PhatLady

In her first few performances abroad, she was relegated to singing punk-rock, alternative type of songs. "I was still singing off key, so they would ask me to sing to rock music, never slow songs, because it would be very obvious. I had a partner who would sing those Whitney Houston type of songs," she tells, smiling. But she was not to be swayed off her newly-chosen track. " would just sing, sing, and sing."

She didn't even take singing lessons. "I didn't know I was supposed to hold a microphone this way, or stand this way." Almost clueless, Ella found her way through the maze by listening to well-known singers, and analyzing their different styles of singing. "I learned along the way."

Of course, she hit the high note eventually. "Well, I've been singing for ten years, you know. I would be very stubborn if my voice didn't improve," she says, grinning.

And Ella is a no-fuss singer. In fact, when this writer interviewed her right after one of her performances, she downed a glass of iced tea, while munching on pieces of crispy kangkong. "I know," she says, as if following this writer's mind. "It's supposed to be bad for the voice, but I think I've developed immunity," she says, with a guffaw.

You studied different singers.
I picked up a bit of this and that, but I have my own style.

Why didn't you take singing lessons?
I didn't have the time, what with gigs six nights a week. I was self-taught.

Aside from singing, what other things do you have up your sleeve?
I dance. I play the percussion, and the guitar. I don't want to just stand there and sing.

What other instruments interest you?
The piano, but I hated it when my Grandma enrolled me for lessons. The teacher whacked my fingers with a stick if I hit the wrong key. So, I dropped the idea.

Have you always wanted to be in a band?
No. I always pictured myself as a business woman or a lawyer.

What do you do to unwind?
I never go out to disco. Every night I deal with loud music and it would be too much to go to disco. I'd rather dine, drink and listen to soothing music.

Has anyone told you you have an almost striking similarity to Pink?
(Cries) She looks like me, I don't look like her! In fact, I already had my hair colored pink before she came out on MTV with that pink hair!

Do you plan on changing your image?
I am comfortable with who I am. I am comfortable with my image on stage.

What was the harshest thing thrown at you?
Someone gave me an anonymous note that read: 'What the hell are you doing here? You're just polluting Malaysia.' I don't take that kind of crap, so I announced on stage that if this person didn't like our music, he was free to leave. The crowd cheered. Nobody went out.

Is discrimination a major issue when you're performing abroad?
It is. I hate it when they look down on Filipino musicians.

How do you handle it?
You have to have an attitude. You can't let people push you around.

How receptive is the club scene abroad to Filipino bands?
Well, they hire our bands often because unlike most of their local bands, we play on time; we are professional and we play well.

Do you need to go abroad to prove you can hack it as a band?
You earn much more abroad; probably more than a million a year. But still, no musician is a millionaire because we may earn in dollars, but we also spend in dollars. It's just the fun and thrill of performing.

You've returned to Cebu since three years ago. How do you find the Cebuano audience?
The Cebuano audience is very critical. Abroad, a bit of dancing is enough. Here, every mistake is noted. They can tell when you are off key or not. It's always a challenge.

What are your plans?
I really can't say, but probably, when I'm 30, I have to close shop because no one wants to see an old woman singing! (laughs)

What would you say to those can't sing, but love to sing anyway?
Everybody can sing. It's not a talent. They just need to develop it.

She grew up in a house right across a club in Cagayan, where, every night, songs played by bands would accompany her to sleep. She would listen as the singers' voices pierced the night's silence. "Being a singer was the farthest thing on my mind." She couldn't carry a tune.

Now, 10 years later, Ella Madelliene Salvador finds herself singing in the lead of top Cebu-based band, Centerfold. She has performed here and all over Asia.

What started this "bathroom singer" turned band-singer wonder was when, at 18, an uncle asked her sing in his band. "He asked me if I could sing. I said I could--in the bathroom!" Ella recalls, laughing. Even when she learned that she would be performing in Singapore, Ella jumped at the offer. "You know, when you're eighteen, you are excited to do stuff."

However, she couldn't get the go-signal from doting grandparents, with whom she lived. "I knew they would never allow me to sing." So she jumped on the next flight to Singapore, pursuing a goal she had ironically been dispassionate about in the beginning. Things would take a 360-degree turn for her from there.

When the Phat Lady Sings
by Florence Pia G. Yu
Published: Sun Star Weekend
Cebu City, Philippines
August 5, 2001

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