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"Thanks for the
Spaghetti" (Editor’s Note: ninetyandnine.com will be publishing periodic articles on Apostolics who are pursuing non-traditional channels to share the Gospel. If you know of anyone who is doing this, email us a short bio/description at editor@ninetyandnine.com.) Tony Aponte is the lead singer and primary songwriter for Plan:Be, one of the few hard-charging, high energy Apostolic bands in the United States. When he’s not writing songs or fronting the band, he works a demanding job as a Teacher's Assistant at a private school for emotionally challenged students in the Bronx. In this interview, he explains how he wrote his first song to get revenge on an ex-girlfriend, being booed at Youth Congress, and getting saved from drugs. Plus, a beautiful definition of the perfect song. This interview was conducted over August-September, 2003.
90&9.com: Tell us a little about yourself. I'm a 28 year-old from the Bronx, New York. Before meeting the Lord at 19, I was heavily into drugs such as cocaine , marijuana, LSD, liquor and cigarettes. I sang and played bass for a death metal band for most of my teenage years. I became born again in 95, left all that stuff behind and have been serving the Lord ever since. 90&9.com: Wonderful. Have you always written songs? Not necessarily songs, but I started writing poetry in my early teens. 90&9.com: Do you remember the first song you wrote? The first song was called “Seed Of Pain.” It was about how a girl had hurt me, and at the end of it I explained in morbid detail of how I would get my revenge. However! My first song written as a Christian, I think, was “Thanks for the Spaghetti.” It was inspired by an experience I had living on my own for the first time. I was out of a job for a couple of months, had no money, and hadn't eaten for a day or so. I went to church one night and a dear sister blessed me with some pasta and meat sauce. So there you go. It’s actually on our CD now, only it's called “Gratitude.” 90&9.com: Can you explain your songwriting process? Sometimes music first, sometimes lyrics first, sometimes I'm inspired and I'll have a whole song in five minutes, sometimes it could take months to complete a song. Sometimes the Lord will get me up in the middle of the night and I'll have to start writing. My best stuff comes from sleep depravation. 90&9.com: Have your songs always been the same, Plan:Be-style of music? I don’t really write to fit a certain style. I just kind of write what I feel at the moment. I'm into so many different styles of music I never know what to expect. 90&9.com: Who are your songwriting heroes? Sting, Hendrix, Bob Marley, The Doors, McCartney, Lennon. They wrote/write timeless music that affected the generations after them. 90&9.com: You guys sang at Youth Congress. Tell us about that. It was my first time ever being at an event that big. I wasn't scared, more like overwhelmed at how much the Lord had blessed us to be there. It seemed like it only lasted 10 seconds. 90&9.com: Are you always as energetic as you were that night, throwing your hat on the floor and all? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Absolutely! That was my first time ever wearing a cowboy hat, first time in Nashville! I couldn't resist. Actually, I was sweating buckets, and the only chance I had to take it off was in a split-second break during the guitar solo. 90&9.com: What was the response to that? I think I heard a few people booing, but what are I gonna do? Can't please everybody. 90&9.com: What’s been your best experience(s) as lead singer so far? Trying to remember the lyrics to my own songs, and having the opportunity to relay a message about my savior. 90&9.com: Is there a perfect song out there? Yeah. It's the song that you sing in tongues when the Lord fills you with his Holy spirit.
ninetyandnine.com © 2003, ninetyandnine.com --------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com. ninetyandnine.com will be reviewing Plan:Be’s self-titled CD next week. Their web page (www.planbemusic.com) is under construction, but their album can be purchased through: http://indieheaven.gospelcom.net/view_artist.idh?artist_id=61872 |
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