I don't write the music, i just hold the pen...

For all you aspiring songwriters out there

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:14:43 -0400

I know it’s probably a little weird for me to write something like this because I don’t have enough songs out for people to decide or judge whether I’m a good songwriter or not. One day you’ll eventually hear my stuff then you’ll be able to make the decision. haha anyways, I love writing music, it’s my passion and it truly is a gift from God so I cannot take any credit for any of the songs I write. Sometimes when I write I feel like I’m on some kind of high and the lyrics just spill out onto the paper and the music flows out from my fingers and my voice. It truly is an amazing feeling when you finish writing a song. BUT! It wasn’t always the case for me.

I started playing the drums and guitar around 7 years old. So this is my first tip for ya’ll. If you wanna be a songwriter it would be really helpful to learn an instrument because if you don’t you will constantly be relying on someone else to put music to the lyrics you write. We were in the States this one year and we went to go visit a childhood friend of my mom who lived in Nashville. So for those who don’t know, Nashville is one of the music capitals of the world! My mom’s friend was a recording artist there and also a pastor so we sang at his church. Now at this time I was like 12 or 13 and he asked me if I had written any of my own music. At the time that had never even crossed my mind! It didn’t even occur to me to even sit down and try to write a song. So he told me “you’re already 13 man you should be writing your own songs already!!”. My reaction was “Really?!” HAHA one misconception I had was that I was too young and that I couldn’t write anything of substance. A spark went off in my head when he said that. Weeks went by then months and I still couldn’t write anything. Maybe after a year or so after that initial push from (I call him uncle john because he truly is like an uncle to my siblings and i) I finally wrote some lyrics but couldn’t finish the song.

I had a band back then and we played just mainly in church for the youth group. A Christian radio station called The EDGE radio was starting up in Lucena at the time and one of my band member’s dad knew the manager of the station. It’s funny because the guy invited us to open up (along with some other bands) for this new actor dude named Sam Milby! HAHA I didn’t know who the heck Sam Milby was, I didn’t watch TV, I just wanted to go play and sing. Our band was pretty stoked but there was only one problem, you needed to sing an original!!!! And this was like two weeks before the gig. So I get my notebook and I sit down and force myself to finish the song I had started writing or else we couldn’t do the gig.! I don’t even remember what the song was but I finished it and we were able to perform at the gig. (interesting fact: a couple years later Sam Milby’s manager would become our manager and yet we didn’t even meet Sam or our manager that night. It’s just amazing how God orchestrates things.)

Ayt, back on topic. So I forced myself to finish that one song and after that I slowly started writing more and more songs. They weren’t great but they were good enough. At first I was really embarrassed to let anyone listen to my music and I know a lot of people are. Here’s the thing though, if you don’t let anyone listen to your music you will never know if you have written a good song or not. So here’s the second tip, let people listen to your music.! Once you let people listen to what you’ve written and they like it then that will help in your confidence to write more songs. That’s how it was for me. When I started letting people listen to my music and they were liking what they were hearing, it boosted my confidence tremendously! So let people listen. If they don’t like it then you just try again, you have nothing to loose. Not every song you write will be an amazing song. I’ve heard of some bands and groups that wrote like 60 songs just to be able to choose 10 songs for their album. So yeah, you just keep writing cuz you never know when that hit song may come.. hahaha

Now everybody approaches songwriting differently and I don’t think there is really a right or wrong way to do it. some start with the lyrics some start with the music. In my case I can’t start writing a song without my guitar because 98% of the time the music and lyrics come at the same time. I just find it easier that way. rarely do i write lyrics then put music after. There are times when just lyrics pop into my head. So when that happens I just write it somewhere then when I have my guitar that’s when I add the music and more lyrics to the line I came up with. I’ve talked to people who start a song and finish it weeks or months later sometimes even years(and I’ve got so many songs that I’ve yet to finish). Then there are some people that can just write a song in one sitting. I think I’m right in the middle. Sometimes I can start a song and if I’m really in the groove I can finish it in a couple of hours or even in less than an hour. But then there are times when I just get stuck and can’t think of anything anymore. When that happens I just leave it and come back to it later and most of the time I can finish it after I’ve left it alone for a while.

So what do you write about? How do you even start thinking of what to write?

Some of my songwriter friends write songs from things they’ve gone through personally. They use their songs as somewhat of a diary and I think every songwriter has those kind of songs that just flow from what they are feeling. Ever since I was young I always liked to listen in on adult conversations. When my parents had visitors over I would just sit and listen to them talk. Talk about life, their problems and what not. Because of that I guess I developed somewhat of a sensitivity to be able to write songs in other people’s perspectives. I’ve written songs that sound like I’ve gone through so much in life but it’s really someone else’s story and I just wrote it as if that person wrote the song. if that makes any sense. haha Then I’ve got some songs also that are from personal experiences as well. So you just really have to be sensitive to what’s going on around you and sensitive to what your feeling as well.

Songwriting is like anything else in life. The more you do it the more you’ll get better at it. don’t ever be afraid to get criticized. There will always be people that won’t like your music and there will be people that will love it. Just go on youtube and search for a song and you’ll see what I mean. If writing songs is something you truly love and enjoy doing then don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just keep writing. Just remember, if you don’t let anyone listen to your music you will never know if it’s any good. And like I said, everybody has their own style in songwriting and these are just some of the things I’ve developed along my songwriting journey, so don’t be scared to experiment. I hope this was able to help or give some inspiration to those aspiring songwriters out there. Now go grab your guitar and try to write yourself a song. ;)

Ye Yee Yeah (a new short film) the last two weeks of our trip in...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:58:07 -0400

Ye Yee Yeah (a new short film)

the last two weeks of our trip in the states this past year we decided we wanted to make some of short film with our cousins.. we couldn’t really think of anything then we came up with the idea of getting different movies and just putting them together.. (very original ei?) HAHA well it was the easiest thing we could think of in the short period of time that we had. we wrote part of the script in a couple hours but then most of what you see is just spontaneous..

the opening scene of just my brother and i was actually shot just a day before i actually uploaded the video and wasn’t part of the original script we did.. it really starts out with the camera panning up on my cousin but then we were like we need something before the introduction of all three character.. so micah and i came up with the opening scene. the challenge was that it was only just the two of us. literally!!! no other camera crew or anything cuz i mean, we can’t afford it.! HAHAHA so we just had the camera on the tripod and just changed angles that way.. it was a fun challenge though and i think it turned out ok..

AAAAaaaanyways… hope you enjoy this little, random, stupid, dunno-if-it-makes-any-sense short film of ours.. :)

PS feel free to share, tweet, repost, reblog, whatever the heaven you want.! ;)

kayo yung kumanta nung Love You More?!!!! :DDD sweeet...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:06:49 -0400

Yep.. and we just didn’t sing it, ako rin po yung nag sulat at compose nung kanta.. ;)

Love You More (lyrics)

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:23:38 -0400

So since some of ya’ll have been asking for the lyrics to this song here i am finally comin around and putting em up.. haha so yeah, and if you haven’t heard or seen the video here’s the link as well.. click ⇰ LOVE YOU MORE… Enjoy.!

Love you more

I get shivers down my spine, I can’t stop myself from smiling

I think of all the different ways, of just how I can put a smile on your face

I know that it’s not easy, I want you to be with me

Cuz I wouldn’t want to have it any other way

CHORUS

Woah-oh, I wanna love you more, I wanna love you

Love you more than than songs we sing

Love you more than anything

Yeah-yeah there’s nothing more to say

If you ever forget it, I’ll make an effort so that you

Don’t ever have to doubt it.

That this love I have, is only for you.

Can’t get you out of my mind, when I close my eyes your all I see

And every time I hear your name, I get a feeling that I can’t explain

It’s like defying gravity, I get a rush inside of me

Cuz that’s the only time I feel like I can fly

He's writing my love story..

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:39:56 -0400

I can’t remember if I’ve ever written on this topic before but it’s just something I feel like writing now.. one interesting fact about me is that I’ve never had a “girlfriend” before. There was this one girl that I liked back when I was like 16 that I thought I would someday marry but God went to the extremes of sending me to another country just to get me away from her.. it’s not because she was bad or anything but she’s just not the one God wanted for me.. and so you ask why the heck would I not have a girlfriend yet?! HMmmmm??? Good question.. well I guess you could say there are a lot of different factors but the main thing is that I’m just waiting for that girl that God has already prepared me to be with. I’m not saying that I haven’t liked any girl cuz I have but it always seems that God is constantly closing the doors one way or another.

When you think about it, because God does know everything about you, every single detail about you, even to the very hair count on your head! He even knows who you’ll someday marry. He knows what the name of your kids are gonna be and He even knows who your kids are gonna marry.. He knows everything.! I can’t even stress that enough. Yet so many times we try to get ahead of God and go for this person or that person or try to even read into things and say that that’s the person God wants me to be with. When we do that and try to get ahead of God things don’t end up so pretty.

So you say how the heck will I know who God has prepared for me!? What are the signs??? I don’t know. That’s between you and God. My parents have an interesting love story. My dad being pinoy never thought he would wind up with a person like my mom.. my dad was from a very very poor family so for someone like him to wind up with a beautiful, white foreign lady was just out of the question.! Especially in his day, you wouldn’t even dream about that.. haha but it happened.! Now I’m not saying that it’s always like this, but dad asked for 3 signs from God and all 3 signs were answered. So he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was the one God prepared for him.

He asked, he waited, and he listened. The asking part is easy, it’s the waiting that’s really tough. The way time works for God is so different than the way man has categorized it. God doesn’t work on a 24 hour time period, and most of the time we get so impatient cuz we feel like God doesn’t hear our prayers. Well He does.. and you know the crazy thing!? Because He is so powerful and all-knowing He knows what you will pray even before the words come out of your mouth, even before the thoughts cross your mind. And here we are wondering if God even hears or heard our prayers.. psshhh, how stupid of us.. God’s timing is ALWAYS perfect..

Then there is the listening part.. God’s not deaf, but sometimes we are.. there are times when God is already screaming in your face, but because your attention is elsewhere you can’t hear Him.. I do that a lot.. well I think it’s a guy thing mostly. You know when your in a conversation with someone, then all of a sudden that person goes into somewhat of a trance and you know his mind has wondered off into some other realm. It doesn’t matter if you scream, shout, or dance to try to get his attention, you won’t until he finally snaps out of it and comes back to reality. So many times we’re like that. That person is just right in front of you and yet we’re still looking here and there. That’s because we close our minds and are waiting for the answer we WANT to hear. Of course you’re not gonna hear what He’s trying to tell you because you’re waiting for the answer you WANT Him to tell you. Even if it’s super clear already we even go to the extremes sometimes of saying it’s not from God. That’s why it’s so important to soak yourself in the Word and to be sensitive because that’s how God communicates to us is through His Word..

So as for me I’m still in the waiting and listening stage. I know whoever she may be that she’ll be the most beautiful person I would ever have the privilege of knowing. She will bring out the best in me and I will bring out the best in her. She will help me grow closer to Jesus instead of the opposite happening. I don’t expect things to be all perfect and happy and whatnot because we all know that’ll never happen, but we’ll fight through every trial and struggle that comes our way together. Jesus will always be the most important part of our relationship. But I’m still waiting, I’m still praying. It’s not that I’m trying to place myself if higher regard or whatever, i’m not perfect and i’ve made a lot of stupid choices. I trying to learn from the mistakes of others so i don’t have to go through that. I don’t wanna be the guy that has gone through 5 different girlfriends before I get married. i think that’s too much stress on the heart, haha.. that’s probably the main reason why I’m still single. I would like to be able to tell her that she’s the first and that it’ll last until the day Jesus decides to take us home. Oh how I’m excited for both days.. hehe

Ask, wait, and listen. God already has that special person waiting for you, and that person doesn’t even know it, you don’t even know it.! Let Him write your love story.. J

Here is one of my favorite verses and I think this pretty much sums it all up..

Jerimiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

If you’ve been wonderin why its been takin us so long to...

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:49:51 -0400

If you’ve been wonderin why its been takin us so long to release a new video this is why.. When we were in the States we shot a short film with our cousins.. Its really stupid but i think its funny and is lookin pretty good.! Haha

That’s just how we roll.. Don’t try to be messin...

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:47:10 -0400

That’s just how we roll.. Don’t try to be messin with us, or else…. ;)

God showin’ off his artwork as usual… this was the...

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:52:43 -0400

God showin’ off his artwork as usual… this was the other day when there was an incredible bright orange haze that set on the city.. crazy!!!!

"it’s been a rough week and it doesn’t stop here cuz this could go on forever or just last a..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:12:55 -0400

“

it’s been a rough week and it doesn’t stop here
cuz this could go on forever or just last a year’
it’s been a tough day, it started and is ending in tears
my heart has never pounded so hard in fear

cuz everytime that I’m alone
i always feel I’m being stoned
i rely on broken chairs instead of kneeling at his throne
no one’s fault except my own
thought I could do it alone
when I thought I had control
that’s when things began to fall

Chorus

When you don’t understand what’s going on
When you don’t understand how it all went wrong
He’s there to catch your tears everytime they fall
He’s there to hold you close, when there’s no body else at all
When everything’s unclear and you just don’t understand things
Just sit down at his feet and allow Him to do the explaining

”

- Song in the process…

started writing this this morning.. inspired by the poem-ish somethingorother i posted the other day.. :)

As i was doing some recording yesterday i looked out the window...

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:23:02 -0400

As i was doing some recording yesterday i looked out the window and it was bright orange outside.! I couldn’t believe my eyes.. I immediately went to the rooftop and just soaked everything in.. Its been a weird week for me but i felt like God was wrapping his arms around me especially at that moment.. My joy is in Him..

When i don't understand....

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:12:16 -0400

I won’t try to understand it anymore, it does me no good.

When I don’t understand what’s happening and my finite self cannot wrap it’s mind around things, I won’t feel sorry for myself anymore.

I just need to accept the fact that there are gonna be more things that I won’t be able to understand than things I will be able to explain.

And I guess that’s really how things were meant to be.

For if I knew everything I would need nobody.

I wouldn’t need my mother to say she will always be there for me.

I wouldn’t need my father who’s advise always comes with authority.

I wouldn’t need my sister or brother who are always ready to defend me.

My friends would be of no use, they would just be there for the company,

And MOST OF ALL I wouldn’t need God, the one who made me, I would probably just tell Him to stay away from me.

For what use would these people be in my life if I could do anything??

What would be the use of God if I new everything!?

But because there so many things that I do not, cannot, and will never truly understand.

Even how Jesus could love someone like me in spite of my shortcomings but just love me for who I am.

How he gave up the comforts of heaven and took on the form of a man.

There is only one thing left for me to do, the only thing I need to do.

I need to stop trying to understand things and just let Jesus to the explaining.

ok just a little bit about this photo. i took this at the Ranch,...

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:11:00 -0400

ok just a little bit about this photo. i took this at the Ranch, this is raw, right out from the cam. we come home and there are these beautiful streaks in the sky! first time i’ve ever seen something like this. i don’t know what it is, but it was AMAAAAZING!

A Place for Passion

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:51:54 -0400

blakestratton:

There’s something about the fear of the bad that keeps us from the best of the good.

As a church kid, I grew up hearing quite a bit about sexualityº. The priority of the teaching I heard on sex, though, was about what it wasn’t, about what you shouldn’t do. I knew all the rules but had almost no understanding of the romance. I found it disappointing that the misuse of sex was apparently more noteworthy than the biblical experience of sex. Even now, writing the phrase “biblical experience of sex” doesn’t exactly turn me on.

All I wanted in high school was for one of the chief rule-followers (pastors), to get up and say, “I have an amazing sex life. In fact, I’m gonna make this short, because it’s past noon and…well, my wife is giving me the ‘afternoon delight’ look.” But that never happened.

Instead, the boundaries got more attention than what they were designed to protect. It was like someone trying to explain the thrill of the game of football by saying, “Well, you can only have 11 players on the field, otherwise you get penalized.” Awesome. Go Team.

Read More

Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque.. that’s our church back in...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:00:35 -0400

Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque.. that’s our church back in the states and this year they sent out a team on a mission trip for two weeks.. actually they’ve been sending teams now for the past 3 or 4 years now i believe and every team is always fun, but this team in particular cuz most of the people on it were younger.. they had a blast with the kids and the kids had a blast with them. they helped out mostly in the school and around the ranch just cleaning and whatnot, then we did other activities as you’ll see in the video..

people always ask me what we do at the ranch.. well, you’ll see a little of that in this video..

if you wanna know more about Faith, Hope, and Love Kids’ Ranch then you can go visit our website here, http://fhlkidsranch.com/

hope you enjoy the video.!

"It’s in the down days when you discover who you are when you’re down to nothing..."

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:55:21 -0400

“It’s in the down days when you discover who you are
when you’re down to nothing there’s nowhere else to go but up
it’s in the down days when you find the strength to fly
and it’s the down days, that make it sweet when you survive”

- Dave Jonathan Lamar

a chorus i just wrote today… was just really thinking about how when we’re at our lowest is when we can really discover who we really are and what God is trying to tell us in our life.. when everything is going smoothly and you feel the effects of success and whatnot we can become ignorant and forget about where that success comes from.. good days are always nice, but down days are nice too even though we’d rather not have em because most of the time it’s in those down days when we see God the clearest.. so yeah, don’t let those down days bring you down, rather use it an an opportunity to lift Him up.. (and i’m telling this to myself as well cuz even i tend to forget this haha)

Love You More appeared on the Pinoy Myx Countdown today! so...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:24:26 -0400

Love You More appeared on the Pinoy Myx Countdown today! so stoked.. our last single Kung Pwede Lang debuted at #19 as well but was only up there for a day.! HAHAHA i’m praying this one stays up a bit longer and climbs as well.! WE would LOVE YOU MORE if you helped us by voting! :) you can register and vote at myxph.com..

and for those who don’t know, my brother and i made this music video ourself when we were in the states.. from the shooting of it to the editing, so it’s really fun to see something we did up on tv rather than just on youtube.. :) and for those who have been voting and are planning on voting ;) thank you.!

In the morning when i rise… and when i come to die.. this...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:41:32 -0400

In the morning when i rise… and when i come to die..

this is what i wake up and go to bed to everyday now.! i see His beauty and the amazing pictures he paints in the sky every day from when i wake up to when i close my eyes at night. i’m so blessed and i don’t even deserve it..

Holy Week?

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:55:48 -0400

Holy Week…

it’s been interesting watching and seeing everybody’s tweets and FB posts lately..

it’s holy week, it’s easter! so it’s only fitting to post the most spiritual and holy stuff right? i find it awkward when somebody posts something vulgar or curses over the internet then all of a sudden posts a scripture verse.. it’s like watching a very confusing relationship. one minute they’re saying how much they hate each other then the next minute they’re all mushy and whatnot. HAHA although i do wish it were holy week all year round so that i can see all the lovely and scriptural tweets and posts all the time. :) but i guess we’ve all been guilty of that. we’ve all been hypocrites, i’m no exception. we’re all sinners in desperate need of a savior and He suffered and died on our behalf and took the punishment for OUR sins.

i’m not gonna make this long, it’s just something i observe on every “spiritual holiday”.. people posting spiritual stuff then after the holidays it’s back to whatever trash was being talked about or posted before.

of course you can’t really know someone’s personality by what they post on the internet, but some people you can.. some are just more transparent than others on what they post.. my point though is that i hope and pray that it’s not only during the holidays that we remember and post and talk about how amazing Jesus is and how much we love Him.. this should be something we do everyday all year round.! don’t make just the holidays our excuse to remember Him, make everyday an excuse to remember Him.. :)

Happy Easter.! Jesus is alive!

always has been and always will be..

It’s been a while since our last video.. we like to take...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:17:00 -0400

It’s been a while since our last video.. we like to take our time and try to think of different things we can do and sometimes that’s why it takes so long.. everything you see and hear was mixed and edited by yours truly.. :) i had so much fun making it.! i was blessed with a new MacBook Pro so editing and mixing is sooooooooo fast and easy now.! anyways, hope you enjoy and share and reblog and whatever else that is possible.. haha :)

“the skies proclaim the works of His hands” wow this...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:18:33 -0400

“the skies proclaim the works of His hands” wow this became even more real the other night when i took this photo.. i put my camera on a tripod and put it to a super slow shutter speed and waited.. i saw the orange haze off in the distance so i curious to see what it would look like and voilá! all you gotta do is look up at night and you’ll see all the evidence you need that there is a God.. well, not unless you live in manila then all you see is evidence of pollution.. HAHA