Kakie Pangilinan calls opening for Gary Valenciano a ‘full-circle’ moment

Singer-songwriter Kakie Cuneta Pangilinan has had her share of bashing since she was a young girl. Yet, she doesn’t pay attention to the hate comments about her on social media.

“I think the first time I read a hate comment about me, I was six years old and that was on YouTube,” Pangilinan told ABS-CBN News. “Somebody called me very pangit. I remember that because it was very hurtful. It was the first time and it was very jarring.

“But ever since then, it sort of became this fact-of-life thing. Sometimes I was walking in the mall and people will say not mean things to me but people will, ‘Hi, Frankie” and I would reply, ‘’Hi.’ The one who’s with me will ask, ‘Do you know them?’ I would say ‘No.’ They’re not fans of me. I don’t think I sort of earned that level or degree of attention.

“The veil of intimacy was broken a long, long time ago. People feel free to talk about me and my family because they literally watched me grow up. 

Pangilinan recently accepted a “paid gig” to do the opening act for Gary Valenciano’s concert series, “Back at the Museum” this month. She first did an opening act for the London-based ’80s pop jazz band Workshy, when they toured and came to Manila before the pandemic in 2018. She was still in high school then.

“There’s something very full circle about this, now that I’m doing a front act for Tito Gary, because I think Music Museum has always been synonymous to him, to me, as a venue. It sounds great. I just remember growing up and watching him also here.”

She sings five songs when she goes onstage in “Back at the Museum” until October 31. One of them is a cover of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.” “That’s one of my favorite songs,” she said. “I love that song.”

She also sings four originals from her soon-to-be-released “Miss Kakie,” a concept album that’s soon to be released like a book. She wrote all the songs in the album and is a co-producer. “I feel like this [album] is my love letter not only to pop music but to pop culture,” said Pangilinan. “When it comes out, I hope you guys get to listen to it top to bottom.”

Her set list for “Back at the Museum” has very Gen Z numbers – “Love Team,” “Romeo,” “Kontrabida” and “Dream Boy.” 

She is backed up by a four-man band whose members she met through mutual friends not so long ago. “Honestly, I think the music community right now is so close-knit,” she said. “Everyone is sort of a friend of someone. I kind of suspect, actually, if you’re not close to people, then your attitude must be weird, because everybody knows everybody.

“It’s very Pinoy, right? So also to have this community, you have this communal language for everyone. My band, I met them slowly from over the last seven or eight years. Tonight, there’s four of them backing me up. But sometimes there’s five, sometimes there’s three only. It depends also on availability.”

There’s Iggy Montelibano on bass, Gavino Sabalburo on drums, Justin Punzalan on guitar and Ryan Pineda on keys. “The eldest among us is Gav, the drummer, who was born 1994,” Pangilinan offered. “He’s the oldest and I’m the youngest. I’m 2000.

“I think that it’s pretty cool to be able to say that I love performing live with them. I love rehearsing with them. I think that I’m also trying to manage my own control issues these days because I’m very meticulous about how I note them when it comes to things that are within my control. If it’s something that’s not within my control, very much surrender.

“I think that it’s a great privilege to be opening for Tito Gary,” Pangilinan added. “I think more than anything, as an artist, my Tito Gary is somebody I respect for his thoroughness and his intentionality. He’s so, wow. And so, to me, if he wants me to open for his show, it was very reassuring.” 

She painstakingly keeps notes on her phone, especially for her set list. “I’m a notebook girl, so that’s what this is,” she said showing her notes. “These are scans of my notebooks. Then I review all my rehearsal notes. Per gig, I’ll make them like a gig kit. So that’s the set list and everyone, each one of them gets like complete lyric sheets per song.

“I can’t write music, but I know that I know what I want. So I have to be very specific about it. So each one is color coded, depending on who they are and what they do and then these are all the songs. Usually, this is written on paper then I scan it.”

She handwrites most of her notes. “My dad handwrites all his speeches on paper and drafts of all his bills are all handwritten first.”

She didn’t have second thoughts when she was offered to do the front act for Valenciano. “I actually think a lot of people don’t get a lot of opportunities to perform,” Pangilinan said. “Because I think that people think I would either say no or I’m too busy, for some reason. Which is odd, because I’m so available.

“I think that there might be a sort of idea like this thinking that I’m conflicted or scheduled out of it, but truly, I just love any opportunity to perform,” Pangilinan maintained. “I opened for my friend, Elijah Canlas for his album launched last November and I did that for free.

“I opened for my friend for her single launch. I also did that also for free. This is actually the first time that I’m doing it as a paid gig. I’m very honored. I sometimes find myself caught in these situations na parang beterano ba ko o rookie.”