25 For UST

I dispatched 25 earsavers yesterday to the UST Hospital Department of Pediatrics. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve this hospital as this was where my grandmother was confined when she was being treated for cancer. She received the best care here until her last breath.

I would like to acknowledge Bea Tuquero for the photos of my earsaver on a UST frontliner. It always makes me happy to see my earsavers in action.

Please help us reach more frontliners by joining the Earsavers for Lifesavers PH Facebook group! We welcome crafters, delivery angels, and materials sponsors. Together, let us help fight Covid-19 with yarn and a lot of good vibes!

Israeli Indie-Folk Singer-Songwriter VANNA Releases ‘Let Me Fall’, The Second Single from her Upcoming Debut EP

Israeli Indie-Folk singer-songwriter VANNA releases Let Me Fall, the second single of her 5-track debut EP High Hopes released via Umami Records. This song explores the meaning of embracing the vulnerability that one has while falling in love. The ambient production centred around a finger picked acoustic guitar and pulsating bass lines exudes a powerful calming feeling to listeners’ ears throughout the song.

Produced by Roy Avital of Tel Aviv based indie-electronic trio Garden City Movement and mastered by Matt Colton (James Blake, Muse, Coldplay), Let Me Fall is an ambient-folktronica song about letting yourself fall completely in love, and embracing the vulnerability that comes along with that. “When you fall in love, you expose yourself to getting hurt. It’s an endless paradox. When you let someone enter your inner world, you’re allowing them to gently break down your walls and then amazing things can happen.”, shares VANNA, “I was scared that one day I’d lose this feeling, and when it really happened I felt so alone trying to move on. This is the risk you take for falling in love.”

VANNA builds up the energy from the verses to the choruses, culminating in the bridge. “And all I could ever ask is to be someone else / To know what I am for you to feel that you want me too / And I wanna clear my head I don’t wanna be so scared / To leave all my fears behind / To know you’re on my side”, she sings, before releasing all that tension in the final instrumental drop.

VANNA tells the story about how she wrote the song: “At one of my gigs I did a cover of RY X’s Deliverance, adding a minimal beat and playing on my keyboard. When I finished singing the cover I kept going with the beat and sang a new song, which became Let Me Fall. It was a special moment. After I finished singing I told the audience that I felt like a rapper improvising lyrics on the go. I said I hoped that someone in the audience recorded it because this would become my new song.”

A music video accompanies the release of this single, directed by award-winning independent filmmaker Matan Balalty and French-Israeli artist Noémie Dahan, shot at the Beit Talal In Jaffa featuring four professional contemporary dancers.

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, of Indian and Iranian parents, VANNA grew up immersed in music, culture and diversity. Creating music is her way of confronting and understanding the turmoil she feels within herself, and she hopes her songs will touch others going through the same struggle. She is also a graduate of the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.

Over the last 3 years, VANNA has been working closely with producer Roy Avital on her debut EP High Hopes, delivering a delicate fusion of indie electronic, pop, and folk influenced by artists like RY X, Oscar and the Wolf, SYML and Sóley.

‘Let Me Fall’ by VANNA is available everywhere at this link: https://www.umamirecords.sg/let-me-fall/

Click here to listen to a private preview of Let Me Fall by VANNA

Click here for artist EPK and press photos

About VANNA

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, of Indian and Iranian parents, VANNA grew up immersed in music, culture and diversity. Creating music is her way of confronting and understanding the turmoil she feels within herself, and she hopes her songs will touch others going through the same struggle. She is also a graduate of the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.

Her debut EP High Hopes, which she has been working on for the last 3 years, will be released over 2020 by Singapore based indie label Umami Records. Produced by Roy Avital of Tel Aviv based indie-electronic trio Garden City Movement and mastered by Matt Colton (James Blake, Muse, Coldplay), High Hopes delivers a delicate fusion of indie electronic, pop, and folk influenced by artists like RY X, Oscar and the Wolf, SYML and Sóley. 

VANNA’s intimate live shows combine unique electronic production with live instruments like violins and acoustic guitars. She strives to draw the audience deep into her world of raw emotions, taking them on a journey they will never forget.

Instagram · Facebook · YouTube

“This song made me stop in my tracks, turn off the lights, and turn on fairy lights around my room. That is the physical response an indie electro song should have.” - Unheard Gems

“This is such a beautiful arrangement. VANNA has an outstanding voice, that collides into you at first listen. It’s so soft and passionate, not forced. The production and build in this track is powerful, over subtle guitar picking and entwined with subtle synth voices and strings piercing through. The track builds and transforms as VANNA takes you on a journey, exploring the depths of hope even amidst struggle. VANNA’s debut EP is set to release this summer and we are over-the-moon with excitement.” - IMR

“High Hopes is a tender reflection on not giving up with an immersive soundscape that quivers with emotion.” - ohestee

About Umami Records

Umami Records is a Singapore-based indie record label founded in 2013. Much like the “5th taste” reputation of its namesake, the label strongly believes in discovering new, interesting sounds that run underground and away from the mainstream. The label’s tight-knit, curated roster thus far has included releases from Linying, The Steve McQueens, brb., Evanturetime, CampFire, Martin Baltser, Phoria, Oriental Cravings, and more. 

UmamiRecords.sg · Instagram · Facebook · Twitter · YouTube

Source: Nyou

The Itchyworms Return with Back to Back singles under Sony Music

With live shows on a temporary standstill and the global music landscape currently at odds with the challenges that come with the complete shift to the digital realm, more artists are surprisingly making records that represent the specificity of the times. Never mind the logistical restrictions on the music-making process: What’s important is that they’re channeling their personal experiences during forced and self-imposed quarantine through songs that function like the pep talk the world needs right now—most of the time, comforting and hopeful, but sometimes a complete validation of our collective rage, loneliness, and frustration inside.  

Now returning with two new singles that capture the universal sentiments of grappling with an invisible peril, The Itchyworms drops back to back releases under Sony Music Philippines—their first under a major label since 2008’s Self-Titled.

Two new singles

“Armageddon Blues” and “The Silence” are two new songs inspired by the band’s response to the ongoing social, mental, and emotional crisis that people from around the globe are facing in the midst of a pandemic. 

“Armageddon Blues,” in particular, is an update of an old demo recorded by Jazz Nicolas (lead vocals, drums, piano, keyboards, keytar) and Chino Singson (lead guitarist and backing vocals). With crunching guitar riffs, Beatlesque pop melodies, and raw but in-your-face production, the latest track from the band exhibits both ends of the emotional spectrum, as filtered through the lens of happy-sappy music geeks. As Chino recalls. “I remember it being a fun song to record. If you listen to the lyrics, you'll see it's very tongue-in-cheek, but very heartfelt.” 

Written in 2005, the song was supposed to be included on the quartet’s critically acclaimed album, Noontime Show and the follow-up record, Self-Titled, but The Itchyworms felt that it was thematically different and completely ahead of its time. “Time jump to more than 15 years later, I was the only one who had a copy of the demo,” Jugs Jugueta (co-lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion, keyboards) narrates. “Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) happened, and I sent them the demo of ‘Armageddon Blues,’ telling The Itchyworms to release the song, because it captures the somewhat end-of-the-world vibe of our present situation. A couple of weeks into the ECQ, we realized that we’re in this for the long haul, and that we had to do something creative. We decided to write and record a few songs inspired by our experiences during COVID-19.”

The songwriting sessions birthed another single, which already made its rounds on Facebook a week earlier. Following the official release of “Armageddon Blues” on all streaming and digital platforms worldwide a day late, “The Silence” was written by Jugs Jugueta and Jazz Nicolas, and recorded and produced by The Itchyworms entirely during the Enhanced Community Quarantine imposed over Metro Manila due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s what we think everyone is going through right now. Nobody could’ve foreseen 2020 to be like this,” Jugs shares the underlying theme behind the song. Musically, it’s a mish-mash of influences that put Depeche Mode, Radiohead, The Beatles, and The Walking Dead in a blender: The production seethes with soaring builds and nuanced sonic details, but ends abruptly in faded noise—as if the transmission is suddenly lost in the background, its silence “killing us” infinitely and metaphorically. 

A “Quarantine” Album

Both songs are part of their upcoming album, Waiting For The End To Start, which was conceptualized and recorded while the members of The Itchyworms were confined in their homes, connected digitally by their resounding “shared” experiences. “Expect it to be unpolished and imperfect,” Jazz describes the new album. “Maybe a little lo-fi. It’s not necessarily all about COVID-19, but this is the result of what we feel during this time. So there’s restlessness, loneliness, boredom, delirium, fear, uncertainty, and all that jazz.” 

Chino puts into perspective the concept behind the 8-track release, which will most likely drop sometime in July 2020. “Like any collection of music, it is a record of its time: A snapshot of the artist's reaction to his or her circumstances. But it's a concept album in that our aim was to create art in the midst of a pandemic, to capture our emotions in the music we record, even with the limited recording gear we have at home. So you'll hear amp buzz and imperfect vocals, but for me that's part of the spirit of true rock.” 

Reunion with Sony Music PH

Waiting For The End To Start is their second album to be released under Sony Music Philippines. After their groundbreaking major label opus, Self-Titled, which made an impact in the local music scene at the tail end of 2008, the band was forced to go indie after the label’s short-lived hiatus handling domestic releases. 

Speaking of their reignited ties with the international record label, Jugs tells in a statement: “Aside from the fact that we felt a sense of familiarity with Roslyn Pineda of Sony Music PH, as we’ve known her since our college days, we believed that Sony, being an International record company, could help us reach a wider audience. We want to reach new and foreign audiences, because our music is universal and capable of touching several hearts here and abroad.” 

Chino adds, “I feel that Sony is a good place to be for an artist. Their team is small but they work hard and have their artists' interests at heart.”

“Armageddon Blues” is now out on various digital and streaming platforms worldwide. Watch out for the official release of “The Silence” tomorrow midnight, May 22, 2020.

Source: Nyou

Sharing Joy at NCMH

I recently dispatched 60 earsavers to the National Center for Mental Health. I enjoyed crocheting this batch while attending Zoom meetings and webinars.

The biggest reward for making these earsavers was receiving these photos from Nurse Jendy Lou Mendoza. It warms my heart to see my handmade creations reach their owners. I hope that these will alleviate their pain as they cure the sick.

Now crocheting more earsavers for frontliners! Together, let us all flatten the curve!

60 For NCMH

I donated 60 earsavers to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) last May 18, 2020. I am still crocheting earsavers for our frontliners amidst the transtion from ECQ to MECQ. While the quarantine status has been modified, I am aware that our healthcare workers are still working double time to battle Covid-19. Thus, I am still helping alleviate the pain caused by medical-grade masks that these hardworking individuals have to wear.

Please support Earsavers for Lifesavers PH either as a crafter, delivery angel, or materials sponsor. Any help will go a long way in boosting our frontliners’ morale and of course, motivating crafters who want to do their share at home.

Take care, and may God bless us all!

80 for Sta. Ana Hospital

I dispatched 80 earsavers to the Covid Ward frontliners of the Sta. Ana Hospital. I feel blessed to have finished this batch as this week was quite challenging for me. Amidst overcoming a few personal setbacks, I kept on crocheting. And before I knew it, I was able to send these to the frontliners who need them most.

Please consider volunteering for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH by joining our Facebook Group! We need crafters, delivery angels, and materials sponsors. No help is too small for our frontliners who risk their lives everyday to cure the sick. Those of us who can stay at home can still do our share and be there for our modern-day heroes.

God bless us all!

Watch Rico Blanco’s inspiring music video for “This Too Shall Pass”

Rico Blanco has finally dropped the official music video for his new solo single in four years.

With various footage taken here and abroad, the visuals for “This Too Shall Pass” take a closer look at how the pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill. 

Given the unprecedented uncertainty and challenges that COVID-19 poses, the video doubles as a tribute to the unsung heroes and frontliners leading the fight against an invisible enemy, showing us the true meaning of bayanihan in times of crisis. 

Intercut with scenes of the “new normal” from around the globe, it also depicts the alt-rock icon performing the song at the confines of his home: devoid of flashy production designs and envelope-pushing concepts, but framed with an underlying message of resilience and hope. 

Positive Reception

Two weeks earlier, “This Too Shall Pass” was released on all digital and streaming platforms worldwide under Sony Music.

The massive anthem has received critical acclaim from various publications in the country. MYX Philippines praised his work for giving listeners “a sense of reassurance, something we all need given the current situation.” Bandwagon Asia called the song an “ode to the light of the human spirit in dark times,” while GMA News described it as “a perfect source of inspiration.” 

An Initiative for COVID-19 Response and Relief

To help fund the collective COVID-19 response in the Philippines, Rico Blanco is waiving his artist royalties for the music video of “This Too Shall Pass,” and Sony Music Philippines will be donating 100% of the global proceeds to www.puhon.ph for the first 6 months of release.

Puhon means “hopefully” in Visayan. The site contains inspiring stories and messages of encouragement to people at the frontline of fighting the pandemic. 

Using the tagline #MakeHopeViral, to date, the site has raised P4.6M for personal protective equipment (PPEs) & nutrition support for frontline healthcare workers, COVID-19 testing kits, and relief goods for daily wage workers. Other SME Philippines artists with messages of support & encouragement on the site are SB19, Zelijah, Dionela, Nathan & Mercury, Alex Bruce, Ace Banzuelo & syd hartha.

The music video of Rico Blanco’s “This Too Shall Pass” is now out on YouTube.

Source: Nyou

Buttons For Earsavers

I would like to thank Bon Seng Commercial Inc. for donating 300 buttons for my upcoming earsavers. I feel grateful because I do not have to crochet buttons for my next batches. This will enable me to do other things and focus more on meeting my personal deadlines for donations.

Earsavers for Lifesavers PH Facebook group has really changed my quarantine for the better, as I had a sense of responsibility even while stuck at home. Please consider joining us to help out as a crafter, delivery angel, or materials sponsor. The quarantine may be modified in some areas, but our frontliners still need earsavers.

Hope to see you there!

Earsavers For Frontliners

I have delivered 20 earsavers to a friend of mine who works in a pharmaceutical company and 15 earsavers to a cousin of mine who works as a bank frontliner. For me, it is important to do my share during the pandemic, even if my contribution is merely small. I enjoy helping others from home, and it makes me happy that I can somehow alleviate their pain by donating earsavers.

Please consider being a crafter, delivery angel, or materials sponsor for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH by joining our Facebook group! I hope to see you there!

50 More for QMMC

I donated 50 earsavers to various frontliners of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center last May 11, 2020. I have already embraced crocheting for these brave souls who serve our community during the pandemic. I am thankful for the photos of the QMMC frontliners who received my earsavers provided by Dr. Riz Remulla.

If you also want to volunteer as a crafter, delivery angel, or materials sponsor, please join our Earsavers for Lifesavers PH Facebook group! The feeling of helping others is truly rewarding.

One Year After

My family commemorated my dad’s first year death anniversary today with prayer and song. Since most of my relatives are based overseas, we had the service via Zoom. It was heartwarming to be with family despite the distance, as technology was able to bridge the space between us.

As we celebrate my dad’s life, I will go forth thinking that I can be better than the way I was yesterday. He may not be here on Earth anymore, but that does not stop him from being my father.

I will keep going on.

Mother’s Day 2020

We celebrated the first Mother’s Day without my dad this year. I got my mom preserved fresh roses and a DIY salad kit from Isabel’s.
We had a lovely day and I am grateful to have a strong mom. Happy Mother’s Day to all strong moms out there!

Quarantine Drive

I drove to Maginhawa yesterday to buy food. It was refreshing to be out and about after being safe inside my own home for a week. I was out for less than an hour, but it really worked wonders on my mood and outlook in life.

I am more appreciative of the fact that I can afford to drive and buy food. I am luckier than most, and I won’t take these simple joys for granted again.

I hope that this will all end soon. For now, stay safe and healthy everyone!

100 for San Lazaro

I donated 100 earsavers to the San Lazaro Hospital yesterday. My donations went to 50 Payward and 50 ER & Covid Triage frontliners. They are bravely caring for the sick and doing so amidst challenging circumstances. I am humbled to have helped them even in my own small way.

It makes me happy to help frontliners from home. If you can crochet, knit, sew, or donate materials or funds to support our cause to provide earsavers to health workers, please join our Earsavers for Lifesavers PH Facebook group. I hope to see you there!

Extra special Mother’s Day at home with The Manila Hotel

Mother’s Day is a yearly reminder to cherish our relationship with our moms. Given this year’s unique circumstances, many of us will be celebrating this special day at home or even away from the special women in our lives—mom, grandmas, and aunts. Still, even when fancy dinners are impossible, Mother’s Day doesn’t have to becanceled. With some creativity and preparation, you can still give the most special woman in your life the Mother’s Day she deserves. 

Clockwise from bottom: Mango Cheesecake, Ohaina Chocolate Gateau, Opera Cake, Trio of Chocolate Mousse

The Manila Hotel pulls all the stops for you to still be able to give her a memorable Mother’s Day. This home celebration will have a five-star hotel feel and The Manila Hotel will make sure it gets close to a real feast. 

The Manila Hotel’s Mother’s Day Surprise gives you discounts when you choose to order the food-and-cake bundle and pay online on or before May 8, 2020 (Friday). You may choose items from the A La Carte Menu or Home Buffet sets (Filipino, Italian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese favorites, as well as Certified Halal items) and get a 20% discount on your food bill, and a 10% discount on the cake of your choice. 

Because mothers deserve the only the best, you can choose from our awesome selection: our decadent Opera Cake; Ohaina Chocolate Gateau, a Lifestyle Inquirer Best Dessert Winner; the mouthwatering Trio of Chocolate Mousse, and our amazing Mango Cheesecake. 

 To order or for more information, please call 8527 0011 or message 0998-9501912. 

Source: The Manila Hotel

30 For QMMC PICU

I donated 30 earsavers to the Pediatric ICU of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center yesterday. This is already my second donation to this hospital. I am thankful to be given this assignment because I genuinely enjoy crocheting earsavers. I also believe that frontliners deserve all our care and generosity. This is the least that I can do for them.

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Riz Remulla for providing me with the pictures of the smiling Pediatric ICU frontliners in this post. I am still volunteering for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH. Doing this has given meaning and substance to my quarantine period. I will forever look back on this time as a season of growth and giving.

To volunteer as a crafter for earsavers, or to donate materials or funds for deliveries, please join the Earsavers for Lifesavers PH Group. I hope to see you there, and may God bless us all!

ECQ Essentials

The Enhanced Community Quarantine or ECQ has been challenging for all of us. We have been spoilt for choice when it comes to activities and events pre-pandemic, so spending the whole day at home could be daunting for many of us. As our frontliners battle the Covid-19 virus at the hospitals and essential workers keep our communities up and running, let us continue to stay at home to flatten the curve. And let me make life a little bit easier for you by delivering natural toiletries and home essentials straight to your doorstep via my Human Nature online shop.

Not only can you shop my favorites such as our shampoo bar and hand sanitizer, you will also support the livelihood of our amazing employees. And you will also help me bounce back with every purchase you make! My small business enables me to stay afloat with essential products, and I hope that you will buy your self-care needs from my shop.

Thank you in advance, and I hope to see you on my online store soon!

Limitless Entrepreneur Day 5

I just finished the Limitless Entrepreneur Retreat! It was created by mastermind coach Melyssa Griffin to train creative entrepreneurs to have an abundance mindset. I personally took it because I wanted to develop my entrepreneurial mindset.

Here are some of my answers to Melyssa’s questions for Day 5:

What is the offer that you’re going to launch?

• My offer is WRITING! I aim to utilize my communication skills primarily in writing and public speaking to become an asset to my future employer.

What impact will this product make in the lives of your buyers?

• I will ensure that my clients will notice that I practice empathy when dealing with them and producing output for them. By putting myself in their shoes, I can create effective copy that they can use for their businesses.

How do you want your customers or clients to FEEL after purchasing your offer?

• I want them to feel good as they know that they can trust me to help them communicate effectively to their target audience.

Imagine them chatting with a friend after purchasing your offer. What do you hope they say to their friend about what it was like to purchase from or work with you?

• “Sam is able to help us provide better services to our clients by producing effective and concise messages for our marketing emails, social media posts, and customer service templates.”

How can you incorporate this “vibe” into your onboarding and sales process? What can you do to make sure your clients or customers FEEL the way you want them to?

• I will make sure that I will ask my clients what they want, how they want to be perceived by their clients, and who their clients are. I want my clients to feel like I am a friend whom they could trust to help them communicate better to their customers.

Which onboarding tactics are you going to implement to ensure that your buyers feel taken care of?

• I will confirm that they receive my services and that they are satisfied with my work. I will make sure that this is done in writing, preferably via email between me and my clients.

• I will ask for feedback and if they are satisfied, I will request for testimonials for my future clients’ reference.

I really enjoyed this course, and I hope that you will also learn from it! Click here to take the course yourself and watch your mindset shift from fear to abundance! Enjoy!

100 For East Ave

I donated 100 earsavers to the Laboratory Department of the East Avenue Medical Center today. It is an honor for me to serve a hospital located near home. I am praying for all the frontliners who risk their lives everyday as we fight Covid-19. I consider this as my simple contribution to help ease the burden of our health care workers.

The photos (except for my selfie) were generously provided by Rita Sebastian, a medical technologist at East Ave. I am volunteering for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting crafters to frontliners who need earsavers made for them.

Let us help our frontliners flatten the curve by staying home, practicing social distancing when outside for necessary errands, and wearing face masks. And let us please find ways to give supplies to these brave workers because they are the ones who keep us safe from the virus.

God bless us all!

Limitless Entrepreneur Day 4

Today is my blog www.speakoutsam.com’s third anniversary! I am celebrating it whilst at home due to the enhanced community quarantine. While the lockdown is only temporary, my learning journey is a lifelong one. This is why I signed up for Melyssa Griffin’s Limitless Entrepreneur Retreat to make the most out the quarantine by learning how to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Here are some of my answers to Melyssa’s Day 4 prompts:

Help them visualize the transformation they’ll experience if they work with you. How’s their life like now?

I realized that the world will not be the same after the pandemic ends. We are already aware of the possibility of productivity at home. Work is possible even while at home thanks to technology. Working with me will make life easier for my employer because I am able to utilize the available technologies to communicate the client’s message to his target audience. I am also capable of meeting clients and upper management face-to-face, which is an advantage when making pitches or networking. I am flexible while also prioritizing time management when it comes to achieving results.

How will it be after working with you/purchasing your products and experiencing the transformation you can get them?

I have a Human Nature online store (please support! We deliver during the ECQ) which enables me to deliver high quality natural personal and home care products to Filipinos during the quarantine. I am able to provide a ritual for self-care and cleanliness during a period of uncertainty. I am also working as a freelance writer during this time. I am also a volunteer for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH as a crocheter.

I am able to share my passion for natural products, writing skills, and crocheted earsavers during the pandemic. I provide a sense of humanity in the face of an unseen virus. I give hope when there is so much negativity and fear in the world through my ability to communicate, sell, and for my volunteer work, to crochet for frontliners.

Now, this transformation needs to be real and achievable. Don’t promise them something you can’t deliver, you want to be honest and help your audience get actual results. Do you have a personal transformation you can share? What might their transformation look like if they purchase your offer?

A couple of months ago, I was a freelance writer with an online business. I also had my blog which has enabled me to attended learning and networking events. My life completely changed when the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was implemented. I has to quickly pivot since I had to be safe at home during the entirety of the pandemic. I chose to volunteer as a crocheter for Earsavers for Lifesavers PH because I wanted to help our frontliners. It became a journey of transformation because my focus shifted on something bigger than myself. Since then, I no longer thought of this pandemic as a period of loss and solitude. Rather, I saw it as an opportunity to serve those who heal the sick.