Leah Salterio

Artists gather for 10-hour music festival

February 4, 2025 Leah C. Salterio 161 views
Paul
Event director Paul Basinillo
Gladys
Gladys Basinillo, founder of “Fusion.”
Jay
Jay Habitan in charge of partnerships and Pauline Linsangan, in charge of artists
Ben
Ben&Ben leads the line up of 15 performers

PREPARE for an electrifying night of OPM (Original Pilipino Music) as “Fusion: The Philippine Music Festival” brings together some of the biggest names in the industry on March 15 at the CCP Open Grounds.

“Looking back at the very first ‘Fusion’ concert in 2015, our goal was simple: to unite artists from different genres and showcase the strength of OPM,” said “Fusion” event director Paul Basinillo, who previously worked at the helm of the concerts of Vice Ganda, Sarah Geronimo, and JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre).

“The very first “Fusion” in 2015, was the first time JaDine was featured in an open-air event,” offered Jay Habitan, who is in charge of partnerships. “Boss Vic (del Rosario) urged us to include JaDine in the line-up.

“We didn’t know JaDine yet at that time. The line-up was already full, but we accommodated JaDine. When they started performing, the crowd really watched. They were very sweet as a couple at that time. ‘On the Wings of Love’ was aired after six months. That proved our advocacy to feature and support new artists.”

Today, ten years later, “Fusion” is being taken to the next level – not just by gathering the best and biggest artists, but by redefining what it means to go to a concert.

“If we can create top-tier productions for international artists, why shouldn’t we do the same – if not more – for our own?,” said direk Paul. “We want to bring back the thrill of live music – to make concert-going a must-do experience again, especially for the younger generation.”

“Fusion 2025” is designed to be more than just a show. It’s an all-day, immersive festival that goes beyond the main stage.

“Fusion 2025” carries the powerful theme “Musika Natin ‘To!” – a call to embrace and uplift OPM with pride.

Headlined by Ben&Ben, December Avenue and Zack Tabudlo, “Fusion” promises an unforgettable experience with powerhouse acts like The Itchyworms, Barbie Almalbis, Alamat, Kaia, Maki, Jan Francis and AllMost, alongside an exciting lineup of rising stars and dynamic DJs.

Founded in 2015 as the country’s first-ever Philippine Music Festival, “Fusion” was created with a vision: to unite all forms of OPM across genres, generations and managements into one grand celebration.

From the start, it stood as a testament to OPM’s power, bringing the nation together while delivering top-tier production value to showcase and support Filipino talent.

More than just a festival, “Fusion” serves as a platform that elevates homegrown talent, uniting legacy icons, global Filipino musicians, and emerging artists in a one-of-a-kind OPM experience.

“Now is the time to put OPM in the spotlight,” said Gladys Basinillo, founder of “Fusion.” “While international acts continuously fill arenas and festivals across the country, our own artists and music deserve the same level of support. ‘Fusion’ is here to make that happen – to give Filipino music the recognition it deserves.”

Pauline Linsangan is in charge of the artists featured in “Fusion.”

Pauline and in-charge of psrtnerships Jay Habitan met in 2022. She was the cousin of his officemate and started about the same time in advertising with him. Both of them were fresh graduates in 2014.

Pauline wanted to become a flight attendant, but when the pandemic started, that did not give her a chance to start a career that she initially wanted.

“That was the time we got together and started to work,” shared Jay. “She didn’t even have the background in Advertising yet. But she’s very good. In three years, she has been leading the artists of ‘Fusion.’ She was an artist’s assistant, following up what needed to be done.”

Jay is working as Business Development in Advertising, while Pauline is a client solutions officer. “When our work in ‘Fusion’ starts, we do total opposites,” insisted Jay. “We perform different roles. We need to focus on what we need to do. Since then, Pauline and I have been together professionally.”

“Fusion” started in 2015, a decade ago when they began mounting the first-ever Philippine music festival. Since then, they’ve been mounting the concert annually until the pandemic happened.

They returned to the scene in 2023. In 2024, they staged “Fusion” in Cebu, the biggest concert there, so far. Then last summer, they also went to La Union and staged a successful concert there. To date, “Fusion” has presented eight successful concerts.

The forthcoming concert for the tenth anniversary on March15, will bring “Fusion” back to Manila at the CCP Open Grounds. “It will be a ten-hour concert,” informed Jay. “We bring three Manila artists who will perform with three regional artists. They usually have a back-to-back collaboration.

“Fusion 10: Musika Natin ‘To” is like the battlecry of all the bands. “Even if it’s a different genre or groups, with different fan base communities, we look at them as one, OPM (Original Pilipino Music),” said Jay. “Musika natin lahat ito. Panghawakan natin. Suportahan natin.”

There will be a pre-show featuring up and coming artists. Then games and the mini-show will be around 7 p.m. to midnight. At 12 p.m. onwards, there will be a block party, with DJs.

“Today’s market they love partying after the festival,” said Jay. “So, there will be a night market after the concert.”

There will be legs of performances after the Manila concert. “We will also do Iloilo, Cebu, La Union,” said Pauline. “Even if the artists cannot perform in ‘Fusion’ Manila, they can still participate in the provinces.”

The Manila artists can perform back-to-back with the local artists in the province. “Personally, it’s really seeing how all the bands and artists play as one,” Jay allowed. “I love music and OPM. Whenever we do an event like this, we see media partners, brands, organizations and institutions.

“There are 15,000 attendees all singing together. P-pop and rock artists share the stage all united under OPM, that makes your heart swell. You also see one community of artists all pushing towards one goal for OPM.

“You see the artists jamming together, doing Tik-Tok and the legacy artists as well the up-and-coming, they bond together backstage or joke with each other. They are all together. Seeing that kind of energy is most fulfilling for us.”

As organizers of “Fusion,” Jay and Pauline see the concert from end to end. “From the mounting and promotions, the works, seeing the event become a success and experiencing it ourselves,” Pauline said. “Seeing the audience very happy is really fulfilling for us.”

Mounting “Fusion” and leaving a legacy that can outlast Jay and Pauline is something more than fulfilling. “We are hoping to see a day that ‘Fusion’ is a music festival that everybody can look forward to,” said Jay. “We are even planning to take Fusion outside the country.”

“Fusion” is something that can consolidate everything. “There’s Woodstock, there’s Coachella. ‘Fusion’ is not just a concert where artists will just play or perform. We want to make the event world-class.

Ballpark figure for the concert budget will amount to millions for “Fusion,” according to Jay. “Ticket sales alone will not be enough to recuperate the cost of mounting the concert,” said Jay. “We got to have sponsors. They will be a big help to help us fund the music festival.”

One of the biggest challenges in mounting “Fusion” is the different requirements of the artists. Creating the line-up itself was tough.

“Even though we were eyeing this particular artist or band, their schedule will not match with the March 10 date because they’re all busy,” said Pauline. “Their availability is our biggest challenge.”

The reality is not totally disappointing, though, for Pauline and Jay. “While it is true that a band declining makes us sad, but we’ve managed to come up with an artist line-up that is very strong.”

Jay added, “Since we also do music marketing, we work with the artists.

The organizers of “Fusion” are expecting 15,000 attendees, the biggest, so far, after the pandemic. The biggest was at the Mall of Asia Open Grounds before buildings started to rise in the area.

Tickets will be at P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000, with 20 percent discount for PWDs (persons with disabilities) and seniors.

“Versus 2023, our tickets this year will be 20 percent lower,” said Jay. “The first one was P6,000 for gold, P4,000 and P2,000.

“One learning was there are students who want to watch ‘Fusion.’ It’s not super mainstream and sosyal. So, there are people who can afford to buy tickets. But there are students that the tickets are not within their budget.

“These students are the next generation of supporters of OPM. We don’t want them to watch when they can afford the tickets after they graduate. Today, these students are the ones aggressive online. They listen and they share. That’s one key learning for us.

“We even partnered with school organizations. So, outside the lower tickets, school organizations can provide 20 percent more discount and part of the revenue that the organizations will sell, they will get commission.

“We want to prove to the students that ‘Fusion’ is accessible. We can save for clothes, gadgets, why can’t we save for an affordable concert like ‘Fusion’? So sponsors are important to us and we want to push ticket sales.”

Way back 2015, when Jay was still a fresh graduate, he was admittedly excited with mounting “Fusion.”

“That was the time when concerts were staged apart from each other,” Jay recalled. “When it’s rock concert, you stick to rock. When EDM (electronic dance music), you stick to that, too. When it’s pop, you watch pop. When it’s mixed concert, you watch mixed artists.

“We had this vision to stage a music festival to fuse different genres, groups and generations together. ‘Fusion’ started with that.”

The second phase was to make “Fusion” a regional franchise. “In 2024, we did Iloilo, Davao, La Union and Cebu,” Jay informed. “For 2025 and beyond, we want to bring ‘Fusion’ out of the country.

“So far, we’ve been getting inquiries from bands from other countries, like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, with their artists also. The concept is three top artists from us fusing with three top artists from other countries. We see that happening later this year to early next year.”

This summer, “Fusion” will be staged in Iloilo, La Union (San Fernando), Los Baños. “Because of the success of ‘Fusion’ in Cebu last year, they are asking us to do Cebu again,” Jay said. “We plan to do Asia eventually.

“When we did Cebu at City de Mare last October (2024), we presented P-pop artists Kaia, Maki, December Avenue and Nadine Lustre (as special guest). They performed with karaoke world championships contestants.”

Pauline added, “We are bringing three regional artists for ‘Fusion’ Manila and we are also bringing another three from each location in the provinces. We will allow them to fuse together.

“Not just in one small stage, something that is a fleeting experience. It’s not something that you don’t want to watch again because everything is so disorganized. But it’s something that will inspire you and something that you’ll be proud of. That’s at par with international music festivals and international acts. Let’s go and support ‘Fusion’.”

AUTHOR PROFILE