Whatever is given to us, whatever we earn, whatever we are gifted with, we are not called to horde them in, rather, we are called to share and inspire to heal and promote, to elevate and lift up. We are artists and this art is a privilege. -Aik
Day 1
February 27-28 2016, History in our local lives were made, these dates officially kicked of the Mindanao Music Camp and it’s first stop in Tacurong City!
This camp was really a dream come true for the lot of us who really want to see OPM flourish and original songs in Mindanao, written by people from Mindanao go and bless the whole of the Philippines! Giving new insight to the people and giving a fresh identity, an identity that says, wars and turmoil are not the only things here and well in fact lessened, art, culture and hope reside here as well! We see the bigger picture, we see the potential, we see a radical positive change!
The camp started of with the usual get your kits ready routine for the campers and the facilitators, everyone excited to learn and experience news things, as well as meet the awesome seasoned song writer guests! All ready with their high definition camera smart phones and best of smiles! There were also a lot of getting to know one another! For one most of the facilitators have never met these students and it does take some time to get comfy with new people, but that never stopped anyone, with all assurance the camp ended with everyone being friends but lets talk about the ending later.
The first session was about what is Music with elements batch 4 camper Earl speaking to the students. It was a fun time as Earl was really a deep in thought kind of person, a lot of things would through his mind and made sure that when he spoke it really meant something, for everyone! This really established the students on the sessions were gonna happen.
Of course not everything was serious talk, the camp featured a lot of activities for the students, where they got to develop their collaborative skills in group games, sessions and song writing. It was really a fun and amazing time seeing these young artists come alive as they got to do a lot of presentations for the facilitators and for the guests as well. From a presentation involving singing and dancing at the same time, making sounds with claps, beatbox(with the mouth), blending of voices, to using pencils, ball pens and cups to produce sounds that led to music! One of the highlight activities was when the students were tasked to write songs about the most random of topics, from a song about a microphone to the air conditioner!
Marvin came up next to speak about Original Pinoy Music or OPM, he basically talked about our love for our own music, people and language that comes a long with culture. It was really a deep and hearty session as Marvin really got the students listening on the importance of OPM and why it is called as such. A point really well taken was that OPM does not necessarily need to be in Tagalog or Filipino dialect, it simply songs written by Pinoys! A big part of it is the heart as well! It’s really one thing to be born Filipino and another to BE A FILIPINO!
During his session the guests arrived which made Marvin nervous but still in one peice, it was really a wow moment when Thyro, Yumi, Nicole, Joey and ma’am Twinky entered the room and it definitely got everyone excited! Kudos to our awesome campers for being calm and still listened to Marvin during this time, it just means the campers really listened! Woohooo!
After Marvin’s session came time for Thyro and Yumi to speak about song writing, Thyro and Yumi are well known for their songs for the James and Nadine tandem called JaDine as well as their own songs, of most notable mention is Triangulo (PS Its very catchy! Listen to it! Go! But finish reading this first!) It was an awesome time as the students really saw first hand the power of collaboration, bringing the phrase 2 heads are better than 1 into reality. They also talked about their song writing process, how they got into the industry and Thyro’s most awesome “this is how you should pose after a performance pose!” *Breathes deeply*
After reading word after word in this post you must need a break, and yes the students took their break which gave the facilitators and the guests to freshen up and get ready for the evening sessions and JAM night!
Before the first session the campers got to be inspired as ma’am Twinky Lagdameo the COO of 7101 music nation spoke about the elements music camp, and the big “WHY” of the elements camp. It is really for us Filipinos to embrace who we are, what we are capable of and really seeing the pearl in all of us, she was really teary eyed and really grateful for the campers, for choosing to join the MMC and be part of the BIG OPM family! She then went on to introduce the first speaker in the evening sessions.
In the evening sessions our speaker was the talented and “liwanag sa dilim” beautiful ma’am Nicole, you might be wondering why liwanang sa dilim, nag brown out po kasi but still her passion for music and imparting it to the next generation was radiant as ever, despite the power outage she pressed on with her topic on the attitude of a musician, encouraging the young campers to keep their heads held high with feet on the ground. It was really a surreal session.
After that heart and mind warming session came a Sir Joey Ayala, a seasoned and full of wisdom artist! We mean it! He went from physical preparations of being a musician like stretching fingers, preparing vocals and proper exercise, to actual song writing and performing, one of the highlights in his session was his version and thoughts on the Philippine national anthem. We definitely love our country more after that session.
With the final session of the day done there was nothing left to do but JAM! The night went awesomely amazing as the campers and facilitators had an awesome time of performance and music, We would like to think that the anthem of the night was “ang awit ng kabataan”! It was our heart cry, it was our song for that night, it was a declaration of greater things to come! What a night!
Day 2
We started day 2 of the Mindanao Music Camp batch 1 with a good and hearty breakfast! MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY! DO NOT MISS IT! After getting everyone ready, since the second and last day of the camp was a Sunday, we decided that day to start with the author and creator of music, God. We had a session on worship and the campers wrote their “thank you” or “dear God” letter, which would become songs. It was really an intimate time for everyone.
After which the last session started with Aik as the speaker, speaking about music passion. Why music takes passion and why pursuing one’s passion is really worth it! It was a fun and enlightening time for everyone, it was like renewing their vow to doing music. The session ended with the campers making a vow as a musician, as an artist to love what they do and do it passionately! It was epic!
The awarding happened after, awards, certificates and special trinkets given to the guests, mentors, sponsors and to the stars of the camp, the campers! With one of the best groufies in the world everyone shouted for joy for an amazing 2 days, for awesome memories, for delightful learning, and with passion and commitment to music!
(Please see the culmination video of the camp below)
To the Sponsors and Partners, to batch 1 of the Mindanao Music Camp, to the WORLD CHANGERS! THANK YOU! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
(Please see the culmination video of the camp below)
(Oh wait here it is)
relevantcore 