Great Enterprises Start From

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November 17, 2005

I contacted Jason Paredes, one of the persons who wrote me a message through the Filipino.ca Web site. We realized that we reside only five-minute-drive away from each other. He said that, if I could go out on Thursday, he could pick me up; he would then bring me to one of the biggest music stores in Winnipeg, where he buys his stuff, and proceed to his home so I could check out his home recording studio.

At Jason's house, located on Burrows Avenue, I met his family—wife, Anna, and children, Jaizen and Jairen—who were accommodating. I finally saw Jason's humble recording studio in the basement. Jason walked me through how he recorded songs and let me listen to some of his recordings, which sounded really professional. He also let me sample his electric drums. It's been years since the last time I played the drums, so the experience was awesome. Aside from being a musician as a hobby, Jason also designs Web sites. In fact, he is the designer of the official Web site of the Philippine Alternative band Siakol. He doesn't have a permanent band, but he and some of his friends perform occasionally. The last time they had a gig was during the Winnipeg tour of the Philippine band Asin, for which Jason's band Four Sight served as the front act. Nonetheless, Jason mentioned that music has now become only a passion for him, since that he already has a family and job to prioritize. I told him that we share a similar affection for music; I, too, no longer aspire for gigs or anything; all I really wanted is again to be able to make and record music. In this Jason shared my enthusiasm. He offered me his help. Before I finally went home, Jason and I decided that we would collaborate and set to record some of Half Life Half Death's previously unrecorded materials.

Because of the prospect of being able to produce a Half Life Half Death album of new materials, my musical ideas seem to be overflowing these days. And since that I have nothing major to do until April when I hopefully get to receive my immigrant visa, this musical activity is certainly a positive and productive outlet.

For our first project, I decided that we begin working on "Buhay-Karnabal," a song I composed in 1999, intended for Half Life Half Death's second album which was never realized. To give the song a new feel and style, I changed the title to "Parang karnabal—ganyan ang buhay ng tao."

On Friday, November 25, Jason, his drummer and keyboardist friend Rod, and I are set to begin arranging "Parang karnabal—ganyan ang buhay ng tao" and a new song I composed a few days ago with the help of my Tita Lucy's piano. I titled this new song "Paruparong ligaw, saan ba ang punta mo?" Like I did with Half Life Half Death's debut album, Pymyth Prahn, I am trying to follow a certain pattern and concept for this new musical project of mine—from the titling and lyricism to the instrumentation and album design.

Wish us luck that all these plans will come to fruition. May something brilliant come out of this new musical experience. This early I am dedicating this endeavor to my Everdearest and my ever-loving family in the Philippines as well as to all my friends and acquaintances who continue to appreciate my eLf ideas.