Bree Jonson remembered not only for her paintings but also for songs, music

Bree Jonson as part of Davao’s indie band Alto Indio. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY ALTO INDIO

DAVAO CITY — Friends of artist Breanna “Bree” Jonson remember her not only for her paintings but also for the songs and music she used to perform here with them.

Her former bandmates at the Davao band Alto Indio recalled how she used to brim with new ideas years ago when their indie band used to make the rounds in this city’s music scene.

Only weeks before they heard the sad news about her abrupt passing, they were still talking about collaborating online to re-record their old songs, her bandmates Baian Valdez, Remington Tsang, and Mac Arocha told the Inquirer.

Jonson was found lifeless inside the room of a hostel in the surf town of San Juan, La Union, in the dawn hours of Sept. 18, only hours after she and her companion Julian Ongpin, son of business tycoon Roberto Ongpin, arrived and checked in. Ongpin was earlier arrested for the 12.5 grams of cocaine found in the room where the police found the body. He was later released.

“Just last week, we were just chatting about re-recording our songs from years ago. We were about to put things in motion. But then, a few hours ago, she was gone,” Valdez posted on his social media upon learning about her death.

Since Jonson’s body arrived here at 6 a.m. on Sunday,  Sept. 26, Jonson’s friends have been active on social media, demanding justice for her untimely passing, posting old mementos to recall the last time they spent with the 30-year old artist.

Their band’s social media page still carried the band’s performance of “Mathematics of Curiosity,” and other songs, in which Jonson was the vocalist and lead guitarist.

“Bree was headstrong, creative, talented, helpful and a beautiful soul. That’s one of the things that gave Alto Indio the majority of its light and its vibe,” Valdez said.

“In our process of making music, she would write and compose the song, record it, then, she would send it to us,” Tsang recalled. “We listen, make some suggestions before we start our practice and rehearsals,” he said.

She was very approachable and easy to get along with; that’s why she easily made friends, Arocha added.

They formed the Alto Indio band in 2011 and had a year full of gigs and performances before Jonson moved to Manila in 2012 to pursue her interest in visual arts. The group recalled how they used to enjoy doing the front act for bands Pedicab, Taken By Cars, Gaijin and The Diegos during their gigs but said they had to give that up  and let go as Jonson wanted to pursue her other dream.

Valdez also posted the photo of Jonson’s acoustic bass, which Jonson painted herself.  She lent it to him in one of the gigs and later let him keep it when she was about to leave for Manila. “She told me to keep it until she would come back for it later on, especially for those Alto Indio mini-reunion gigs we were planning,” he said.

“The more I look at her customized bass guitar, the more (I realized how it) showed her personality. It embodied the best of both her well-known talents in painting and in music. This was also a foreshadowing of how great Bree would become as a painter.”

Except for Arocha, who was able to view her body on Sunday, the two of the bandmates were still on quarantine.

Jonson was interred at the Ascension Parish on Shrine Hills at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, before she was brought to her final resting place at the Davao Memorial Cemetery.

As their former bandmate was laid to rest, Valdez posted their last conversation on social media and reminisced of the old times. “My awesome bandmate and friend Bree will be buried today, and it sucks that I won’t be able to make it to her last rites because I’m still recovering from COVID,” he wrote. “I hope justice will prevail and may she rest in peace.”

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