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If the name Trina Belamide isn't familiar to you, maybe you'd know her better by naming just some of the songs she's written: "Now That I Have You" (a hit by The CompanY and the theme from recent movie of the same title), "Tell the World of His Love" (official theme for The World Youth Day '95), and "Shine" (MetroPop '96 2nd Placer and remade by Regine for a skin whitening product). Instinctively, after hearing parts of the song, we visited www.trinabalamide.com to know more about it. We didn't find any so we decided to contact Trina and asked her to share with our readers how the song came to be. Read the Q&A below as she shares her thoughts about how the song came to be. Qs & As Q. Everyone is talking about the song “To Have and To Hold”, which you wrote for Claudine and Raymart’s wedding. How did this all come about? Did they contact you and ask for a theme song? A. I bumped into Claudine one evening at The Podium. I had met Claudine more than ten years ago. She was working on an album and I had written a song just for her. We recorded the song and I was her vocal coach. Hindi nga lang natuloy yung project. I wasn’t very sure if she remembered me kasi super tagal na, but fortunately she did. I told her, “I heard you’re getting married. I should do your wedding song!” Claudine got very excited about the idea and we exchanged numbers. Q. What was your inspiration for the song? How did you go about writing it? A. My approach for Claudine’s songwas quite different from my usual approach to writing songs for othercouples. Usually I meet with the couple or with one of them and ask whatmessage they’d want the song to have, what kind of feel, etc. WithClaudine, the very first thing she asked me was what the title of the song wasgoing to be. Kind of weird, I thought at first. She wasn’teven concerned about the message or how it would sound – talagang titleyung main concern niya. Apparently, she was already thinking way ahead,thinking of the wedding coverage. She wanted the title of the song to bethe title of the wedding special. Oo nga naman, I thought, celebrity ngapala ito. So we agreed that we didn’t like the usual title na may “forever” or “always”. And I wanted the title tobe something na alam mo kaagad it has something to do with a wedding. Icame up with “To Have And To Hold” and Claudine and Raymartapproved of it, and only then did I start writing a song around that. It’s a song that any couple can relate to, one that expresses the joy ofhaving someone to share everything with. There are no lines that makespecific references to Claudine and Raymart. Even though they arecelebrities and have a lifestyle different from most people, at the core of it allthey’re just another couple in love and excited about starting theirlives together. Q. Who sang the song? A. Gary V and Kuh sang it at the weddingreception, but since their schedules wouldn’t allow them to record thesong before the wedding, we had to look for an alternative. In one of thepre-wedding events, this special called “You Are The One” held atTeatrino, they got Christian to sing the song solo and everyone was impressedwith him. I also heard that Christian loved the song. So we made arrangementswith Warner to have Christian record it, and since I had really written it as aduet, they gave us their new artist Sitti to sing the female part. Q. Since you wrote the song for Claudineand Raymart, does that mean they own the song? A. It was ABS-CBN who paid for theproduction of the song, so the company owns the copyright to therecording. But the copyright to the song remains with me. In otherwords, ABS-CBN can do whatever they want with the recording, but if there isany money to be made off of using the song, I get a share as itssongwriter. The same goes for all my clients. As copyright ownersof the recordings I produce for them, it is their prerogative to use therecording for souvenirs and giveaways, but if it is to be used for monetarygain, I would have a share in that."
Q. How much would it cost to have you write a wedding song? A. It can range anywhere from a low of P12,500 where the client provides me with lyrics and I just do the music and provide a simple but clean demo, to about P50,000 where I do both the music and lyrics, have it fully arranged and studio recorded. It all depends on the client’s needs and budget. Q. Can ordinary, non-celebrity couples get you to do their wedding song? A. Absolutely! My clients have mostly been ‘ordinary’ people who wanted an extra-special touch for their wedding. Admittedly, my service isn’t cheap. A lot of couples would rather use the money for other wedding expenses. Or perhaps would rather find less expensive songwriters to write their wedding song. But ultimately I guess you get what you pay for. I have my own standards for what I consider a well-crafted song, and I never give my clients anything I’m not willing to put my name on. Q. How does it feel to have written the theme song for what was being called “the wedding event of the year?” A. It’s an honor, of course. I’m so happy with all the positive feedback, which makes all the work I put into it worth the effort. Nakakatuwa reaction ni Gary V, you could tell he could appreciate the song as a songwriter himself. I also got compliments from fellow musicians that I look up to and that meant a lot. It was also great to have worked with Claudine and Raymart, to have met their families, and to give them something very personal that they’re sure to treasure through the years. Postcript: For those looking for a copy of that song, it is available for download at Flipitunes for only P40. per download. Released by Star Records, vocal rendition for said recording was done by Christian Bautista & Sitti. As of this writing, the song is poised at the No. 1 of the site's bestseller among the U.S. and U.K. markets and No. 3 here in the Philippines! The fact that the song is not available in physical stores is one reason why the song's strong showing. Order it @ Fliptunes now! ~J&B = = = = = = = = = = =
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