I'm Chris Belison, and Music Inspires Me.

Merriam-Webster alone has more than five definitions for music. I'd love to share all those here but I know y'all can do without it. Many a man have also shared their insights on what music is to their lives, and as a music-lover myself, I can say that I can relate to most, if not all of them.

Here comes the part where I share why music is important in my life. Music gets me through everything. Apart from God and my family, I can say that music is my drive. Simply put, music is important to me because it inspires me.

The fondest memory that my mom has of me singing is when I was just three years old. After watching the movie Robin Hood, she saw me climb our dining table and stood there whilst holding a toy guitar. She was surprised when I began "singing" the theme song of the movie, "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. She reckons the words were messed up, but said that I was in pitch. From that moment on, she made me listen to a lot of music through the radio and from our now defunct vinyl record player. It's safe to say that I grew up with music.

  

Music inspired me to do good in my academics. During my elementary days, when MP3s and MP3 players were basically non-existent still, I'd study real hard for my exams just to get top marks so that mum would get me cassette tapes and CDs of my favorite artists. Let's just say that my mum bought a lot of tapes and CDs because of my grades. Ha ha!

My fondness for music grew in high school. I became a member of my school's glee club and that's where I was exposed to different genres of music. Glee club inspired me to research on different kinds of music. I believe this is the time I fell in love with blues and big band jazz. I eventually tried out for this reality talent search in a major network but was only able to get in up to the top 100 for Luzon. One of the judges told me that I was too big for TV. That put me down for a while but that didn't stop me from making music and it sure didn't keep me away from performing.

When I entered the University, I told myself to take it easy on music and the performing arts, especially since I'm taking up a course that needed severe concentration; add to that the fact that I don't really like the course I'm in. I tried to let go of music and performing but I guess music and me are two inseparable things. I may have put my singing in the back seat, but music kept up with me in the form of dancing. I was blessed to have been given the chance to be a member of the University's official hip-hop dance group, the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. Yet again, I was slowly being drawn back to my musical roots, of course, with the help of the group.

UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. at the Skechers Street Dance Battle Year 4 held at the Araneta Coliseum. I'm the biggest of the bunch. Ha ha!

Being in the group made me a meticulous listener. I learned how to really "hear" music; all the beats, the instrumentation, the syncopation and everything along that goes with it. Because hearing all the beats mattered a lot, I decided to invest on a headphone that could let me get more out of my music. I bought a Skullcandy HESH and I was quite impressed with its performance. I really took care of it but one fine day, one of my cousins accidentally sat on it. Here's what it looks like right now.

Skullcandy Hesh. Can you say broken? Ha ha. And so I'm stuck with this pair of Apple Earphones.

Moving on. Ha ha.

Of course, music helped me get through the most painful times in my life. Ironically, those painful moments helped me become more of a musician. I began writing songs when I first had my heart broken. Somehow, my inspiration from music paved the way for me venturing into writing which has become another one of the things I am really passionate about.

The song "Ulit-ulitan" is one of my original compositions. This song has a very special place in my heart since this is the first song that I made that I ACTUALLY liked. Ha ha. Another reason is that this song has touched a few of my friends. A lot of those who've heard this actually said that they can relate to it, and for a songwriter, that's a very, very good thing. After all, I write songs because through them, I could tell things that I'm afraid to tell or admit. Apparently, most people have these feelings, too, and I feel honored to be their "voice", too.

When I first encountered Unbox's give away for the Audio-Technica M50 Professional Headphones, of course, the prize drew me. I mean, who wouldn't want to win a pair of cans that has exceptional audio quality? It's used by professionals, for crying out loud. That says a lot, right?

I started to write my entry for this contest and I came to a realization. I needed this contest. I needed this article. Writing this piece made me realize how much music has given me. How it has molded me. How music literally and figuratively inspired me. How music has affected my life. As of typing this, I can say that I'm sending in this entry without thinking of winning. I'm sending this entry not because of the prize anymore. I'm sending this because I want to share how music has made me who I am. And like music, I'm sending out this entry so that I could maybe, just maybe, inspire someone.

I know a have a wee chance of winning the coveted Audio-Technica M50 Professional Headphones, and it'll be okay if I don't get chosen. Music is music. As long as my heart longs for music, all things that I'd be listening to will come out as if it is blasting through one Audio-Technica M50.

I'm Chris Belison, and music inspires me.