Making his Marq

To people within the music industry, he is one of the road managers of Kuh Ledesma. But to others — especially those in the growing indie film circle — Marq Dollentes is a true artist in every sense of the word.

In 2007, Marq did an indie film, Compound. The film dealt with the dangerous effects of crystal methamphetamine, more popularly known by its street name, shabu. This year, Marq re-teams up with his Compound director Will Fredo in Sa Pagdapo ng Mariposa which premiered recently via a grand launch and mini-concert led by the artists who performed songs for the movie’s soundtrack. Incidentally, Marq’s boss, Kuh’s version of the classic Sa Ugoy ng Duyan is one of the featured musical scorings in the movie.

In Sa Pagdapo ng Mariposa (which is produced by Hubo Productions), Marq plays a sepak takraw athlete. To make his portrayal look realistic, Marq had workshops and also trained with the Philippine sepak takraw team for a month prior to filming. But he’s not just an actor in the film; Marq, whose talents also include songwriting, composed a tune for the movie. The song, Let’s Play, is performed on the soundtrack by Kuh’s daughter Isabella and international R&B singer-songwriter Keith Martin of Because of You fame.

According to Marq, he was inspired to write a song after the movie’s producer announced open invitations for composers to send in songs for the soundtrack. He also got some help from Keith.

“When the shoot of the movie was finished, I had to leave for a US-Canada tour with Kuh and Pops (Fernandez) where I was project coordinator. Before we left, I asked Keith if he was willing to co-write a song with me for the movie. He said yes, and I was ecstatic. Then one night in Calgary, I had a clear vision of the song and wrote the words that came up.”

He had a great time working with Keith, whose decision to be partly based in the Philippines has given him a solid idea of what the Filipino music audience is looking for in a song. Let’s Play is a simple song about love and gratitude.

It was an experience he will never forget. “It felt like flying. He’s absolutely brilliant,” raved Marq. “The exchange of ideas was awesome and he simply flows with music and words. The song was finished in about two hours.”

But much as he enjoys his life as an actor and occasional songwriter, Marq also has a lot of fun working with Kuh. He had a lot of incredible experiences on the tour, which included being a guest speller in Spelling Bee: The Musical in Chicago, visiting Graceland, home of the late Elvis Presley, and doing a video shoot with Kuh in New York.

But the best part of every tour, says Marq, is “getting to meet our fellow Filipinos as well as other nationalities and learning from each other’s experiences.”

From all this, Marq has learned “to accept and celebrate whatever life presents. I believe that all dreams come true and when we are in a state of surrender and we let God be, we certainly can do and have anything.”