S t i l l w a t e r - June 2003 News Page 1

June 7, 2003
- Email from Jemar Mangali, Stillwater band member

Hi Guys,

How are all of you, i hope we are all praying for REDEEMED, malapit na ang anniversary and we still have to make our songs solid and clear, i know all of us have different schedules at mahirap maghanap ng day and time na sama sama lahat tayo but i hope all of us are practicing our stuff at home, if my car situation gets fixed i will go house to house and practice the songs with you, of course in your available time, cause i think that if we can't practice as a whole band because of our conflicting schedule we can practice some parts of REDEEMED, (which will eventually lead to development and progression of the songs) like me and kuya rene practicing, or me and kuya vince, or tito frank and kuya boyet and kuya vince and kuya yetski, or tito frank and kuya joey etc. etc. i know we all don't live near each other, since i am the youngest and even though i have 2 jobs i still have some time to spare, i can go house to house and practice with you guys, of course we still need to practice as a whole band to get everything right, but since our schedule conflicts, we can practice bits and pieces of the band and the songs too.

One example was when one night i slept over at tito franks house, it just took us an hour or an hour and a half i think to write REDEEMED, it was fast but we got the melody just right and it just needed some polishing, because we weren't in any time pressure at that time and we were just relaxing and enjoying each others company and the gift of music God has given us, i think that's the best time to write songs and practice old songs, when you are just relaxed and hanging out with each other, like me and Kuya Vince before, we wrote nice songs and made nice melodies when we were just hanging out exploring what we could do, i know not all of us has the time or the energy to hang out with each other especially with our busy schedules, i can imagine all of you have more complicated and busy schedules than what i have, but i just think that spending time with each other because of the music really produces something, give at an hour or an hour and a half and you might get something out of it, i don't mean going to your bassist house and thinking it will be another practice and rundown of the songs, i mean going to your drummers/guitarists house not thinking it will be another practice but its the fellowship and the music that glorifies God that you went there for, practice is just a result of your fellowship in a relaxed atmosphere were you are in NO HURRY to go home or the one visiting you is in no hurry to go home.

I'm not asking that we all do this, i am just voicing out what i feel and some suggestions to deal with our schedules, if we are to be musically be N'SYNC we need to be N'SYNC first with each other, to have fellowship with one another, to know what music your keyboardist likes, to try different intros and tempos with one another, sana nga magkakapitbahay na lang lahat tayo, again i'm am not enforcing this to anyone i know we all have schedules to follow, i am just voicing out what i feel and maybe some of you will think about it.

I think jamming with each other kasi, i mean not the whole band but one member of the band makes you know the person better, mas makakabisado mo yung, like me and kuya vince medyo alam na namin ang ibig sabihin ng bawat isa in just a few words because we used to jam a lot beforre, i've had time with kuya rene and tito frank too, ang target ko nga ay lahat kayo isa isahin, well pls. pray for my car na lang muna, i'm excited kasi in what we could accomplish in doing these things, tito frank said he never composed a single song before but when we put our heads together i didn't know he makes good melodies and his style and my style kinda like merged, isa pa pala yun kaya masarap maki-jam sa kabandmate mo, you will learn his styles and musical preferences and di niyo mamamalayan you transfer each others style to each other, i know Kuya Joey has some compositions and i'm excited to hear some of it, i have a composition last year pa for a keyboardist di ko pa lang nga naipapakita kay Kuya Joey kasi we've all been busy. Saan ka ba ulit nakatira Kuya Joey?

I've been busy too, that's why all i can do so that the singers will get an idea of how the song is, is to record on tape which i think went well naman, all i need is an acoustic guitar and a cassette recorder which the Lord provided. All we need lang naman is time, time to fellowship and exchange ideas without any time pressure, especially in our band, iba iba ang age natin so we really do need more time to know each others styles and musical preference until we get comfortable with each others uniqueness and we can produce our own distinct and unique style, i'm not saying we aren't comfortable with each other, i mean we need fellowship and time to combine our individual uniqueness in music.

I just want to say that having all of you in REDEEMED has all been a blessing!!! I remember the time that kuya vince and i will go to nassau st. in princeton and every 2 weeks or so continue to update the posters/ads we hanged on the boards, we were hanging ads looking for a Christian drummer, bassist, and singer, kuya vince even sent an internet ad for that, we got a bassist from PAC but he said he is doing it only for a hobby and not committed to a band we envisioned that we've been praying for, then ate ging got pregnant and kuya vince and i see less of each other, then everyone at the P & W team got better, then we got a drummer, when kuya vince saw it he thought we can use some people at the P & W band instead, what we've been looking for before in our ads could be right in front of us all along, initially when we started this project we kept it to ourselves because we think that when some people at the P & W team learn about it they might get excited and join but have no committment towards the whole project just wanting to join for a brief moment, we wanted to have the committment because we are not doing this to glorify ourselves but to glorify God and we have a goal to reach people through our music and hope one day it might hit the airwaves reaching people, sounds silly but we don't know what God has in store for us. I know it was God's will na pagsama-samahin tayo and ngayong buo na tayo all we need is to stick with each other through thick and thin, one thing that is good is most of us our churchmates, we see each other regularly and keep track of each others lives because of the church.

But i think we need to have a different fellowship besides the one we have at church, but the one pertaining to the music we make to glorify God, secular bandmates aren't churchmates but they do hang out a lot with each other because of their music, the newsboys christian band i think are both churchmates and are around the same age, we aren't around the same age brackets in our band but that gives us variation and uniqueness and we can put more color in what we do because of our different backgrounds.

I've been hearing of this AUTUMN BLAZE from Tito Frank and 99.1, then i learned one of the people i am working with at my second job used to study at Zarephat Christian School where autumn blaze is held and use to be one of the organizers or help organize that yearly event, its not really a battle of the bands, its like a concert of all the bands that got selected from the demos/cd's they submitted, most of the people that go there are young kids and they come not in the hundreds my friend said but it kinda reached a thousand or more he said, i hope that we can submit a demo in time if we can make our stuff solid and clear, we still have some other songs to rundown.

I am not pressuring anyone, just giving you an overview of what i feel for our band that the Lord brought together, we all might have different mindsets and feelings for the band but whatever we feel or think i hope we are praying for the band and God's will for REDEEMED. Let us also
continue to pray for one another, i'll see you all soon, God Bless you all.

Redeemed by the Lord,
Jemar

June 10, 2003
- Email from Frank dela Cruz, Stillwater band member

Hello everyone. Yes the practice is on on Saturday. I just want to request a big favor from everyone to move our practice at night say at 7:30pm instead of 3:00pm in the afternoon. Let me know if it is okay with you guys. As most of you already know we are moving to Atlanta, Georgia on August 29, we are selling our house and we are at the last minute of preparation. We are putting our house on the market next week. Joey can you make it on Saturday evening at our house. I hope you don't have Bible study schedule that day. Give me your feed back as soon as you can. Thank you and God bless.

Kuya Frank

June 12, 2003
- Email from Jemar Mangali, Stillwater band member

Hi Guys,

Sorry ngayon lang ako nakapagemail, ang dami niyo na palang correspondence via e-mail, today lang ako nakapaginternet eh, i am really sorry but i cannot make it this saturday, i really feel bad about it. Guys i really felt depressed today when i learned that tito frank and family is moving to Atlanta, maybe most of you guys and the people at Church knew about it pero ako ngayon ko lang nabalitaan nung nabasa ko yung mga e-mail.

Di nga ako nakapagtrabaho ng maayos kanina ewan ko ba bakit ako nadepress with that news, of course people come in and out of our lives at sanay na rin ako doon pero siyempre iba sina Ate Vinia at Tito Frank, kung ano ano na nga rin ang pumasok sa utak ko eh, kasi my aunt from L.A. wants me to move there but i don't want to leave the music ministry and the band here and i know God will make a way sa situation ko dito, nung nalaman kong lilipat sina Tito Frank sa Atlanta i felt na parang iiwanan ako, whatever your reasons for moving Tito Frank i know that they are all for the best, siguro kaya ganito ang nararamdaman ko kasi mamimiss ko lang kayo ng grabe, kasi yung Church na ang family ko dito eh parang part ng family ko ang aalis, lalo na that i grew close with you, i just want to let these feelings out kasi kaninang umaga pa ito mula ng mabasa ko yung e-mail. I'll see you all on Sunday na lang, God Bless You all.

In Christ,
Jemar

June 16, 2003
- Email from Vince Mangali, Stillwater band member

Hello Guys, I just want to say how well the practice went last Saturday. I think we did very well, considering we were out a month.

Joey, you have some great ideas. I am personally not happy with the way I arranged "Fortress" - maybe you have some ideas how to arrange it. Please let us all know if you do.

Kuya Frank, I think while you are still here, we should try to record our songs on CD. We will all have to chip in and rent the equipment. It won't be expensive. That is, if you all agree.

I know Boyet will be taking care of Andro after the Church Anniversary, so Rene, you will be the one to lead us. You have a really good voice, so don't hold back.

Yetski, I can hear a lot of improvement in your playing and you are doing very well. Just keep practicing and train your ear. It takes time but I did just that and it is very rewarding.

Joey, again, I think you have great ideas, you should have more imput in the band. This is not just my project or Jemar's but it is all ours and we all do it for One purpose.

God bless. Kuya Frank, let us know what is a good time to meet and where. Thanks.

June 16, 2003
- Email from Joey Romero, Stillwater band member

Vince, Praise God! Thanks for your kind words. It was really your guitar playing that made the song so soothing. God was in our midst last Saturday. Everybody was in to it from the beginning. BTW I will review the song "Fortress" and see what I can add on it. Thanks again and God bless!

Joey

June 16, 2003
- Email from Vince Pascual, Stillwater band member

Thanks, Joey. Not so much add to it, but if we have to change the entire format, like what you did to Master Builder, that would be fine.
For some reason, the fast-slow tempo is not working for the song like I thought it would.The song needs a different kind of tempo or mood. I'm not sure, but maybe you are.Thanks and God bless.

June 24, 2003
- Email from Boyet Gaspar, Stillwater band member

brethren,

i searched the internet for recording studios within nj/pa. see below and check them out :

thesoundchamber@aol.com in Easton
Comfortable and affordable option for your rehearsal and recording needs. Conveniently located 5 minutes from the Rt. 22 toll bridge at Phillipsburg, NJ/Easton, PA. Fully equipped rehearsal studio: TAMA Rockstar drums, Peavey/Marshall guitar amps, Carvin/Hartke bass rig, Mackie/Peavey PA system. Rehearsals-$15/hr!! Live recording-$25/hr!! 24 Track Digital recording-$30/hr!!!! Other services: Sound reinforcement, live event audio/video recording, CD burning!!! Call 610-330-0483 for details. THANX! www.bauschwebdesign.com/thesoundchamber www.thesoundchamber.ws

21st Century Recording: a 32-track digital studio located in Thorndale, PA, including a spacious, isolated recording room, MIDI sequencing, mastering to CD or DAT, SMPTE time coding and more http://www.21stcenturyrecording.com/

Crystal Clear Recording: a full-service digital and analog studio in Philadelphia, PA
http://www.crystalclearstudio.com/

June 24, 2003

The Stillwater website is born!

URL Address: http://www.oocities.org/redeemed2k3
Band Email address: redeemed2k3@yahoogroups.com

June 30, 2003

The Stillwater E-Groups is born!

Welcome to our new REDEEMED2K3 E-Group.
I tried to register REDEEMED but somebody already owns it. So I added 2K3 in the end just as a reminder of the year the group was formed. To visit our own website, kindly go to http://www.oocities.org/redeemed2k3

Note: Just a reminder, just use the email address redeemed2k3@yahoogroups.com, and everybody in the group will receive your email. Thanks and God bless!!!