A new artist rises in the house of The Dawn
The talented Pangan family
When your new song is about chasing your dreams, it seems apt to have your artistic 19-year-old daughter have a go at the cover art of your forthcoming album.
That’s what happened after Jett Pangan of the Dawn started thinking about the band’s new song “Habulan,” the first single off their upcoming album to be released at year’s end.
“The song is about chasing your dreams. It's chasing after something but it's also a challenge to you to actually reach that goal,” the vocalist said.
Close to home
Jett eventually started thinking about the cover art of the Dawn’s upcoming album until he went no further than Erika.
“She’s been painting since she was a little girl,” Jett said. “I was very impressed with one of her more recent paintings so I pitched the idea for her to do the cover of the new album.”
Erika, who’s studying International Hospitality Management specializing in Culinary Arts, grabbed the opportunity.
Running after time
Dad Jett gave her a free hand on how to do the cover. Her only guide was that the eventual image should represent a chase after something.
Inspired by the song’s music video, Erika says the watercolor she did portrays “a woman who seems to be stuck while everything around her is relentlessly moving,” and added, “It's like she's struggling to keep up with the world around her. She's trying to run after time.”
Erika worked on did concepts for three days and did the final art for about two hours.
Supportive family
Erika learned to paint mostly by herself. Ever since she can remember, she would tinker with different media and study works of other artists and learn from their different styles.
One of her early digital artworks was published in W.I.T.C.H Magazine.
Her mother Beth has been very supportive of her budding talent. “My mom bought me a Salvador Dali children's book when I was very young. She encourages me to paint more,” Erika says.
Art at home
In fact, her mom would rather have Erika fill their home with her paintings instead of buying elsewhere.
“An oil painting which I did when I was 13 years old hangs on one of our living room walls,” she says.
She also posts her art on Facebook and Instagram.
Music runs in the family
As for music, Erika does dad proud, too.
She knows how to play the drums, the piano, the guitar and the bass guitar.
She shares that her younger brother, Rafi, plays the same instruments she does, including the electric guitar, and seems to have a better ear for music. He’s actually jammed a number of times with The Dawn.
Proud of dad
The whole Pangan family is proud of Jett’s career which has taken him from rock stardom to acclaim in hosting and theater acting. (Erika herself was involved in theater.)
“He definitely has a huge influence on our family. We all love music and theater because of him. We have a music room at home where Dad, Rafi and I jam every now and then. Mom is always our audience,” says Erika.
She prefers music with lyrics of some emotional depth. She mostly listens to rock and now has Paramore’s “Ain't It Fun” on repeat.
The Dawn’s Landmark concert happens on August 8, 2014 at the Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. Tickets at P515, P309 and P206 available at Ticketworld.
