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Displaying posts tagged with: louie Ocampo

What a Vocal teacher learnt whilst singing with Martin Nievera

“Consistent sold out venues”, “Brilliant energy from start to finish”, “Incredible voice” these are just some of the feedback Martin Nievera had during his Sydney concert last Friday 8th of May, 2015.  It was certainly one to remember. I had the honour to sing as Martins’ Backing Vocalist and it’s always such an amazing experience to work with such a down to earth, talented, witty and funny person.

From time to time we come across performer who really knows how to connect with the audience. I mean REALLY CONNECT…. from the heart and from the soul…without trying.  Of course this comes from 3 decades of interacting with the audience but there is something special when it’s consistent.

So this is what I learnt while singing with Martin Nievera.

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Make your fans feel special

Consistently, Martin is always giving time to his fans. He didn’t just stay in his dressing room, he remembers people’s names and acknowledges them. He spoke to people before his performance and hung outside his dressing room. Watched a few support artists and complimented them. He genuinely loves to interact with his fans, happy to sign CDs and happy to do shout out to fans via social media.

How do you engage with your fans?

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Thank you Martin for the special shout out to my One Voice Students!

 

Be proud of your heritage

Best part of the concert! When he said that Filipinos have the ability to give to the world. We are the carers and that we should all be proud about what we do in the world. He acknowledges the people who left their home in the Philippines to make a better life for themselves in Australia.

“The world is watching”. Do “good” in the world, don’t lie and don’t be dishonest was his main message.

So simple and it’s what we teach our kids from a young age, every now and then we need reminding even as adults.

How are you being of service to the world?

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Rehearse with the band and take control

Martin takes pride to rehearse with his band. If he is not happy with something he assertively fixes it. I have seen it before with his last rehearsal where he has a certain standard of people that he works with and if they don’t meet it he will request a change even if it is last minute. You want to surround yourself with people whom you can rely on. People who help you create the best show and bring out the best in you. Know your expectations.

He endearingly called his band the Meat Pie band because they consisted of young amazing Australian Musicians. Of course he mentioned that their first step after landing in Sydney was Harry’s Café Dewheels. So another witty way to interact with the Aussie Audience.

When choosing musicians find people that care about your performance. Acknowledge your band members in the show and include them in your patter.

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Respect everyone you work with

Each performance Martin always is grateful and will give each of his band members a signed CD with a special message.

How do you show your appreciation towards the people you work with?

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Be you

Martin is open that he has had ups and downs with his relationship- often making fun of himself, his ex-wife Pops Fernandez and his life. Never taking himself too seriously. He shares his personal life often referring to his kids and tying in their family story with the show. I think there is a special bond with the audience as he talks about the times when his kids were little and he would watch them sleep. Martin added an original heart felt song that he wrote with Mr. Louie Ocampo about his boys. (Seems that every songwriter with a child relates to this- here’s a song I wrote about Christian – Tomorrow it’ll be a better day)

Has something or someone in your life inspired you to write a song that you can include in your show?

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Be surrounded by family

Every concert he always acknowledges his family in the crowd. So now we know him more personally.

Consider bringing on a talented family member to be part of your show. Martin brought on board his talented twin sister Vicky. They sang a 70s Medley of songs that reminded them of their happy times in their childhood.

Do you have a family member you can invite to be part of your show?

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Be encouraging to performers starting out

You can learn so much from young talents even as a seasoned performer. It can be humbling to know that we all started at the beginning once. It takes courage and persistence to make it in this industry. It’s also such a small industry and we need to look after each other. It was so wonderful to see One Voice Alumni and past students working the stage- Melanie Balagtas, Bryan Ines, Bernadette Marquez, Alwyn de la Santos and Ylonda.

How do you conduct yourself around musicians who are starting out or are seasoned?

Young or old we all just want to be validated.

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Always be ready to learn new songs

Martin is always really to learn new songs. We had dinner during the rehearsals and Mr. Louie Ocampo was calling out all these new songs that are popular currently on the radio. They chatted about the new version of Dusty Springfield’s song- you don’t own me. By the way, you can check out the song I wrote with Louie Ocampo and Lionel Cole called Be Heard. You can also check out my new Be Heard EP in iTunes.

Martin is not afraid to learn new songs and the audience loves it. He even threw in a One Direction song – the story of my life after his son had dared him to sing a modern song.

Which new song have you been planning to learn? Create a new version of it and plan to sing it at your next gig.
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Create a story within your performance

The whole concert revolved 3 decades of music and performing. He shared his life as a child, his family and takes the audience down memory lane with his TELESERYE  medley.

Try to incorporate the senses. Include visual footage of all the milestones in your life.

One thing he wanted to do was be part of Broadway. He sung a Broadway medley, which the audience absolutely loved.

Is there something that your audience doesn’t know about you? Where you can tie in a song to showcase that secret?

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Be humble and of service

Martin is there to entertain, to make people laugh to make them cry and to make every person the in audience feel great about themselves. My favourite part of the night was the comfort he brought to Nanay Consuela who had stage 4 cancer. It brought me to tears, which I tried very hard to hold back. It was so touching and beautiful.

11260933_840773049311550_4754646417004270615_nWhat will touch your audience’s heart? Are there elements and moments of happiness, seriousness, a chance to educate, wit, light-heartedness, sexiness, love.

All of this combined just made this an incredible performance and memorable.

Love and respect your audience so much that you will never be forgotten. Time and time again they will see you at the next concert and buy your CDS and be a fan for life! All because you took the time to know them.

I would love to know 3 concepts that you can incorporate into your show? Maybe you have a concept that you would like to share that is unique to your show.

Please share, comment and like this post if you found it helpful.  Also pass it on to a friend who will benefit from it.

Photo credit by Darryl O’brien Photography

Musically yours

Tina

P.S.  Have you always wanted to create your own album?   Sign up to my free cheatsheet that will help you get started: Click on this link http://tinabangel.com/starmakerguide  Sign up now and get information about my free webinar to help you get started…..coming soon!

What a Vocal teacher learnt while singing with Charice

My journey as a Vocal coach and singer is thankfully fruitful.  I feel like a tree with many branches, each branch has many buds that bloom into beautiful flowers, some die and fall to the ground and others take time to blossom.

The branches represent the many hats I need to wear.

Teaching one on one, learning my craft as a singer, taking care of administrative work, marketing, promoting and so on.

The flowers represent the fruits of my labour.

The smiles on the kids faces, the happiness I see on the parents faces when they watch their child perform. The A-ha moments when students finally get what I am saying. When Rob tells me he is proud of me or when Christian tells me “That was nice singing Mum!”

I spend many hours developing the kids voices but also I do find myself chatting to them about life lessons.

So this is what I learnt over the pass weeks leading to the Charice live concert in Sydney until the moment One Voice students and I would share the stage with Charice.

1. People are willing to help make dreams happen.

Imagine all the sponsors, families, kids, producers putting their whole heart into this event.  Promoting it, rehearsing for it and working to make it happen.  It goes beyond just ONE PERSON!  People all around the world help make this event happen – from Charice’s team to the wonderful Cruz family in the Philippines who made the One Voice shirts in such short notice.  (Thank you to our shirt sponsors, Diaz Foundation, Australian Filipina/Help after Haiyan, Oz Pinoy Home loans – their help went toward the recording of the Be heard song)

ONE VOICE AND CHARICE

2. A community was created because we believe that we can make a difference in a small way or another.

Thank you to all the people who interviewed us for the newspapers and radio.  Those experiences really made a difference in the kids confidence.

Troy Laureta, Martin Serra, Daniel March, Dominic Cabrera, Tina Bangel and One Voice kids

Troy Laureta, Martin Serra, Daniel March, Dominic Cabrera, Tina Bangel and One Voice kids – I believe this was the silly face photo…I didn’t get the memo.

3. Don’t take things personally.  

I am always the first to take things personally! I hate the feeling until I remind myself that people have a job to do and each of us have the intention (hopefully) to do good in the world.  When people snap or treat us in a negative way it maybe because things weren’t communicated properly. It’s a learning experience so we can create bigger and better things in the future.

Charice with One Voice kids

Charice with One Voice kids

4.  Have the best team behind you.

Surround yourself with people who will lift your game up and genuinely want to you to succeed but who remind you to stay humble. Charice always brings a sound guy from Canada to make sure her Vocals even more amazing she also brings her musical director Troy Laureta to all her major shows. Piece of mind is the key so you can be the best you can on stage.

Tina Bangel with Troy Laureta, Martin Serra, Dominic Cabrera and Daniel March

Tina Bangel with Troy Laureta, Martin Serra, Dominic Cabrera and Daniel March

5. There is no such thing as the ‘little person.”

Each person is important, from the guy who lovingly poured the beer for audience members so they can enjoy the concert to the lady at the front desk selling the tickets. We all have a job that is just as important as the next person’s job.

Jasper and Mylene just part of Cheers entertainment. Thank you for believing in us!

Jasper and Mylene just part of Cheers entertainment. Thank you for believing in us!

6. Expect the unexpected.

Deal with it and move on or maybe write a blog post about it! If things don’t go the way you want it to, learn to be assertive so it doesn’t happen again next time. I’m so thankful for Miss Pam Picarts help with the kids backstage. She was able to help us so much while there were things that were technically unavoidable. We needed to make changes super quick and I am so proud of the kid’s professionalism.  Thanks to all the mid-year and end of year concerts that help us prepare for times like this!

Finale Pryramid

Finale Pyramid

7. Ask for help!

I wanted something special for this event.  I didn’t want to sing just another song. I wanted to create a song that will inspire the kids and also the audience.  The song I co-wrote was Be Heard.  It’s an inspirational song and the message is to not feel afraid to sing out or be yourself.

 

I had contacted Louie Ocampo after working with him on a few projects such as being a backing vocalist for Martin Nievera, Zsa-Zsa Padilla and Sharon Cuneta.  He was so generous with his time to help mentor me with songwriting.

Charice singing the Earth song with One Voice Kids and Tina Bangel

Charice singing the Earth song with One Voice Kids and Tina Bangel

8. You meet amazing people working towards a project or making dreams come true.  

I was lucky to have worked with Lionel Cole who is the cousin of Natalie Cole.  He has also co-written songs with Mariah Carey and toured with her.  The experience with him went beyond song arrangement for Be heard.  He dug deep into my soul to help me bring out the message of “being heard.” I’m looking forward to working with him on a few songs that I co-wrote with Van Sereno in the next few weeks.

one Voice sing the Earth song with One Voice students

One Voice students singing  the earth song with Charice

9.  We are all learning in this world.

We meet people so that they teach us about ourselves.  I find myself searching for reassurance or compliments to make myself feel better.  But deep down it all boils down to how you feel about your efforts. If you have tried your very best then that is all anyone could ask for.  Be gentle and kind to yourself.

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10.  It’s all about the kids!

When things didn’t go the way I had expected there was one thing that made everything ok. That was seeing the kids with Charice backstage after the show. Charice got lost in the kids huge hugs it didn’t help that she was soooo tiny!

Charice singing you are not alone with front acts- Allyssa, Mikee-Anne, Chelsea, Leilani, Bernadette, Jinky and Dani.

Charice singing you are not alone with front acts- Allyssa, Mikee-Anne, Chelsea, Leilani, Bernadette, Jinky and Dani.

I hope each hug made Charice feel loved and appreciated.

I hope each smile made her feel that she made a difference in their lives.

I hope each selfie moment she had with every child is etched in cyber memory so that we can remember how she has made each of us feel proud to be Filipino.

Most of all I hope that she knows how much we appreciated being on the stage with her so that we can continue to sing and make people happy!

Rehearsal

Rehearsal

Because One Voice can change the world! Your Voice and mine!

Tina Bangel backstage with Charice after her Sydney concert 2014

Tina Bangel backstage with Charice after her Sydney concert 2014 Photo Credit: Bernadette Corpuz

If you were inspired or watched the show last night, I would love to hear from you. Comment below or share this post.

Musically your Tina xo

 

 

 

 

 

One Voice selfies with Charice

After months of preparation, rehearsing, memorising and creating tomorrow is the big day!

Today the One Voice kids and myself had the honour to finally meet Charice, Alyssa Quijano and musical director Troy Laureta. 

We won’t really get to chat much to them as much as we would love to…but hidden behind the passing giggles, iPhone selfies, star-struck smiles and stares we cannot thank them enough for touching our lives.

Rehearsal with Charice

Rehearsal with Charice and One Voice

Music is so powerful that it bridges countries and generations together.  It brings happiness and purpose to many lives and for that we should all be forever grateful!

Charice together with the undeniable power of her voice and her courage to be herself has brought so much joy to the Filipino community and has inspired people to sing!

Charice with Tina Bangel

Charice with Tina Bangel

My goodness…It inspired me to co-write a song! Something that I have been dreaming about for years and never got around to it…excuses after another! But finally the kids and I will be singing Be Heard. A song I co-wrote with Louie Ocampo and Lionel Cole. What an experience! Thank you to our sponsors Diaz Foundation, Help After Haiyan/Australian Filipina and Pinoy Home Loans.

Thank you so much to Cheers entertainment, Jasper, Karen, Mylene and their families for giving us the opportunity to share the stage with Charice. We are so excited to be part of this production headed Francis Balagtas. To our fellow support acts and their families, Blackout, Chelsea, Bernadette, Jinky, Dani, Allyssa, Mikee and Leilani thank you for making the rehearsals so much fun!

Sydney Support acts with Charice.

Sydney Support acts with Charice.

So proud of amazing One Voice kids and their families for their continued support.  I can’t wait to watch you all shine and share your gifts Alyssa ,Ally B, Chloe, Isabella, Caitlin, Jade, Jarrod, Jared, Chelsea, Angelo, Erica, Joy, Giuliana, Olivia, Kiahna, Adrianna, Ally, Abbey, Clarissa and Jessica!

One Voice

One Voice

If you learn anything from this experience I hope you take away our motto – One Voice CAN change the world!

From the word’s of my mentor Marie Forleo – The world needs that special something that only you have! I hope you live your lives full of beautiful discovery and learning.  Be yourself and be true!  There is only one you!

One Voice can change the world

One Voice can change the world

If you are hanging around for the concert there will be fliers on the  tables with details on how to enter our One Voice competition.  You can be in the running to win The secrets to singing high notes with ease e-Course. You can also enter HERE. Once you enter please confirm your email so we know you are a real person. Good Luck!

Scan to win or enter the url

Scan to win or enter the url