Raising Awarness is First!

My band had this gig lined up a week before Typhoon Ondoy hit so we decided to take advantage and turn it into a fundraiser. We will be donating all the money we make from the door and t-shirt sales to help the relief effort. This event is also important because we are playing in a non-Filipino venue, with non-Filipino bands, with a non-Filipino crowd. I think it would make such a pwoerful statement to the non-pinoys if they saw us all there gathered for this one cause. Hopefully it will open their eyes to how serious this issue is especially with a second, more powerful typhoon on its way. If anyone has ideas on how we can effectively reach out to the entire community, not just filipinos, please leave your thoughts in the comments. I believe it all starts with raising awareness. As Filipinos, we already know how serious this is and obviously care about this more than a lot of issues at the moment. We know hundreds have died, thousands are missing, people sheltered in malls, people still stranded on rooftops, etc. We've all read the stories. But others haven't. I believe when you show how much you truly care about a cause, others will realize and care enough to take action too. Of course you can't get everyone to care, and people are gonna be like "Shut up already with the typhoon shmyphoon already!". That's just unrealistic to think you can win everyone over. But if you can reach one person out of a hundred, then that person will reach one out of a hundred and so on and so on. Just look at what AJ Rafael did to make #HealPhilippines the number one trend on Twitter and raised over $1,000 for the Philippines. So keep posting articles, videos etc on twitter, facebook, youtube and get the word out about this cause as well as the global climate change that I believe is to blame for all of the natural disasters in southeast asia that occured recently. My friend Pauline even got a $10,000 grant from her work to aid the flood victims. We can do so much if we unite together for one cause. There are many fundraiser events and drop off points in the NY/NJ area so please try to go to as many as you can. Get involved with the many fil-am organizations like Ugnayan or join Facebook groups like NYC Tri-State Young Professionals for Ondoy Relief or NYC Pinoys for Pinoys . After typhoons, tsunamis and earthquakes bringing death and disaster to southeast asia in the past week, I feel like every event till the end of time should be a fundraiser. I am too blessed to not be in the situation those countries are in. Thanks for hearing me out and lets change the world together!

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169807345830&ref=ts

(the flyer says we will be donating to the Philippine National Red Cross, but we've changed our minds to donate to a friend mentioned in the blog entry before this one.)

WANNA HELP?

Print this flyer and post at your school, work, neighborhood stores, etc! We only have one week to promote this!

1. Click image below to view hi-res image.
2. Right-click the image and save
3. Print and don't forget to cut slits at the bottom to make the tear-off tabs.
4. Post everywhere!

Thanks for your support!

If you have an event or charity you'd like to promote, please post it in the comments. I wish I could list all the ones I know of, but it would take forever. lol But I think the more places we can spread the word on events the better.

Pastor Jun Balasbas is an awesome friend I made while I was looking for photographers in the Philippines to let me use their photos for the "Food For Thought" video. I just asked him about donations and what he thought I should do and this was his reply...


Message #1

:: ondoy

i'll send a few photo that my wife has taken a day after
the typhoon and will try to connect you to some of my
friends who have photos. many are still stranded on the roof
of their houses. And though a lot of donations are coming
in, still not enough for the people. And there are some more
places that are not yet reached by the rescuers and reliefs
and many are worried because another typhoon is on its way
and will hit the philippines this evening. continue to pray
and thank you for the support!

ywap and our church have also mobilized a donation drive to
help our brethrens specifically in Taytay Rizal. We're
planning to go there this Sunday to distribute goods and
cash to those who are affected. Not enough but a small help
will help them survive another day and ease a little of
their pain.

God bless Marq!

Jun


Message #2

:: Re: ondoy


It's so heart breaking to hear that many of the donations
are not getting to where it should go and some are even sold
to the victims!!! I think it's ok to donate in Red Cross but
you can not monitor where your donations are going. But they
constantly helping. Sadly, Gordon is the head of Phil Red
cross and is running for President...:) So he might use it
to gain popularity, etc.

you can donate to ywap if you trust us and we will donate
it directly to families. we will document our distributions
for you to see.

For your info: I think the "other" typhoon i'm talking
about has just arrived and it's raining wild here. According
to PAG-ASA, 'pepeng' is more violent than ondoy.:(

We need your prayers.
-----------------------------------------------


So there you go. Scary isn't it? gave me chills reading that. so now i'm having second thoughts on donating to the phil red cross now. i trust ywap and pastor jun's church. i've donated to their church retreat last year and he updated me as to what my donation went towards, even sent me a picture cd of all the ppl who were saved at the retreat. really great guy. if you want to donate i'll update this note when i get it.

please leave your thoughts and please repost this note if u like. thanks, God bless, and keep the Philippines in your prayers as another storm is on its way.

And don't forget to spread the word and come to our Oct 9 fundraiser!

My Take on Kanye vs Taylor

In the hype of all this Kanye vs Taylor drama, I decided to use the whole debacle for a song writing exercise. I don't think you need to know how I feel on the whole thing, because 99.9% of us seem to be in agreement that he was a total DOUCHE BAG for doing what he did.

I was originally gonna do an auto-tune Kanye diss using his song "Heartless" but felt it would be more of a challenge to do it with Taylor's song that won the VMA, "You Belong WIth Me". I never really knew the words or memorized how the song goes except the part that goes "She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts" lol. It's a catchy pop tune, which my cheesy self is easily a sucker for. The hard part was trying not to run out of Kanye references and trying to find ways to diss Kanye without repeating the word "douche bag" or "gay fish", which I believe I succeeded in. :) You'll also notice that I kept the chorus as is. I felt it still goes well with the song, but if anyone has suggestions let me know. Plus if any MC's are interested in doing a remix video and pulling a Kanye during the middle of the song and spit a 16, let me know!

It would be cool to make the video go viral that eventually Taylor (or even Kanye) could hear this song. So if you're on Twitter and tweet this, don't forget to add @taylorswift13 to your tweet! :)

You can view the video on the youtube here, in which theres also a link to download the song:


Please let me know what you think!

Thanks!

:: Wonder Marq ::

"You Belong With Me" (Kanye vs Taylor)

You're at the VMA's, it's supposed to be your night
Till Kanye stormed the stage and stole your mic
He doesn't like your music like I do

You're first moon man mama must've been so proud
Someone should've shoved fishsticks into kanye's mouth
He doesn't hold his liquor like I do

He drinks Hennesy, I drink Snapple
He drives a DeLorean and I push a RAV 4
Don't worry girl, the world's on your side
Pink should've gave his face two black eyes

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why, why can't you see
You belong with me
You belong with me

He apologized on the Jay Leno show
Proves no one likes a big e-e-e-ego
Will he strike again, oh no we really don't know
He's just being Kanyeezy

You're a princess he's just a gay old fish
Jealous cuz your new album sold more than his
That's the attidue of a douche bag
Beyonce, that's what I call class

He's a rap superstar, I'm just an amateur
He drives a DeLorean and I push a RAV 4
The "Single Ladies" video was alright
But not one of the best videos of all time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why, why can't you see
You belong with me
You belong With me

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know, baby...
You belong with me, you belong with me

Oh, I remember when he gave you back the mic
Looked like you were bout to cry
Soon Twitter fans unite
Team Taylor till we die
So play our favorite songs
Kanye's a drama queen
Best Female Video is
You belong with me

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why, why can't you see
You belong with me
You belong With me

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know, baby...
You belong with me, you belong with me

You belong with me
Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me
You belong with me



lyrics except chorus © marq romero 2009

Look what I found in the Warhol Soup vault!

Designed by Weeping Panda

So as I was rummaging through some old Warhol Soup recordings, I stumbled upon an acoustic version of "Adobophunk" we recorded around a campfire in Lake George in 2007. It's about how we Filipinos love to dance and shake our puwet (tagalog for "butt"). Enjoy and feel free to download. Hope you don't mind some of the talking and laughing going on in the background. I think someone was getting all excited about cooking a fish they caught during the day. Hey, I would be excited too if I caught a fish! Props to Ponti who was playing percussion with a heavy ass log! You can hear him towards the end complaining how he's getting tired. :P

Listen to "Adobophunk" - Warhol Soup (AoustiCampfire Funk Version):

Download - "Adobophunk" (AcoustiCampfire Funk Version)- Warhol Soup

"AdoboPhunk" (© 2009 Warhol Soup)

I smell somthin' funky

but the sound is just so sweet

And The beat is extra chunky

And I just gotta sink my feet in it

The bass supplies the groove

It's like food for the booty to move

A funky chicken mix of some guitar licks

We serving up a musical stew

It's mmm mmm good

It'll feed your soul like yo momma should

It's mmm mmm good

We coming thru to your neighborhood

Cuz Everybody's asking

Yo can I get a little taste of the

Nu-jazzy-jersey-multifunk-rock rappery

Fresh to death yo we represent the Philippines

It's adobophunk, adobophunk

The flavor that you savor is adobophunk

Adobophunk, yea! adobophunk

Sabi ko sayo mag-adobophunk

(x2)

All my filipino bboys, poppers,

lockers, and true school hip-hoppers

My titas and my titos,

mom, and pop, grab your line dancing partner

Whether you line dance or you break dance

I don't give a dang-diggy-dang-di-dang

Just get on the floor and make it happen

If your funky and you know nows the time to show it so let me hear some clapping.

Its mmm mmm good

we'll feed your soul like yo momma should

It's mmm mmm good

Freeze! And thaw it out. Adobophunk leaves a funky flavor in your mouth.(x4)

Give me that funky chicken but make it adobophunk.

(back to chorus)

You knock me off of my feet now babyyyyyy! Heeeeeeeeeee!

I can't put into words to really tell you what the King of Pop meant to me. But basically, I wouldn't be where I'm at today musically if it wasn't for his music, his dance, his compassion, his artistry. I used to have a VHS tape filled with only MJ vidoes, live performances, interviews, etc. I used to watch his moves in slow motion, rewind it, and watch it in slo-mo over and over again, but I still don't think I've mastered any of his moves. haha But at any Warhol Soup or RESET show, you'd see me bust out an MJ kick as a way I'd show homage to my musical hero. And there's even a Warhol Soup song where I reference "Man In The Mirror":

"People say we gotta make that change, but have no clue as to where to begin.

Does not get much more clearer than the man in the mirror. Change has to start within."

- Better Days

So like I said before, I can't perfectly sum up in words what the man meant to me, but you'll probably see what he means to me through song and dance.

If you haven't seen some of Warhol Soup's tributes to MJ here are a few:

Butterflies

Billie Jean

Rock With You

The Way You Make Me Feel

And here's a little something I put together recently for fun. It's a slower, bluesy, acoustic version of "The Way You Make Me Feel". Wish I could've spent more time on it, but this one was just for fun. Recorded it in my bathroom. :P It's free for you to download! And if you like it, I encourage you to share it with your friends! (Retweet button at bottom of post)

Listen:

Download - "The Way You Make Me Feel" (MJ Tribute) - Wonder Marq"

Sha-mon,

Wonder Marq

Lollapalooza '09 - Inspired

This was my second year road tripping out to Chicago for Lolla. As a musician, I think the experience and mindset is a little different for me. For starters, as I watched this year's headliners, The Killers, put on a killer show, halfway through their set I couldn't help but envision Warhol Soup up on the main stage. John on my right who is facing Ponti. While me and Ace run and dance across the stage like two kids in a playground. Simply having the time of our lives. Doing what we love to do. Seeing Filipino flags out in the crowd. Fans chanting "Surrender your soul to a better day!".

I imagined myself telling the crowd the story of how "I used to come to Lolla as a fan and was out there in the crowd like everyone else watching my favorite bands. Getting my ass kicked in the Rage Against the Machine mosh pits of '08. And how much I wished and believed I would be up on this stage one day singing in front of thousands with the beautiful Chicago skyline as our backdrop. With my friends enjoying the show from backstage. And here I am. Living a dream come true. But I'm still out there in the crowd with you. I am the fan singing along to my favorite songs. I am the aspiring musician who dreams of playing the main stage at Lolla. I am the kid in the mosh pits getting clocked in the face. I am the crowd surfer. You and I are the same. And tonite we are one. Music has brought us together and we are so greatful to be with you tonite. And if you're a musician, dont stop believing and in time you can be up here on this stage telling the same story."

Ummm...yea..something like that. lol Didn't think that would turn into an actual speech right there. But I guess I'd say something along those lines. If you're an artist like me, or an aspiring filmmaker, actor, dancer, athelete, etc, then I'm pretty sure you understand and you've probably found yourself in the same situations day dreaming about the day. So as I always say, if you're gonna dream, then dream BIG! Cuz dreams are meant to be BIG!

Peaceapalooza,
Wonder Marq

Warhol Soup has a home base in the 'Boke!

We totally rocked it last Friday at Bar Saints n Sinners/O'Donoghues in Hoboken. I think we had the biggest crowd there. So thank you to all our Souper-Friends for bringing the energy. You have no idea how much we feed off the energy you guys give us.

And the management even offered us to play a second set which we weren't prepared for. We declined the offer because we thought it'd be better to end on that high note. If we did play a second set, it wouldn't have compared to the first. We'll be more prepared next time, but thank you to John Vinvarg for even asking us to play on a great bill (Digable Planets! what!).

Traz Messiah also brought the house down. Much respect to what he's doing.

And in more exciting news, Warhol Soup was offered to make Bar Saints n Sinners (O'Donoghues) our home base! It's truly a blessing, and I think after a bit of a drought that our band went through where people thought we disbanded, this just comes to show that Warhol Soup has never lost it. And more importantly, we've never lost YOU, our fans and friends. Thanks for believing in us and all the kind words. You're truly awesome.

If anyone didn't get a sticker, please let me know, and I'll meet up with you and stick one on your face!

Love, love, love,

Wonder Marq

PS - I'm gonna see one my all time fav bands tomorrow: INCUBUS!!!!!