IN 2015, I TOURED THE PHILIPPINES NON-STOP IN 127 DAYS, VISITED 37 PROVINCES, 46 TOWNS AND 40 CITIES, AND PERFORMED A TOTAL OF 53 GIGS. I TRAVELED A TOTAL DISTANCE OF 9,006 KM, 7,824 KM BY LAND, 1,182 KM BY AIR, 656 KM BY SEA. I HAVE SEEN THE WONDERS OF MY COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE AS I TRAVERSE WITH A TOUCH OF MADNESS – Clementine, Dragonfly Collector
“You live years in only a few months when you travel,” says Clementine, reflecting on the four month backpacking concert tour he did in 2015 in support of his Dragonfly Collector solo project album, The World Is Your Oyster.
Now, he’s on the road again, headed to South East Asia for three weeks. He will carry on his new tradition of backpacking, staying in low-key accommodations, lingering in places to explore and discover local flavours, art, adventures, people and their cultures.
With the launch of this tour he also released the official video for the eponymous song Dragonfly Collector from the new album. The video is a perfect way to launch the new tour as it’s a mini travelogue of last year’s epic journey.
Clementine’s way of touring is unusual for a musician of his calibre, or any standard musician’s tour. He recalls his days of touring with Philippine super band Orange and Lemons as being very cloistered and regimented: “We would get flown in to a city, sound check, perform, fly out. Next day, same thing. We never got to really look around and explore.”
This time, he is the master of his own destiny, having planned his tour schedule to allow time for getting to know the land and its people. “My nationwide Philippine tour last year was the most exhilarating thing that I did in my entire music career,” he says.
During last year’s epic tour that took him from Pagudpud to Gen. Santos City, Tacloban to Puerto Princesa, far to the North, all the way East, to much of the South and back West, his trusty sidekick and opening act, Ian Penn, shot video of their travels with his DSLR camera. The two packed “light,” foregoing luxuries and shared between them a compact Martin travel acoustic guitar.
Traveling with ordinary folks by public transport including bus, jeepney, tricycle, ferry and sometimes on foot, Clem and Ian saw their country up close and personal, discovering people and traditions, languages and cultures beyond their imagining, right within their own nation.
Castro is now looking forward to taking Dragonfly Collector to other lands, and over the next three weeks will explore Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
See tour dates below. Here comes the Dragonfly Collector!
