i have to say, i have the coolest dad. growing up, i didn't quite understand why he didn't have a normal 9-5 job like all those dads out there. you see, my dad's a musician, and he usually works at night. as a kid, whenever my friends ask me what my dad does for a living, i always tell them that my dad's a music teacher (which is also true), to save me the whole litany of what musicians actually do.
growing up, he didn't encourage us to take up sports like most dads do. instead, he exposed us to the arts. as early as 5 years old, i was taking up ballet, jazz, voice, piano and theatre. i was more familiar with bands like yes, beatles, led zeppelin and jimi hendrix. instead of reading us fairytales to bed, he told us stories like how the beatles was formed or the plot of jesus christ superstar. he didn't stress on us having good grades, instead he always told us how important it is to use our talents. i always loved it whenever i went with him on his gigs (i was already going on gimmicks as early as 7 years old), i got to sit in the front and their singer would always dedicate a song for me, "their bassist's daughter." although he wouldn't sing whenever i was there.
in high school, he was the dad everyone wished they could have. he wanted us to be independent, so basically he let us do whatever we wanted, but of course with boundaries. he allowed me to go out on gimmicks as long as i'm home before my 5 am curfew. he allowed me to date and have a boyfriend as early as 13, as long as "it's not a serious relationship." when i told him that i formed an all-girl band with my friends with me as the bassist, he was beyond thrilled. he was so excited that i woke up one morning and he presented me with the coolest guitar-- a 5-string, musicman stingray. i didn't know much about guitars then, so he just told me, "that's a pretty good guitar; sheryl crow has the same one." he took me to concerts all the time, from alanis morissette to michael jackson, to "expose me to different genres of music" (that's what he told my mum).
he was totally supportive when i told him i would be working part-time for mtv when i was in 2nd year college so as to "have an edge in the real world." being in the music video industry, it was normal for me to bump into him in gigs and events, so often that everyone started to call me as "lally, the bassist's kid". it didn't bother me being classified as such, i mean, how many dads out there who would actually know what linkin park is and who could actually argue as to why christina aguilera was more talented than britney spears?
nowadays, my dad has mellowed down from the whole band scene. he still has a band and has gigs, but not as much as before; instead, he prefers to concentrate more on producing albums for his recording company. our usual bonding sessions now consists of coffee and cigarettes (much to my mum's dismay) while i help him mix tracks for the latest album he's producing.
yes, he's not your usual tie-wearing, basketball-playing dad. he's my chucks and distressed jeans-wearing, bass guitar-playing, comic book-collecting dad. and in case you're wondering what i now say whenever someone asks me what my dad does for a living? i just give them a big smile and say: "my dad's a rockstar."
happy father's day popsee. you're the coolest. :-)
thank god it's friday...
