Two Chilekings
Dondi Ledesma known by Christopher Messer
The first time I saw Dondi was when I had gone to watch the Wally Gonzalez Band the first time. When they all started playing, I was blown away by the talent of everybody. Wally is an amazing guitar player and at that moment I knew why filipinos consider him the legend. Then there was this guy playing bass. This guy was a very intense player! Of course I'm a drummer, so seeing a bass player that can actually play is always a treat. His sound was huge and his groove was almost nasty! I heard everything you could dream of in a bass player, especially from a drummer's perspective. During their break I came up to Dondi to let him know how much I appreciated his playing. This monster bass player was this extremely nice and soft spoken guy. He was kinda reserved in conversation only because he just doesn't have much to say. It all comes out in his playing. A month or so has passed and fortunately I had the opportunity to jam with the guys and got the gig. It was amazing to be able to play with a bass player like Dondi. Playing with him is so easy. He listens. It's almost like he knows what I'm gonna do. He's so ahead of the game. Playing with Dondi makes my job as a drummer easy.
Dondi is a man of many talents. Aside from bass guitar, he plays lead piccolo bass, fretless bass, keyboards, flute, drums, and sings. He is a very talented producer and engineer. He also has his own solo "one man band" by the name of "DNDI". Dondi is also a champion archer. Archery is another one of his passions that he devotes a lot of energy towards. He can even build and fly model airplanes and helicopters!
For me, there is obviously so much to tell about Dondi. I'm an extremely lucky man to experience working with him. First and foremost, I'm lucky to have such a good friend. He's somebody I can relate to and be myself around. I can say anything to Dondi and say absolutely nothing to Dondi everything is always cool. I consider him a brother. Dondi is the Chief.