Filipino American History Month with Dominick Alcantara and the Barangay
This Filipino American History Month, we caught up with Dominick Alcantara, one of the minds behind BARANGAY — the crew repping Filipino creativity through art, music, and community. What started as a small visual arts project in 2017 has grown into a global movement bringing people together from New York to Manila. Dominick talks about how BARANGAY keeps the energy real, the culture strong, and the vibe always feeling like home.
For those who don’t know yet, who are the Barangay and what inspired you to start this collective, how did it all begin?
BARANGAY is many things — a creative marketing agency, an event production company, a DJ collective, and a visual artist collective. It all started back in 2017, with a focus on the visual arts, specifically photo-based arts. We produced independent art & music exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, and Manila consistently until the COVID lockdown. In the post-COVID world, we pivoted to music. Many of us were already practicing DJs, a few more joined the team, and the BARANGAY nightlife experience quickly grew from gigs at local dive bars all the way to clubs around the world.
Barangay means community in the Philippines. How does that idea of ‘barangay’ show up in the way you guys create and connect with Filipino Americans here in the U.S.?
The idea of BARANGAY has always been simple — creating a space for Filipino-Americans who want something more outside of the traditional mold of the Filipino experience. How do we connect with Filipino-Americans? We do a party series titled BAHAY KUBO, which technically is the simplest form of a home in the Philippines, built from local materials such as bamboo and nipa leaves, where we highlight only Filipino DJs playing House Music. This ties back to the spirit of the home or house that is a bahay kubo, and cultivating a home-like experience where we all come together and unite around an opportunity to dance, listen, and party however you want to. We've taken this series from New York to Detroit, Manila, and Chicago. Outside of that, we work with great Filipino-American nonprofits like Project Barkada who always push Filipino culture to a broader audience for a good cause through music, food, and cultural events and donating proceeds to charitable initiatives in the Philippines.
You all come from video and photography backgrounds — how do you mix that visual side with the music, events, and community work you do? Any project that really shows how it all comes together?
Our photo/video backgrounds have always shown through in our events. We feel we have a very strong visual presence that showcases the feeling and experience of BARANGAY events, and we do that through consistent photo/video coverage in a distinct way that doesn't take away from the party. It's observational, artistic, and non-distracting.
Another element is that when permitted, we try to utilize only fonts created by and purchased from Filipino typeface designers on our flyers and other promotional materials.
A lot of you started out in fashion — shooting, styling, modeling, creating — and it still shows in the way you all carry yourselves. Even now with the DJ events and nightlife stuff, fashion is clearly part of the DNA. How does style and fashion still play into what Barangay is today?
It comes down to how we all express ourselves! Most of us have made our careers in fashion, so it's only right that we show up and represent that. It's not something we actively talk about or promote, but there is an element of personal style each of us has developed that aligns the way we dress with the way we play. The collective is stacked with unique individuals who bring different flavors and perspectives to the table. We've never been the group that will implement a dress code or a theme for a party, besides Halloween lol, because that personal expression is something we expect from our community.
Important also to note that we try to put on for and support Filipino + Filipino-American designers and brands as often as possible. This is essential to the community that we're creating.
Barangay has always been more than just parties — it feels like a space where Filipinos in the U.S. can see themselves and connect. How do you hope your work continues to shape and support the Filipino community here?
BARANGAY has always been about community. To be more specific, it's about finding and supporting like-minded individuals who don't take the traditional career paths, or make the expected life choices within their respective cultures. We acknowledge that the music we play and the experiences we create may not be for everybody, but the goal is to encourage an open mind and a willingness to feel and hear new things. There are a lot of Filipino-American stereotypes out there, I won't list them all lol, but we have always existed on the outside of those stereotypes and continued to push for the advancement of our culture in unexpected ways. We hope to push our culture continuously as we take BARANGAY to greater and greater heights in the future.
What’s next for Barangay? Any upcoming events, collabs, or projects you’re excited about that people should keep an eye out for?
We're done with our FAHM activities after a mini-tour in Chicago and a night at Elsewhere Zone One with Jojo Flores.
On another note, we're working toward the public launch of our creative marketing agency BARANGAY Creative Studios, where we'll offer a full list of services covering creative production and marketing management that are required for any business in 2025.
Merch is available on our website, www.barangay.co, where we currently have our Typeface Tote available in Green or Black designed by Cher Lui Pio, and our Bahay Kubo Hoodies designed by the wonderful Zach Reyes.
Shouting out everybody who has been a part of BARANGAY over the years:
Dominick Alcantara, Cher Lui Pio, Jazen Saga, Lancer Casem, Gabriel Etrata, Justin Peralta, Josh Castillon, Tim Lopez, Carl Deleon, Christopher Gallo, Paolo Del Castillo, Pao Lago, Florence Almeda, André Molina, Adrian Go, Hubey Razon, Jay Avila, Brandon Barcena, John Crawford, Royce Flores, Zach Harvey, Jessica Nguyen, Mhar Udarbe, Joey Coscolluela, Josh Subeldia, Luis Gonzales, Jethro Emilio, Brian Tan.
@barangay.co @barangay.
Interview by André Molina