Genre:
Rock
Hometown:
Quezon City
Record Label:
Self Distribution
Profile:
Karl Ramirez is a musician, songwriter, filmmaker, and activist. He is a member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (FILSCAP). He is an advocate of human rights, protection of the environment vs wanton plunder, and a just and lasting peace.
His song Convergence won the grand prize in Net-25’s 2010 songwriting competition. He was also selected as a participant in the 1st Elements National Songwriting Camp held by Ryan Cayabyab’s 7101 Music Nation.
"Ramirez was introduced to music at a very young age. His mother, Divina, gave him piano lessons every after Sunday school, while his father, Mon, a licensed and topnotch engineer and creator of Arkibong Bayan, taught him how to play the guitar. He self-studied the violin when he was in high school. 'The skills I learned through the years of learning those three instruments helped a lot when I started arranging music,' Ramirez said.
It was in 1998, while studying in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, when Ramirez first tried his hand at musical arrangement, mostly musical scores for independently produced film and documentaries. 'At that time, even if production was already computer-based, the recorded output was crude and uneven, with a lot of hisses and hums,' said Ramirez. During his stay in UP Diliman, Ramirez became an active member of Ibalon and Agham-Youth. Ramirez’s early works can be found in his online portfolio.
In 2001, Ramirez further improved his craft when he joined BicolXPress , a progressive and independent audiovisual organization in Bicol. “Being immersed with the oppressed and exploited, it became a necessity to do research on cheap, more efficient and convenient means of producing and recording music scores,” Ramirez said. In 2006, Ramirez produced the musical score for BicolXPress’s human rights movie Hustisya! , an instrumental renditon of Tambisan sa Sining’s 'Awit ng Pag-asa.'
It was only in 2009, that Ramirez started writing and performing his own songs. One of his first musical creations, 'Alagaan ang Kalikasan (Caring for the Environment),' became the official theme for the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center’s segment in Radyo Veritas aired every Friday at 7:30 a.m. Ramirez later produced musical arrangements and accompaniments for the progressive stage musical Makata’y Mandirigma, Mandirigma’y Makata , which he said is a fusion pop and rock orchestra." -- from Makibaka: Music Inspired by the Struggle for Change
Karl Ramirez' Makibaka (Struggle) is a rock 'n roll album for and about the struggle for meaningful change. The songs are free to listen to, download, and distribute for non-commercial purpose.
