As an introvert, becoming a writer completely made sense to me. There’s a certain kind of solitude that comes with the art form, and often times (if not always), us writers would rather pull ourselves away to a corner with a pen and talk by jotting all our thoughts down. Some writers prefer absolute silence, but others (like me) need sound to get things rolling. And I noticed something about my working habits and the genres that go well with whatever activity I’m doing: when I’m writing I listen to a hell lot of metal, but when I’m drawing or designing, my brain tends to lean more on pop and Disney soundtracks. When I try to flip it around, I can’t seem to function properly and simply wind up doing something else (watch old episodes of my favorite shows, play video games, look for food, sleep). It was clinically proven by a brain doctor over a decade ago that I don’t have the greatest attention span in the world , so when I get distracted, it’s difficult to turn back. But when I discovered how all that those darn heavy riffs help me focus on my writing, I really made it a point to blast it whenever I have […]
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My first stint as a music journalist fell on my lap long before I even knew what I wanted to do in life. It was for a publication called MTV Ink and I interviewed Joseph Hahn of Linkin Park. And I was twelve-years-old. See, I was a hardcore Linkin Park fan (I won’t deny that), and I when MTV Ink emailed me about the opportunity, I went a little crazy. I had Hybrid Theory on loop, I watched Frat Party at the Pankake Festival the night before, and I even baked cookies for Mr. Hahn. I was the ultimate fangirl, getting help from my brother for questions to ask, and I was nervous as hell. Come the day of the interview, I headed up to the north to meet with the people behind MTV Ink and thought they were the coolest people in the world. Excitement took over as we waited for Mr. Hahn at a Burgers Burger in Ortigas. I saw him walk past and giggled like a twelve-year-old would, but he didn’t enter the burger joint. Instead, he went to get a footspa next door. So we waited a little more. And a little more. Until Joe finally came in with squeaky clean […]
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IT’S OFFICIAL: I am incredibly excited to announce that I’ve taken a huge leap in my career as a writer! *squeals* Straight out of the query trenches (actually in this scenario, the #DVPit Twitter trenches) after the longest wait any writer must face, I’ve beaten the dragon’s lair and signed with Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates. Ms. Flum will be taking charge as she guides me through the fast (not really) and furious (oh, totally) road of traditional publishing—crossbows, katanas, and all. It’s been a crazy ride so far, and I am thrilled to finally get things rolling to see my first novel on the shelves of our favorite bookstores. Goddamn—it feels so good to finally say it! At last, the saga continues…
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The past few months can be summed up to one hell of a roller coaster ride featuring heightened levels of the feels. A ride so fast, it rolls at 100Gbps. A ride conducted by the awesomest people at Billboard Philippines. A ride that’s just getting started. Today, straight out of our weekly editorial gathering, the Ed Team kids kicked back in the meeting room at the BillboardPH office, when our dear graphic artist Emmie started making some beats. Forming an editorial band was something we’ve been talking about for weeks, and we suddenly just got to it. We’re called bek(n) feat. UNCLE T—except, “n” a.k.a Nigel didn’t come in to work (but he’ll definitely take the spotlight on our next single). Our genre? Manual EDM. Our purpose? To release an EP before Ben&Ben do, precisely on December 17th at 7:59 outside the doors of Teatrino, Greenhills. Backed by Garage Band, Photo Booth, pizza, and the support of our incredible office mates (who had to endure our passion), we wrote, recorded, and shot our vey first single “100GBPS OF FEELINGS” in one sitting. We hope you enjoy.
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What a night. I was only supposed to stop by the bookstore for my weekly comics and a copy of Magnus Chase: The Hammer of Thor, but they didn’t have Magnus Chase, so I wound up getting two additional comic books and three drawing pads. And then traffic still sucked, so I figured I’d wait it out at Starbucks, when I spotted on Twitter that #DVPit was going on. I stared at the tweets from aspiring diverse authors, amazed by the incredible stories they had to share. Some had a few dozen hearts and RT’s, some reposted their pitches several times. And to be honest, it was quite daunting to throw a pitch into the trenches, but I had a lot of time to kill and a book I wanted the world to know about. So I gave it a shot: BE MORE CHILL + NICK & NORAH: Introverted metalhead hits the stage to expose a teen pop star who plagiarized his song. #DVpit #YA #ownvoices — Kara Bodegón (@karabodegon) October 5, 2016 I got a total of seven query requests that night, and one of them asked for a full right off the bat! Getting all these hearts really astonished me, mainly because […]
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In case you missed it all over social media, BillboardPH is now live! It’s been a pretty fun and busy few months, and I’m really excited for what’s ahead. Hell, this is the kind of work that doesn’t feel like work! Besides getting to write about music on the daily and interviewing interesting people in the industry, being surrounded by some fine individuals who are impassioned by their creative drives makes me want to CREATE more things: I’ve been drawing more. I’ve been taking a lot of photos to capture every moment. I’ve been conjuring more stories and finally got the attention of a lit agent to check out my novel. I’ve also started making short movies again. They’re all up on my personal Facebook page, so it isn’t really available to the public (unless you’re friends with me or anyone from the editorial team), but I might compile them into one whole thing before the year ends. I guess forming new relationships is considered as CREATING something, too… yeah? Up in that photo—meet the kiddos of the BillboardPH Editorial Team a.k.a Team Dunkin’ Donuts: Kara (that’s me), Bea (she randomly bursts into song every minute), Tricco (he’s loud and filled with all the […]
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This is (and will always be) one of my all-time favorite interviews. I sat down with Uncle Randy of Lamb of God, when he came to visit Manila for a show in 2015. It’s a pretty sweet 3-part Karate Chops exclusive on Randy’s younger years, his debut novel Dark Days, and how he’s inspired the world. You’ll get to witness me gush at the man who’s influenced me on so many levels—right before I get on a caffeine high (thanks to the hotel’s excellent macarons and cookies) at the concert. Watch all three episodes below:
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