*"Some
great ideas often stem from simple banterings or lazy talks over nothing
at all. One absurd idea after another, suddenly taken seriously and
materialized anyhow. Pe’tune was formed that way. One humid day in
Bontoc started sparks of talks on un-appreciated and untapped talents
among the locals, how some can sing and handle instruments and never
have avenues to bring out the fires of passion. Cousins Leopold Dalog
and Christopher Donaal heating up the discussion amidst equally fervent
tossing and swigging of liquid spirits. The main idea is to fuse
together the music of the North (Cordilleras) using traditional
instruments with the modern twang of contemporary music. It was absurd,
to think it may actually include a battalion of talents to compose the
kind of group. Yet one day in March of 2006, they were able to put it
together and a group was borne out of those essences.
The collation of talents and ideas was not easy. Frustrations denting up the perks once in awhile, and unprecedented events mottling the already hot bodies meddling to make things more complicated than needed. But “push” was the word, and the group shoved. In the frying heat of Bontoc, in the middle of summer the brew of talents came together and agreed to call themselves Pe’tune (pronounced as pe-chen). In the native dialect, pechen means “peacepact”. The history of the Cordillera has always had peace problems attributed to it, especially on tribal wars. The band wanted to let go of those issues, to delete it forever and forge a group symbolic of the coming together of the tribes. That and the integration of culture would make it uniquely igorot. To make it musically inclined the word pechen was respelled Pe’tune. Ironically and coincidental also is the fact that the members represented parts of the different social groups. There is a farmer, a government employee, students, out of school youths, professionals, delinquents, parents..all bound by music."
*excerpted from an article by Ms. Glo Abaeo for Cordillera Online. Click here to view full article.
