The Dead Drop

Pao De Silva has been making moody, cinematic, and abstract electronic music as THE CONSPIRACY TAPES to great cult acclaim. We talked about finding truth in your music, his latest release, working with https://spareorgan.bandcamp.com/, plus the pains and triumphs of trying to build communities. Find his music on https://theconspiracytapes.bandcamp.com/... https://theconspiracytapes.bandcamp.com/ *** *Contains samples from Surrogate Prey's "Cottonmouth." Used with permission.

Doug Candano is the author of the new book of surreal short fiction "Infinite Lives, Infinite Deaths" (Penguin Random House SEA). His literary writing has won several national level awards, including the Philippines Free Press Literary Award and the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature. He has also written for film and theater and has a side career as one of the country’s top competitive eaters. He works as a freelance research consultant for dev't programs. Follow Doug on his author page: https://www.penguin.sg/book_author/douglas-candano/ *** *Contains samples from Surrogate Prey's "Cottonmouth." Used with permission.

Chris Linaban (director) and Ara Chawdhury (producer) are the creators of the 2016 Bisaya stoner movie SUPERPSYCHOCEBU. With a cult following growing over the years (screenings during 4/20), in 2024 they now have screenings in the US and Philippines. The filmmaking and real life partners look back on how they made the movie and what it means to them now. superpsychocebumovie.com/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7N9aQEupCE * Contains samples from Surrogate Prey, used with permission.

CASTRO SMITH is one of the best known intaglio engravers in the world. The Filipino-British carver of jewelry and art pieces is based in London, known for his intricate work on signet rings. The signet rings often sell out fast at Dover Street Market and other upscale merchant platforms. It’s also captured the attention of A-list celebrities such as Elton John, Jeremy Strong, the actor in HBO’s Succession, and Anya Taylor-Joy from Queen’s Gambit, who have gone straight to Smith to commission pieces.  From A-list actors to professional gamers, scientists to elite athletes, Smith’s work caters to that mystery point between owning something tactile and precious, and celebrating life’s milestones.  Because it’s the bespoke process that makes Smith’s work pregnant with meaning. When people come to him to mark events, celebrate anniversaries, or cement personal symbols on jewelry that’s when a custom piece transcends the material. It becomes an object of personal mythology. Something beyond jewelry. Something edging closer to totemism.   On this episode of The Dead Drop, Smith talked to me about growing up Eurasian, about his childhood in Cagayan De Oro and Newcastle, his love for aswang stories and other Filipino lower mythology creatures, and how this almost 5,000-year-old art of carving on gold and metal is finding a resurgence with some unlikely young clients.   Follow Castro Smith on IG : https://www.instagram.com/castrosmith/  Visit his shop to commission a custom piece: https://castrosmith.com/ *** Contains samples from Surrogate Prey, used with permission. This podcast is powered by Anchor.

Extreme slow metal at its tastiest. Hailed as genre-defying and a tour-de-force, BASALT SHRINE's debut LP is burning up the Pinoy sludge swamp like someone freed a quartet of gleeful arsonists.  The Filipino doom/post-metal super group is composed of Bobby Legaspi (Surrogate Prey, Malicious Birth), Rallye Ibanez (Ex-Religious Nightmare, Surrogate Prey) and Ronaldo and Ronnel Vivo (Dagtum, The Insektlife Cycle, Abanglupa, Imperial Airwaves, Ex-Hateure).  On this interview we go through each of the tracks on their excellent album "FROM FIERY TONGUES", their thoughts on extreme music, and how they found a hack for performing their previously studio-only songs live. Buy the digital album on their Bandcamp: https://basaltshrine.bandcamp.com/releases Buy the physical releases on the ff platforms. Electric Spark (Netherlands) / Vinyl www.electricsparkrecords.com Surrogate Rec. (Ukraine) / Jewel Case CD www.surrogaterec.com Cruel Nature Records (UK) / Special Edition Cassette Tape cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com Three Moons Records (Poland) / Limited Edition Cassette Tape www.threemoonsrecords.com Aim Down Sight Records (Germany) / Limited Edition Cassette Tape aimdownsightrecords.bandcamp.com 𝗨𝗦𝗔 Electric Talon Records (Philadelphia) / Digipak CD / Cassette www.electrictalonrecords.com 𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗔 PAWN (Ph) / Cassette Tape pawnrecords.com Harrowing Industries (Indonesia) / Digipak CD harrowingindustries.bandcamp.com *** Contains samples from Surrogate Prey, used with permission. This podcast is powered by Anchor. 

Australian phenom Rhiannan Iffland is one of the most dominant female Olympic divers in the world and the undisputed Queen of Cliff-Diving.  A five-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff-Diving Series World Champion, she still credits one of her biggest wins to the time she came back from a devastating MCL injury in 2017, claiming the championship title despite a six-week rehab layoff. How did she bounce back so fast? Visualization and mental training were crucial to her recovery.  This is a field recording from 2019, when Red Bull held an event off Palawan Island, in southwestern Philippines.         Read my feature story on Rhiannan: https://aomnl.com/sports/Cliff-diving-red-bull-rhiannan-iffland  Music provided by Surrogate Prey, used with permission. This podcast is powered by Anchor. 

RONALDO VIVO Jr. may be a well known musician and visual artist in Filipino metal and extreme music, being in bands like sludge supergroup Basalt Shrine and Abanglupa, but he is also an indie publisher, director, and popular writer of transgressive crime literature. On this episode, we talked about his recent release that's since become a cult hit "Ang Bangin sa Ilalim ng Ating mga Paa" (The Abyss Beneath Our Feet) and his first book "Ang Kapangyarihan Higit sa Ating Lahat" (The Power Above Us All), both available on independent presses. CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

MIKHAIL RED is a Filipino director best known for Birdshot and Dead Kids -- the first Netflix original film from the Philippines. As the eldest son of acclaimed director Raymond Red, Mikhail has been immersed in cinema from an early age, studying under Marilou Diaz-Abaya when he was 15, and then making independent films in 20s.  His career has since grown by leaps and bounds, and he's now managed by the influential talent management company Creative Artists Agency. While he is still finishing the third season of HBO's folklore series Halfworlds, I caught up with the young director earlier this year to take a look back on his work, talk about how he handled the challenge of shooting during COVID-19, and about his upcoming movie Arisaka.  Arisaka stars Maja Salvador as a police officer who must retrace the path of the Bataan Death March to escape her pursuers. The title is a reference to the standard bolt-action rifle used by the Japanese invasion forces during WW 2. As this episode of the Dead Drop airs, Arisaka is set to make its world premiere at the Tokyo Intl Film Festival in November 2021. While we're waiting for its public release, listen to this. *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

MANIC MUNDANE is the musical moniker of solo artist Kath Dizon.  A young, bedroom producer based in Mindanao, she crafts a particularly robust strain of electronic music out of deceptively simple riffs, spiced up by sci-fi synths imbued with a triphop vibe, garnished with 80s post-punk.  “Narrative Three,” is Manic Mundane’s debut EP under the Cebu-based record label Melt Records. It’s Dizon’s big coming out as a solo artist as well as a return to her roots, literally being back in her hometown of Koronadal City in South Cotabato.  A college rocker who used to front a hardcore punk band in Iligan city, she has since made the jump to crafting moody hymns about the imagined ecstasies of psychic travel and exorcising religious demons. On this episode of the Dead Drop Podcast, I talked to Dizon in late 2021 as she was putting the finishing touches to her album. Check out her music, now available on Bandcamp, and listen to it on any of the major streaming platforms.  Excerpt from "Astral Bodies" used with permission, all rights to Melt Records. Buy MANIC MUNDANE's music on BANDCAMP.  CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

JAY IGNACIO has worn many creative hats. He is the director of the 2012 FMA documentary "The Bladed Hand" as well as being a practitioner of kali. He is also a stand-up comedian and a guitarist for the novelty rock band Sa Pulis.  Recently, he added graphic novel author to his accomplishments when he released ALANDAL, a swashbuckling tale of conquistadors and pirates set in 1700s Sulu, illustrated by the iconic DC and Marvel artist Alex Niño.  On this episode of the Dead Drop, we talked about the challenges of writing a historical graphic novel, his fascination with the roots of Filipino Martial Arts, and how he collaborated with Alex Niño who is based in the US. *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

THE Master, or Saya, WIN ZIN OO, is the founder and head coach of Thut Ti Lethwei Club in Yangon. "THUT TI" means "courage" in Burmese. The gym itself is home not only to pro and amateur fighters but also known as a fitness destination. While there's of course competition training for  lethwei fighters available, a wide range of people go there who don’t want to compete, but rather want to learn lethwei for fitness and wellness, for self-defense or to combat stress. LETHWEI is the 2,000 years old Burmese style of bareknuckle kickboxing that is similar to the more popular striking art of Muay Thai, except it's fought without gloves and with legal headbutts. Known as the "Art of 9 Limbs" it's not an easy sport or something for the faint of heart. It's brutal and beautiful. And as awareness has spread of its unique spirit and format in the fight world it's been blowing up in Asia and the West.  AS a pioneering lethwei instructor, Win is now one of the legendary coaches of the martial art known not only in his native Myanmar but also around the globe. His training began at a young age under his grandfather; a farmer and amateur Lethwei competitor.  HE has since coached many high profile champions and fighter during his long career, including Maung Maung Gyi, Shan Lay Thway, Saw Gaw Mu Doe, and the legendary Lone Chaw. AS the political situation in Myanmar has led to its fall back into closure under military rule, exacerbated  by the ravages of COVID, this interview with Saya Win back in 2018 is an episode that personally includes my hope for Myanmar eventually rising back to the light of democracy.  SAYA Win talks here about his passion for the sport, the technicalities of fighting with all 9 limbs, and his joy at teaching both competitors and casuals, it's a hope that goes out not only so that fighters and coaches can continue to promote the beauty and spirit of this unique art, but also so that the values and culture of traditional lethwei does not disappear from the history books or from the memory of the fighting world.  *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.     

BUDJETTE TAN is the writer and co-creator behind the award-winning comic books "Trese." Now a hit animated series, I talked to Budj back in 2019 in an interview that was material for a feature article in an international online magazine. On a call to Copenhagen, where Budj and his family are now based, note that throughout this episode you'll hear his son, then two-years-old, as Budj and I discuss his process of creativity, writing comics, the community of Pinoy folklore and mythology creators, and how the "Trese" anime series (back then still in the final stages of production) eventually got developed for the streaming giant Netflix after many delays and challenges.  As a further note for non-Tagalog speaking listeners, Budj and I continually code-switch and talk in both English and Filipino throughout the interview.   *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

This is a brief excerpt from the forthcoming full Dead Drop episode with "Trese" comics writer and co-creator Budjette Tan. One that's coming very soon.  *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

Guillermo "Gimo" Gomez is the rehabilitation program director giving alcohol and substance abusers a new chance at life through the innovative treatment at Bridges of Hope Rehab Center. BoH is the therapy center where GIMO works that offers wholistic therapy and counselling to get people off their addictions. He's also a certified instructor at Triad Jeet Kune Do, one of the local chapters of Bruce Lee's martial arts system. Before that though, Gimo was also an addict himself who had gone through different therapies to get himself off drugs and alcohol and the inevitable depression that came from relapses. So he understands deeply how hard kicking dependencies can be. On this episode, we talked about what wholistic and compassionate rehabilitation therapy is, his hardcore journey through addiction recovery to become a rehab specialist, and the role that studying and eventually teaching Jeet Kune Do and other martial arts played in his own redemption and his path towards physical, mental, and spiritual fitness. *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

WARNING: Explicit words and content in this episode! Part 2 of 2 parts. IN FILIPINO arts and literature, LOURD DE VEYRA is a creative goliath. His latest book is "Marka Demonyo," a collection of poetry. With all his literary and media accolades though, he's mostly known for being the frontman of the jazz rock, spoken word band The Radioactive Sago Project, their monster hit "Gusto Ko ng Baboy" is now one of those staples on videoke playlists. HIS new band is KAPITAN KULAM, a mix of hardcore punk, doom, and post-metal. Lourd has dropped the mic and strapped on a guitar for this mostly instrumental project and he's joined by Jay Gapasin, Kaloy Olavides, and Eric Melendez. KK has just released their heavy as anvils debut EP on Spotify. IN THIS two-part episode, Lourd and I caught up with each other's lives and dug into what makes Kapitan Kulam tick, what the heck is up with their all-white stage clothing, and so much more *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

WARNING: Explicit words and content in this episode!  Part 1 of 2 parts.  IN FILIPINO arts and literature, LOURD DE VEYRA is a creative goliath. His latest book is "Marka Demonyo," a collection of poetry. With all his literary and media accolades though, he's mostly known for being the frontman of the jazz rock, spoken word band The Radioactive Sago Project, their monster hit "Gusto Ko ng Baboy" is now one of those staples on videoke playlists.  HIS new band is KAPITAN KULAM, a mix of hardcore punk, doom, and post-metal. Lourd has dropped the mic and strapped on a guitar for this mostly instrumental project and he's joined by Jay Gapasin, Kaloy Olavides, and Eric Melendez. KK has just released their heavy as anvils debut EP on Spotify.  IN THIS two-part episode, Lourd and I caught up with each other's lives and dug into what makes Kapitan Kulam tick, what the heck is up with their all-white stage clothing, and so much more *** CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp. DDP is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

On this episode, DUSTIN CELESTINO comes on the show to talk about GENERAL ADMISSION the newest movie he wrote.  Dustin is a multi-awarded fictionist and playwright. He also wrote and directed the black comedy crime thriller UTOPIA. In his work there's usually a running thread of satire that is meaningful and also intensely entertaining. *** Directed by Jeffrey Hidalgo, GENERAL ADMISSION stars Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Katja, a member of a sexy dance group who has a wardrobe malfunction on a Filipino noontime variety show. She and her boyfriend, Carlito, find themselves at the center of a media circus that results in a brutal, public murder. The movie is about the ruthless tendency of the entertainment industry to make a spectacle out of scandal and tragedy. It's also about the lengths people go to to satisfy the lust of their audience for blood or sleaze. *** This one was a real trip of a film, especially with how the story was meant to be satirical when Dustin wrote it, but now mirrors, almost exactly, our online celebrity culture. Curtis-Smith and her co-lead JC De Vera breathe life into the ill-fated lovers who just wanted a shot at stardom, eventually discovering that fame is a  gilded cage without an exit. The final sequence, for me, was just a mind-blowing laugh-cry moment. *** Listen up as Dustin about the creative life and how he's managed to be such a protean storyteller in many mediums.  For those who wish to watch, GENERAL ADMISSION starts streaming on KTX by April 9, 2021. Book your tickets here. CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp.  POWERED and distributed by Anchor.fm.

THE POWER brokers of Hollywood never saw AMBRA BATTILANA GUTIERREZ coming. THE RISE of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement has been pretty well documented, the spotlight mostly on A-list celebrities like Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Angelina Jolie. Their experiences of sexual abuse in the movie industry have filled headlines worldwide. So it’s easy to overlook how, at the root of it all, it was the 22-year old Filipina-Italian Gutierrez (born 15 May 1992), a Victoria’s Secret model and Italian beauty queen, who sat at the NYPD Special Victims desk way back in 2015 that eventually started the fall of Harvey Weinstein’s movie empire through her wire recordings. IT'S LESS well-documented how, after signing Weinstein's NDA, Ambra and her brother went to the Philippines to escape her deep depression and trauma. Gutierrez' mother has roots in Calamba, Laguna, and Ambra stayed in the Philippines for more than two years to recuperate and try to start a new life.  I CAUGHT up with Gutierrez in the Miami, where lockdown had found her. In this conversation, Gutierrez looks back her pivotal time in exile in the Philippines, how staying in Manila energized her for a return to New York, and on the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement that eventually helped sentence Weinstein to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, in one of the most dramatic falls from grace for one of Hollywood's most powerful figures. A MUST-LISTEN episode for all victims of sexual abuse and the friends and family who have suffered with them.  CONTAINS SOUND samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp.  POWERED AND and distributed by Anchor.fm.

MARIA Christina Sarte, known as DOCTOR KITTS, is a Cebuana who's worked with Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) for 13 years Now. Her medical missions have taken her all over the world, to crises and conflict areas like Afghanistan and South Sudan. WHILE she graduated as a pediatrician from the Philippines, she now specializes in snakebites and just finished an MSF project in Ethiopia,where snakebites and diseases like kala azar, a chronic and potentially fatal parasitic disease also known as the "black fever," are endemic. IN this episode of The Dead Drop Dr Kitts talked about her continuing passion for international humanitarian work, participating in anti-venom research, and how she's dealt with the high stress of the often conflict heavy environments she's had to function in--often in very Pinoy ways. CONTAINS sound clips from "Living In Emergency." Used with permission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM3Na9a2mzw CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp.  THIS podcast is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.

TOM SYKES is the English author of  "The Realm of the Punisher | Travels In Duterte's Philippines" and the forthcoming "Imagining Manila | Literature, Empire and Orientalism." HE's a veteran writer, editor, and University of Portsmouth senior lecturer who's written satire to short fiction, reportage to travel narrative. But his essay travel writings about the Philippines, the Ivory Coast, and Malaysia, are the best ones among his works, conjuring up Paul Theroux, Philip Caputo, and Alex Garland when he was still firing full clip.  TOM doesn't have a particular beat and is comfortable almost everywhere, discussing diverse subjects with a range of people, from squatters and activists, writers like F. Sionil Jose and Charlson Ong, or a politician like Teddy Casino. He also went to Davao to try and secure an interview with then-mayor Duterte. ON this episode of THE DEAD DROP, Tom talks about his fascination for the Philippines, why he stayed for almost a decade in the archipelago, and how  readers may be surprised that "Realm of the Punisher" isn't a book of political critique but rather about Tom's travels, interviews, and ruminations when he was a Western stranger living in the strange land of Quezon City.  FOLLOW Tom's work online at https://tomgsykes.wordpress.com/. CONTAINS sound samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp.  THIS podcast is powered and distributed by Anchor.fm.