Lou Bonnevie greeted the media with her casual, "Kumusta naman tayo diyan?" when she arrived at the press conference of Earth Jam 2008 held recently.
She was still in her usual "rocker" look—boots, tight jeans, and loose black shirt, and a cowboy hat—when Pop Rock icon Lou Bonnevie introduced herself and the other invited band members for the Earth Jam 2008.
It's been a while since Lou faced the media to promote something. If not for her annual Earth Jam project, the 42-year-old rock star would not be recognized by the younger generation today because it has been years since she last performed in public in her own gig.
Lou started out her career in the '80s as a solo artist. She was 19 years old when she was launched in a concert titled Next In Line. She could also be remembered as a solo artist who can rock a crowd with her acoustic guitar.
Although she can effectively perform loud rock music, this music icon became popularly known for her rock ballads, which she considers as part of pop rock.
FROM SINGER TO PRODUCER. Music lovers used to watch Lou perform on stage. As new bands and other solo artists entered the music scene, however, Lou decided to lie low in her singing career.
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) caught up with Lou in a short interview after the press conference. Lou was quite busy at that time because her own production company was handling the Earth Jam event.
So, PEP did not waste time. We asked her on the spot about what happened to her during the time she was not visible to the public. The singer-songwriter said that she put up a production company called Dimitri Productions.
Lou explained that she decided to create this production outfit not only to get herself a gig but also help newcomers to perform in public.
She further explained, "Kasi noon when I started, ang feeling ko lang, parang naghahanap ako palagi ng events o ng bookings na gusto ko, parang ilan-ilan lang yung mga nag-o-offer. Sana may show na ganito, sana may show na makasali ako.
"I decided na I'll just produce na lang siguro or start an event rather than just wait and wait, di ba, parang ang hirap."
The songwriter-producer then explained why she had to cut her time in performing.
She said, "Actually, we only do events like, siguro only three times a year lang kami pero medyo malalaking events kasi, kaya it eats up a lot of my time. And after that, I rest, nauubos kasi ang energy ko talaga. So, it takes a little while bago balik na naman ako, kaya medyo nasa-sideline ang singing."
Another reason Lou gave for not letting her hands ease off her company is that she's inspired by its projects. According to Lou, most of the shows that made Dimitri Productions have been cause-oriented.
For eight years since it started in 2001, Dimitri has been known for organizing the Earth Day Jam every April. "Yung iba, para sa mga kabataan. Konsiyerto para sa kabataan, laging advocacies," Lou added.
She narrated the company's first experience in preparing for the Earth Jam, "First, nagsimula ako sa Hard Rock Café, maliit lang yun—with Martin [Nievera], Jaya, nilapitan ko sila. Aba, sabi ko, ‘Okay, ah.' Very engaging 'tapos sinuportahan na ako ng DENR [Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources]."
The positive feedback made her decide to focus on producing such shows. She related to PEP, "The Earth Day Network Philippines [told me], ‘Sige, tuloy mo 'yan. Ano'ng mangyayari, ano ba ang gagawin mo next year?' Sabi ko, ‘Wow! Kailangan na palang gawin ito every year.' And then, that pushed me to do it every year."
MISSES SINGING. Given her tight production schedule, Lou admitted to PEP that she misses performing a lot.
"Na-miss ko yung performing siyempre, nakakapayat sa akin yun," explained Lou. "Yun ang exercise ko. The energy I get, you know, the people, and most especially I really love performing live."
She added, "I like it a lot, so I really miss it. Yun lang talaga ang nami-miss ko kapag may ganitong event [Earth Day Jam], hindi ako makakatodo ng kantahan."
Although this rock chic wants very much to go back onstage, she just has to make sacrifices since production tasks eat up most of her time.
She told PEP, "Siyempre nami-miss ko rin [mag-perform]. Kaya lang, alam mo naman, kapag kasi may ginagawa kang iba kailangang may mga sacrifices kang kailangang gawin. So, like kapag mga events na katulad nito [Earth Day Jam], it eats up a lot of my time also kaya medyo minsan nasa-sideline yung aking singing."
In fact, Lou said that whenever she has free time, she writes songs that she hopes to include in her next album. After years of preparing for this new album, the singer-songwriter plans to release it within this year.
BACK TO THE ORIGINAL LOU. "Mayroon akong bagong album na ilalabas this year," she announced to PEP. "Wala pang title pero baka I'm Only Human ang title, pero hindi pa ako sure."
We asked, what kind of music does she have for this album. The rock icon said, "Pop pa rin siya, medyo pop rock pa rin. Kasi, siyempre, I have to go back to my original Lou Bonnevie. Iba naman yung as a producer, iba naman yung as a singer. So, ito yung singer side naman."
Before Lou could go back to attend to her duties during the press conference, PEP asked her the last question, "If you were to choose only one from these, what would you rather choose, performing or producing shows?"
Lou took some time before she gave her answer. Her smart reply was, "Siyempre mas masaya yung kakanta ka lang 'no? Pero siyempre ang maganda naman when you're producing, you also have a little bit of power, 'no?
"May maibibigay sa 'yo na kakayahan na you can be able to transcend from just being an artist, you can have the power to talk to more people, convince more people, create more advocacies through your music, and nakakaengayo ka ng mga kapwa mo musicians to play together."