Hello
Dear Reader,
I've been a poet long before I was a songwriter, but I've been a singer and music lover all my life. It's not something I realized I could pursue as a career until 2017. That's actually when I wrote my first song out on ukulele; it felt like discovering a pearl. All the things in my life led and pointed to this realization, from all the books I read, to the poetry I admired, and the music that I whole-heartedly consumed. It all grew together. I love writing stories, and I love helping people. Being a songwriter is the only feasible way for me to accomplish that, and I’m in the school of thought that we’re all equipped and “born” to do something. Songwriting, making music, is that thing.
I always tell people that music runs in my family, and hailing from the Philippines, it probably does run in my blood (lol). I have so many fond memories of the karaoke machine growing up; from Xtina, to Whitney, to all the Disney classics. Music was always the best way to pass the time (maraming salamat mama xx).
I loaned my singing voice to church choirs and school chorus classes, absorbing music theory by way of just doing it. It became intrinsic. Another hobby of mine was reading. I was a voracious reader, spending 8 hours getting lost with the March sisters or Anne (with an E!). Words got me, it amazed me I could go on a journey through just words on a page. This same realization about songs and lyrics crept up on me.
In high school, I discovered spoken word poetry; it was eye opening. Those words could pack a sweet punch, and I wanted to know how to be concise and precise with my words too. I wrote and performed spoken word throughout high school. English and Chorus were always my favorite classes, I thrived there.
These are the grains of sand that contributed to that pearl. Music and words have always been twin undercurrents continuously running throughout my life, eventually leading me to the shore of where I am now.
I am so grateful that I am given this responsibility to be present, and to feel so intensely. I am thankful for this gift to take life, all the fervor and the quiet, to take all those moments and turn them into sound-waves.
I have so much to tell you all, there's so much this life wants to show me, I'm so excited to share it all with you.
With heart,
All my words for you
-M.
p.s.~ don't forget- you're a matchstick about to spark xx