Jude Gitamondoc: Profile of a Songwriter

He is the person behind the deep and poignant lyricism of melodious songs entitled Wait Forever and In Another Lifetime, two of the tracks in Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano's latest album entitled "Relevance" that has been making big waves in the radio and music television scene these days.

But despite this noteworthy accomplishment in his almost seven years of professional music career, songwriter and composer 28-year-old Jude Gitamondoc would rather remain anonymous as he continues to create songs that will be appreciated by listeners and music lovers alike.

Even though he'd rather relish his triumph in private, The FREEMAN Entertainment was able to persuade Jude Gitamondoc to reveal and share to us his dreams, career goals and passion for his craft.

Jude came from Surigao but he discovered and enriched his talents and career here in Cebu. He started exploring the world of music when he was six years old, after being inexplicably drawn to a keyboard his older brother brought home from the city. Even at such a tender age, he already was very much eager and excited to learn music, which later on intensified as he entered the Don Bosco Missionary Seminary here in Lawaan for six years to fulfill his dream of becoming a priest.

He never became one, nevertheless, the seminary became an outlet in discovering his deeper calling-and that is to write and compose incredibly harmonious songs that evoke deep emotions including love, joy, pain, misery and sorrow. He shared, " Pagkabata nako, ganahan nako magpari, unya giganahan man ko'g music, didto ko mas na fall -in love… Sa seminary kung matulog na tanan tawo, naa pa gihapon ko sa keyboards naghimo og kanta. They teach us to learn everything pero ako kay music ra jud akong ganahan. Ang uban nagtrabaho unya ako naghimo'g lyrics. So, mura'g na-realize ko at that time nga dili diay para nako ang pagpari kay lahi ra siya nga calling."

Jude's songs are oftentimes described as hopelessly romantic, lyrics of which probe into an inner depth of personal experiences. "It's necessary kay what is most personal is most universal. So, para tinood gyud ka nga artist you have to dig deep and take it from your experiences and who you really are. Sakit na siya pero listeners can easily find themselves in that song."

Jude has joined several song-writing competitions and jingle-writing contests before. He had his share of songs, which were not paid much attention to, while others got the recognition it deserved. One of his popular winning entries was Casino Rubbing Alcohol's commercial jingle that has been aired on the radio for quite some time now. Recently, his song entitled Not Today made it to Pinoy Dream Academy's songwriting competition wherein he won P100, 000 cash. The song will later on be sung by one of the scholars for the finals of the reality search.

Like many celebrated musicians, Jude didn't actually have the formal training. He only spent two years at UP Diliman's College of Music, but opted to stop because he felt that it wasn't really the right avenue to develop his talents and skills as well as to reach his dreams. He said, "Serious mangud ila music, gusto man ko'g pop-mainstream music na ma-apreciate sa people unlike classical music na for the elite lang or avant-garde na dili tanan makasabot mao to nga wa na lang ko ningpursue." Jude believes that "music is something you learn from listening to music." But the good thing that Jude got out of his brief schooling in Diliman was the opportunity to meet Katha, an organization of Filipino composers based in Diliman that helped him reach his full potential as a musician. "After school, moadto ko didto. Murag gigiyahan jud ko sa Ginoo nga makit-an sila kay I have music in my heart. I like to do what they are doing." Through Katha, Jude met his mentors like the composer Trina Belamide who wrote the official 1995 World Youth Day theme song Tell the World and the love song Now that I Have You and also award winning composer Arnel de Pano, composer of the Basil Valdez hit worship song, Lead me Lord.

In Gary Valenciano's recently released album, Jude composed five of its songs including Kailan Pa, Only a Friend, Sana Bukas, Wait forever, and In Another Lifetime which, at the same time, is the theme song for GMA Films' most recent movie offering titled Eternity, starring Dingdong Dantes and Iza Calzado. Although Jude didn't have the chance to really work directly with Mr. Pure Energy himself since Genesis wanted to take full control of the whole production of the album, he still takes it as a great opportunity on his part to further his career goals. Right now, he is busy working on Raki Vega's independent album not only as a songwriter and composer, but also as a producer.

For Jude, every opportunity that came along in his career was something he never anticipated. He revealed that it actually took him three years before he ever heard of the development of his songs. "They were planning the album 3 years ago pa but then na-postpone ang production. Blessing ra jud to and it was all in God's time so nakat-on nako from that experience I had. When I was younger, I used to say 'kanus-a man jud ko mosikat oi? Kanus-a man jud ko makakuha'g dakong project?' Mura'g impatient nako but then I realized na it takes time og moabot lang diay na. Then timing ra pud kay pag-gawas sa Gary V. album, nag-gawas pud ang GMA Films ug movie nga reincarnation ang theme pero wala to gisabot kay natiming ra." He also shared one reality in music: "Waiting game jud ang music. Dili lang na diha-diha dayon kay you're waiting for a person nga dili nimo kaila, you just have to be patient."

Even though composers like him have also experienced not being able to get the full credit for the song they have written, Jude is not very much concerned with this matter. According to him, "A song needs a voice and a face. Music is a synergy made by the associated effort of a group of people (songwriter/composer, arranger and singer). It's the satisfaction of reaching a large audience while maintaining your anonymity. Wa sila kahibao nga ako diay gabuhat sa song na ilang gipaminaw. Daghan ko madunggan nga moappreciate sa song, wa ko kaila nila og wa pud sila kaila nako but the song made it to them and they can identify with it."

Composing five lovely songs interpreted by Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano no less is Jude's major accomplishment and his career's biggest break so far. But while this entitled him to a bigger repute in the national music scene, like many local Visayan Artists, he also has big plans and dreams for our own local music industry. "We aim to be recognized na there are producers that are based here in Cebu, wala mi plano moadto sa Manila. We want to put up an alternative music scene for mainstream artists that can go nationwide. We have a lot of talented songwriters and artists here in Cebu so we want to educate the pubic that we can be at par with Manila producers and are able to produce mainstream music that can compete with the Manila sounds."

So for those music lovers out there who wish to become like Jude Gitamondoc and reap similar success that he is gaining now, Jude has an advice them: "For anything you want to do in life just discover and do what you want to do. If you want something, be stubborn to get that and keep on doing it if you think you're good at it."