Singing is where Lance’s heart really is

Do you still remember that incident at the Music Museum early this year when a female fan threw her underwear to Lance Raymundo in the middle of his concert? The incident created quite a stir in the concert circles. For the local concert goers, it was unusual. Was he doing a Tom Jones or an Engelbert Humperdinck whose fans would go up stage, throw themselves on their idols and rip their clothes off?

Lance who staged the concert soon after he came back from a modeling stint in Los Angeles early this year, was surprised. But this was proof that his charisma and appeal only get better through the years.

Lance broke into the recording scene in 2000. He was doing ramp and commercial modeling when a chance to record an album landed on his lap. The self-titled album released under Viva Records spawned the hit single You Are The One. It reached No. 8 in the Top 10 charts. It was a ballad that skewed him from his dream of being a rock singer. But that was part of Lance’s deal with the recording company. He was young, eager and a bright-eyed hopeful who wanted to penetrate the world of mainstream entertainment. Lance wrote 12 songs in that album, made a dent and won three major awards.

But after a lull in recording, Lance appeared in a number plays with the Gantimpala Theater Foundation. He took the lead in Romeo and Juliet. He also accepted an offer to do modeling jobs in the US.

But singing is where Lance’s heart is. Soon after setting his foot in Manila this year, he staged a concert at the Music Museum and this is where the underwear throwing incident happened. Now, Lance is back in the recording scene again. He signed a new deal with Viva Records for a new CD to be released in 2007. But prior to the release of his CD from Viva, Lance collaborated with his brother Rannie and produced the rock/pop single Beautiful Sun. He also teamed up with DJ Jade and DJ O.J. and came up with Sunset Remix, Solar Eclipse Mix, an electro/tribal sounding mix. Rannie came up with an acoustic mix. Lance also shot a sensual music video directed by Homer Espiritu and styled by KC Leyco at the studio of photographer Dr. Marlon Pecjo. For the video, Lance hired a dozen fashion models. Lance says that he wants to re-establish his presence in the recording scene and gain momentum for his much awaited CD from Viva.

Beautiful Sun is already an on-line hit and can be downloaded on the website http://www.thebeautifulsun.com. Other remixes can also be downloaded from the website. Lance tour schedule, pictures and wallpapers are available at the site. He will also launch a text service called MAXXmceleb which is powered by Synermaxx Corp. Beautiful Sun is available in all Tower Records and Music One record stores.

An exciting career for Richie Garcia

Early this year, I shot a television commercial for The Lakeshore, a residential, recreational, community development located in Mexico, Pampanga. I was impressed by the professionalism of A Different Story Productions, the production house that handled the shoot. It is barely three years old but it has the top ad agencies in the country on its roster of happy clients.

A Different Story Productions has a new in-house director in Richie Garcia, son of Freddie Garcia, former president of ABS-CBN. Richie or Federico Jr. graduated at the London Film School where he took up a two-year course in filmmaking. Richie is the sixth Filipino to graduate from the London Film School. One of the most popular graduates of the school is Manolo Abaya, who is an award-winning cinematographer and commercial director. Richie stayed in London for a total of three years.

Richie studied Masscom at the University of the Philippines. After graduation, he worked at JimenezBasic as junior broadcast producer. Initially, he only wanted to stay for a year in the job, but "I loved the job so much that I extended for another two years," he says.

After his stint at JimenezBasic, Richie left for London to study film. He has an MA in Filmmaking specializing in directing and cinematography. With a film degree tucked under his belt, Richie went home last year and started working on music videos and commercials. He got his first break as a director for CloseUp and Barbie Almalbis. "I was given the opportunity to direct my first professional project with total creative freedom. But I had to do it for free and in return, I would get to put my name in the opening frame as a director."

Richie has done short films: Tabing Dagat, Still, Business As Usual and Flat 30. He has done TVCs for Maxipeel, SkinWhite, Colgate Toothpaste, Western Union, Surf, Star Margarine, among others. He directed the music videos of Barbie Almalbis’ Just a Smile, Sam Milby’s Close to You, Metafour’s Friend of Mine and Paolo Santos’ Basta’t Kasama Kita. Richie is also an award-wining broadcast producer. It’s an exciting career ahead for Richie Garcia. We will be watching him intently from the wings.