sometime April this year, i decided to come up with my very own inspirational album where i’ll be recording 10 of my own composition original songs. i started composing last January 1, 1999, months after my dad suffered a stroke. i composed “Hello Friend” because i wanted to know how my dad was really doing. we couldn’t communicate with him verbally anymore after his stroke and the emotions just came out. after that, i’d pick up melodies, put lyrics and wrote them on a book. i never thought this day would come.

after i composed “to you o lord” based on psalm 25, i realized there were people who wanted to hear my songs. so at the back of my head, i wanted to make the album to inspire people, hoping that the song would inspire, motivate, bring joy and encourage people.

you know how God purposely lets you meet people so you can make things work? this happened to me when i took a goal charting and achieving course from PSI. my buddy who chose me to be her buddy (and i agreeed!) owned a recording studio! Imagine that! After some time, I composed the songs and didn’t know who else aside from my co-choir member omar igama will arrange it… and then came along Eloise Gonzalo, who i am so blessed to have met this year. she offered to arrange some of the songs for me! singers were selected, demo tapes were done and fast forward to July 5 - the first recording day.

i cannot begin to express my joy upon stepping on eggyokes’ studio. from the first moment i met the sound engineer (who also happens to arrange songs, is a one-man orchestra and more) from the songs they’ve already composed to the service they provided to the actual recording day, i feel like i was in cloud 9 all the time. yeah, it was physically draining, and there were a lot of worries along the way, but right now, it just feels so right. I was so giddy after receiving the first song arranged (with orchestra!!!! i love cello now!) and I can’t seem to stop smiling whenever i hear the song. i’ve recorded again last night and am waiting for all the songs to be mixed. it just feels so great right now!!!! it’s so amazing how God gave me such a wonderful, wonderful, amazing, magical gift. i will forever cherish all these memories!!!

i’ll keep the album title and everything else a secret first cause I don’t want to pre-empt the launching hahaha, but here’s a sampler of the song.

Credits:
Song title: Hello Friend
Vocals: Eloise Gonzalo
Melody and Lyrics: Arlene Thay
Arranger: Eloise Gonzalo and Iohann Garcia
Song recorded at Eggyokes Studio (www.eggyokesonline.com)

Visit the Eggyokes site! You’ll hear more of their sample songs there, and learn more about the talented people behind Eggyokes!

Til the launching of the album!