Mutya ng Lungsod ng Balanga Theme Song

As you know, my blog is all about me me me and me...and a huge part of me is MUSIC. So I'm going to have to feature bits and pieces of my musical past for me you to understand my musical present and future!

That sounded a bit too neurotic and narcissistic, don't it?

Anyway, here's a project that started in 2011 when Balanga's City Administrator Mr. Rodolfo De Mesa approached me with three talented individuals who wrote and performed the then-proposed theme song for the pageant, Mutya ng Lungsod ng Balanga. These young people were Shanne Velasco, RJ Velasco and Kakai Puzon.

So there they were with their guitar and they played me this really engaging tune. They performed it using the acoustic guitar, but instead, I heard it as a dance-track with its uplifting chorus that soars from the refrain.

We recorded the song the next day as the instruments were put down. I gave it a summery, bouncey feel as the pageant was held every April, the hottest month in the country, and the candidates were going to be dancing to it, hips and all. (The tom drums in the end are reminiscent of the Baywatch theme, I must say.)

I remember when I sat there during the coronation night in 2011 when the song was premiered and first performed, my heart was pumping and I was practically blown away by the fact that the song which I produced in my studio was live and loud at the Plaza de Mayor de Balanga, with all my fellow Balangueños to hear. Amazing, amazing feeling.

So I just want to share this piece of music with you which I believe is my contribution to the city I grew up in- Balanga City.

Below you can hear the original mix of the song, followed by the 2013 Remix of the song.

The video for the second clip is produced by my friend and collaborator Michael Mateo who served as the official photographer and videographer for the pageant.



Check out the 2013 Remix of the song with a video produced from clips from Michael Mateo's video featurettes (another first for the pageant, in which all candidates were featured in a one-minute interview / documentary) and documentations, and Mr. Richard Buenaventura's swimsuit shoot.