Jett Pangan is one of the country’s most influential rock vocalists, being the frontman of the band The Dawn. He has led the charge for nearly 40 years, having gone through countless changes in trends, sound, and album cycles. From taking the helm on vocals for their breakthrough single “Enveloped Ideas,” with the help of their late guitarist Teddy Diaz, to “Iisang Bangka Tayo,” Pangan has done quite a lot over the decades, helping turn those songs into pure rock ’n’ roll staples.
As The Dawn prepares for its 40th anniversary concert on June 27 at The Theatre at Solaire, Pangan reflects on his contributions in the latest Rolling Stone Philippines Greatest Hits episode. He has plenty of stories to tell as one of rock music’s most enduring vocalists; from influencing acts like Rivermaya, Eraserheads, and many more to being associated with not one but two contrasting music communities at the time.
“A lot of our audiences back in the day were composed of new wavers and punk rockers to a point where people thought that we were new wave,” Pangan tells Rolling Stone Philippines. “Maybe to a certain degree we were, but I guess in the spirit of being in that community, we kind of adapted to the look, even with the gothic makeup, with the dark eyeliner and stuff.”
Giving Thanks
One of their popular tracks, “Salamat,” was written for a beer brand, and during the writing of the song, the guitar lines were written by Japanese musician Atsushi Matsuura at the time. Nearly four decades after the song’s release in 1986, a viral video posted by comedian James Caraan of a Shakey’s manager singing the song at a birthday party stirred renewed interest from a new generation of listeners.
“The moment it went viral, I was actually talking to my bandmates and the management, and I was asking, where this is this guy? Because I want to jam with him at a show,” Pangan says. “People find it funny because he’s singing in his own measure but I could see the bravado. It was entertaining but it was also touching na kahit ‘di niya na-memorize ‘yung kanta, he still went for those hits.”
Pangan also talks about dabbling in film, specifically when he played himself in the semi-fictional music biopic film Tulad ng Dati, released in 2004, which was the brainchild of director Mike Sandejas. During filming, Pangan would talk to Sandejas about how the film would be influenced by the movies of Mike De Leon. To his disbelief, the film won Best Film at the Cinemalaya Film Festival.
“A lot of it was real, like Teddy getting killed and The Dawn having trouble,” he says. “But the fictional part there is I had amnesia. On the side note, it was very interesting but people believed in the movie so much, sometimes someone would come up to me and say ‘Jett, nagka-amensia ka?’ and ‘Kawawa ka naman.’ That’s how brilliantly written it was.”
