Courtesy Paolo Garcia
Paolo Garcia had a rough 2020, even by COVID standards. Around this time last year, Taal Volcano erupted, blanketing the Filipino musicianâs Laguna home in thick ashfall. Days after the volcanic fury, his father died. And two months later, the pandemic broke out.
His work didnât fare much better, either: the lockdowns cancelled virtually all his live gigs, shrunk his time with collaborators, and drove him out of sound studios and back to the corners of his home.
So itâs a miracle that Garcia managed the music calendar he did last year. He produced âMuling Kagatâ, a remixed rarities album of songs by Hotdog, the famed disco-funk band credited with birthing the Manila sound genre â and the group whose founding members happen to be his dad Dennis Garcia and uncle Rene Garcia.