modern electronic dance music and the rave culture to the Filipinos. Music is the main focus…to educate and get the people used to quality dance music. And here, everyone's equal." He talks about breaking down social barriers while celebrating life thru gyrations and 4-on-the-floor house music beats, about giving people an option apart from the music that's crammed down our throats on radio and in other clubs. And, yes, the people come to experience the alternative.

The next logical step that Groove Nation took was to offer their music on FM radio. It started out with the more Indie pop/rock oriented "Groove Nation Sessions", and eventually through a team-up with radio station 99.5RT, they put out the "After Hours" weekly two-hour program where Toti, his partners Cocoy Puyat and Edge Pamute and guests could showcase the electronic music from their vast collections.

"We Filipinos tend to play it safe. Anything new, we tend to shy away from until everyone is into it," says Toti Dalmacion. Which is why Groove Nation is dedicated to exploring the uncharted territories of style and music. It's about staying one step ahead of what's 'uso'.

Even a venture into recording--- with the release of the Rivermaya Remixed album, produced primarily by Groove Nation DJs--- only helped strengthen the group's commitment to pushing for international-quality Philippine dance music.

But it seems like times are changing. We ask him about the newest addition to the Groove Nation family…the unofficial headquarters and hang-out, Lava Lounge at 2216 Laureano Building in Pasong Tamo, and how it's such a break from the electronic music they've been pushing.

Dalmacion explains, "For me the bottom line is always to be 'different' and every other place says that but i don't see the difference.especially with the music. Give them something that's unusual. Much like the monster that we helped push, 'raves'. Now it's rave this, rave that and that's why we set this up. It's completely opposite, a break so to speak. It's all about reinventing yourself and moving into different directions, always two steps ahead. When you think like this then you have something new to offer and hopefully people will appreciate it and come back for more."

After the music shop and the roving parties, Lava Lounge is a laidback retro place playing traditional jazz, '50s soundtracks, '60s MOD stuff, samba, mambo, bossa nova, torch songs, spy themes and lots of obscure and incredibly weird music. Martinis are served, as well as the city's tastiest bar chow: Wasabe chips. And the atmosphere? Like their ads say, it's the most comfortable lounge on earth.

After all is said and done, the truth remains that Groove Nation collective are bent on giving us quality alternatives, good options, to what's already out there saturating our senses. And truly, it's about time.

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