There are so many people out in the world today who do what they do for the sheer sake of exposure. People known in the public community who show up for events, immerse themselves in trendy topics, and talk about issues that they have little to no knowledge about. And then there are others, who are perhaps a little less well known, but are infinitely passionate about what they do and try to spread their message to truly express themselves and what they stand for. A lifelong process for some, this spotlight post is devoted to a multi-faceted female artist by the name of Krystle Tugadi who is focusing on her musical repertoire to express her positive messages, and do the one thing she loves to do the most, sing.
A quick bio check on Krystle shows that she is a singer/songwriter that starting singing when she was 3, and writing music since she was 16. She also is trained in many forms of dance, such as modern, hip-hop, jazz, and afro-Caribbean. Miss Tugadi has also acted in various plays in the Southern California area, making her an impressive triple threat. She also loves to read, watch movies, and is an avid foodie who is getting to know the culinary arts as well. As stated earlier, Krystle found out at a very young age when she discovered what she wanted to do for this rest of her life. As she vividly recollects:
When I was 3, and this is one of the first things about my LIFE that I can remember, it was right after dinner and we were watching TV and a KOST commercial came on. They played a snippet of Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' & something just sparked in me. I turned to my uncle and told him to turn on the karaoke machine because I wanted to do what Whitney was doing. From that point on, I just KNEW.
After that night of discovering her passion in life, she spent the better part of her childhood taking part in and cultivating her love for singing, also picking up acting and dancing along the way. Spending countless years in the culture, Krystle elaborated more on why she devotes her time to the world of performing arts on a daily basis:
I'm just in love with performing arts, and if you're doing it for the ART it's a true statement of self-expression. Acting, writing music, singing, for me it lets me tap into the human spirit. What is, is to be human, to empathize with my neighbor, to tap into our deepest vulnerabilities as a human, There's something about pure raw humanness that intrigues me. Acting makes me have to really into what it is to FEEL, it’s not acting, its FEELING. Same goes with my music. When I write or perform live or in the studio, it's more than what I just think, I dive really deep into what message I’m trying to relay. Music is my love, I feel like it's the only thing in this world that will TRULY meet me halfway, I don’t even think a boy can meet me THIS halfway, ha. Call me jaded, but that's how I feel. I give to music and it gives to me. I don't put stuff out there just to put stuff out there, I wanna bring back that rawness, that aspect of music that is INNER EXPRESSION. Art is all about feeling, and its more than just love for me.
As it clearly shows, Krystle is just one of those artists who truly believe in what they do, and every piece of work she puts out for the public community is a manifestation of years of hard work and expressing her true self for the world to see.
Taking her talents to the next level, Krystle is involved with Pilipino-American awareness groups and has starting performing stateside for various events that aim to increase awareness about civil rights issues that not only affect our people here in America, but also across the ocean in our native country, the Philippines. When asked about when exactly the aspect of being aware of other's and her culture's history held a presence in her life, Krystle openly responded:
It's always been something that's been in me. When I was 6 and acting really goofy like how kids at that age are, I was already concerned about the environment. I would think about how animals go endangered and made me think of EVERY single creature on Earth. I would do my best to watch where I stepped because I'd be stepping on ants and I thought that if I wasn't careful about where I stepped i'd be killing off all the ants in the world, haha. Me and my cousin would do home videos called 'Krystle and Kirsten Save the World'. It would be in the formal of a variety show, we'd sing, dance, and then we'd have our PSA's about how we need to be good to our Earth. But my father was very about the PEOPLE in the Philippines and always conscious of the social conditions of the people there. I guess it just runs in the Tugadi blood. I've always been a big believer in human rights. When I was younger I always wanted to know why people were poor or were would be afflicted, and that's something I always wanted to fix. Organizing and pushing for social reform is really important to me, as we are all human and all deserve to FEEL human, and nothing less, and that’s something I also want to incorporate in my music.
Krystle is also an active member of Anakbayan LA, which is a youth group that raises awareness of human rights issues both in the Philippines as well as here in America. In fact, she will be participating and performing in an event this evening called 'Sound of a New Hope' which showcases a documentary featuring members of ABLA. The work was created by Eric Tandoc who follows Kiwi, a hip hop MC, and the film exposes the social and political climate in the Philippines and expresses it through music. Krystle is also involved in planning a campaign and benefit for IAMR3, which is the 3rd edition of the International Assembly or Refugees and Immigrants.
As far as delving into her recent involvements in her musical career, Krystle was given the honor to sing the Philippine and American national anthems last month at Kababayan Fest in Buena Park, CA, and performed a set to showcase her wide range in music to the attentive audience that was in attendance. She will also be performing at the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) in San Pedro, CA in early September. Krystle is also a weekly regular in downtown Fullerton and in Hollywood where she had performed on a consistent basis, but has recently put that on hold to work on her latest project. She plans to debut her latest single 'Sunshine' early next month, and release her CD in the 1st quarter of 2011. Her latest single symbolizes what she stands for, which has infinite meetings and utilizes it as her motto in life. As a parting statement to our BakitWhy.com family, Krystle wanted to express to everyone, "I believe in sunshine. Finding your own sunshine and being happy with yourself. We all have the ability our to spread our own sunshine to the world in our own way, so I believe we should share it."
As mentioned earlier, Krystle is not your ordinary, cookie cutter performer. She truly has a pure heart and passion for what she does and is fueled by a lifelong devotion to the one thing she truly loves. Rather than dipping into the common themes of greed and sex for her music, Krystle applies positive messages and awareness of the people around us to heighten our sensibility that the world is more than just improving our self but improving the lives of our fellow men and women.
Catch her on her YouTube channel to hear a sample from this talented individual - if you haven't yet, you're definitely missing out. ;)
For more information about Krystle:
http://www.youtube.com/krystofu
http://www.krystletugadi.tumblr.com
http://www.myspace.com/krystletugadi
http://www.formspring.me/krystletugadi
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