They bring around their ukuleles and guitars and sing in groups. One particular person decided he not only wants to share music with his friends but also to the whole world. And what better way to do that than utilize technology.
John “JR” Cadua started a Youtube channel which he named “saipanguitarman.” As a child JR was exposed to music through his parents who were both musicians. He began playing the drums when he was only 4 years old. At 10 he started playing the guitar. His 12 years old brother, JC Cadua, started playing the drums at 3.
His first uploaded video titled “Titanic” now has over 40,000 views. His channel currently has over 350 subscribers from all over the world. His current total upload views are over 252,000.
He and his friends uploads videos of them playing music, often times making covers of popular songs from the mainstream media and songs from local artists. They record their songs in a mini-studio in JR’s house. “It all started when I uploaded my first video. After that I wanted to upgrade my equipment to record songs and make videos better.” JR claims that Richard Matsuyama from Fatal Hitz sometimes helps him with the software and the editing.
One of his friends, Asher Crisostimo, said he started playing the guitar 3 years ago. “JR helped me become a better guitar player. He taught me a lot.” Asher is often featured on JR’s videos.
Other friends often featured on his channel are Christopher Lely and Schneider Lanzo. Chris started playing music when he was 4th grade and Scheinder started singing in a choir in 5th grade. They started playing music together when they met through Mark Reyes. They were both at his house and when Chris started playing music Scheinder joined in.
“Music is a great way to express how you feel; if you’re happy, or you’re sad, or in love,” claimed Chris.
“The good thing about music is that you don’t have to do it as a job. It can just be a hobby. It’s a good stress reliever and it relaxes you,” said Schneider.
Through JR, these people have started looking at recording their own music. For now they are recording videos in JR’s mini-studio.
JR is currently a member of 2 bands called SAI (Singers and Instruments) and Afetna’s Regime. You can catch JR every Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Ocean’s Bar and Grill in Garapan.
“I love music. So I decided to bring in my friends to make videos with me. Like Asher, Chris, Schneid, Jocelyn Itibus, Jon and Jake Igigol, Donovan Castro, Ardel Tumbaga, Layo Muña, Joice Santos, Herman Villagomez, Ken Orejola, Roque Pulido and Larra Ramos.”
