Monique Macasaet part 3
This is the third of a three-part interview with Monique Macasaet.
You mention in a vid that you had surgery and were trying to get your voice back in shape. Was the surgery something directly connected with your voice or something else that indirectly caused you to lay off singing?
I had a mitral valve prolapse -- a leaky heart valve -- that went terribly wrong and required surgery. They went in through my right side and placed a ring around the valve to keep it from leaking.
When was your surgery?
I had it the last day of June, 2008. I recovered up until school started in the fall. I was well enough [to go back to school], but I took up a light load just in case. I'm young so I healed REALLY fast.
You say you lost your voice. Was it because the surgery made it difficult for you to expand your chest until it healed or did your voice actually stop working for awhile?
I lost my voice because of the breathing tube they had in place during my surgery. It messed with my vocal chords.
Did you do anything in particular to get your voice back, or did it happen naturally as part of the healing process?
I couldn't do anything to get it back. I only had methods of strengthening my lungs. So I basically had to wait for it to come back.
Was your voice different in any way after the surgery than before?
Actually, I'm not sure . . . I'd like to say it's the same, but sometimes I do feel that I can't reach notes that are as high as I used to.
In the video, Lucky, your brother [Marque] not only made you laugh, he made me laugh, too. How did you convince him to record that song with you?
It was actually entirely his idea. We recorded the video for my aunt's wedding since I couldn't be there due to my surgery.
Not counting Lucky, what vid took the most retakes to get through? What ones were done in a single take? How many takes does a video usually entail?
The most takes was probably the MMMbop video because we all kept laughing. It depends on who I'm singing with. If i'm singing with Lauren, it doesn't take many takes at all. If I'm with my sisters, we take LOADS of takes because we always seem to break into laughter.
What are your musical ambitions?
I plan on writing music this summer and concentrating on the uke for a while. I was really inspired at the Luau to get better at the uke.
Now that you have graduated, will you and Lauren be separated or will you still be able to sing together?
Well, we're gonna try our best to sing together. YouTube vids will definitely be harder to film, but I'm pretty sure we'll be able to sing gigs together just fine.
For songwriting, do you write on the guitar? Words first or music?
I've only written on the guitar so far, music first.
Do you have plans to record a CD?
We'll see after this summer. If I write enough music then I'll probably consider recording a CD!
May I ask about your Filipino heritage? How important is it to you?
My heritage is EXTREMELY important to me, and there are lots of things that we are fighting for as a community, such as World War II veteran equity.
Who in your family first came to the states?
My mom and dad first came to the states in the early 80's.
Is Tagalog spoken in your home?
Yes.
What would you like your YouTube viewers to know or understand?
I want them all to know that we are extremely grateful for each and every one of them, and their support means THE WORLD to us.
Who are the YouTube performers you most admire?
Hands down, Kina Grannis =)
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