If you spot this chap wearing a grey baseball cap and a vest filled with band patches and pins holding up a phone and fiddling with a laptop all the while videoing or streaming a live performance, chances are that’s Paulo Tamayo Legaspi.

Legaspi is the man behind Pinoy Rock Radio Online, a 24/7 independent online radio that plays mainstream but also a healthy chunk of independent, underground, and extreme music from bands throughout the entire Philippine archipelago.

He travels the club and bar circuit to stream performances – when allowed – and every single day sets a playlist for his online streaming station. Sometimes, he goes to at least two shows a night such as last weekend when he first attended the Full Blast Pinoy Super Bands concert at the Cuneta Astrodome before moving to Mulligans in Makati to catch American death metal band, Devourment.

“I know it’s tough, but this is a commitment to music and showing everyone that we have a healthy music scene,” Legaspi explained.

“Hindi ko naabutan ang DZRJ nung kalakasan niya,” he added. “The stations that picked up the baton for rock music -- NU 107, XB, LA 105 - they are all gone. Meron pumalit, 'yung 88.3, pero kulang. Marami pa rin banda na hindi napapakinggan. So I decided to create a music streaming station that consists of mainstream, underground, and extreme bands from not just Metro Manila but all over – Cagayan De Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and more.”

The programs at Pinoy Rock Radio Online range from all the sub-genres of rock – metal, punk, New Wave, rockabilly, classic rock, blues, ethnic, ska, and so forth.

“My tastes were already wide. But doing this broadened my horizons,” he bared of his passion.

Initially, Legaspi, who works in a IT company, digitized his cassettes and vinyl records then added the music of his own compact discs to a central server. Then he scoured the band circuit for independent and underground releases.

“Right now, I spend about P15,000 a month to maintain and run the station. Plus, I also spend on buying compact discs and records of new bands. I sometimes get freebies but I mostly buy a lot. Support na rin 'yan sa kanila.”

Since Pinoy Rock Radio Online went live on January 1, 2013, the reception has been fantastic. With some 8,000 listeners from all over the country, it has provided a means for other bands to be heard.

“You would think that with the internet, bands have a venue to be heard pero marami pa rin clutter,” noted Legaspi. “This is an opportunity for them to be heard.”

Right now, Pinoy Rock Radio Online doesn’t make money. Hopefully, it will, wished Legaspi. “I just do it for the love of music especially Original Pilipino Music.”

For those interested in listening to Pinoy Rock Radio Online, try this link.