by Billy Lorne
Daily Lobo
After getting over the initial culture shock of moving from the Philippines to Albuquerque, a UNM student majoring in mass communications, found his groove.
Ramzy Blanch, 22, is a deejay at radio station M-88, 88.3 FM, and the bass player of Christian metal band Mourning to Mercy.
Daily Lobo: What brought you to UNM?
Ramzy Blanch: I was going to high school in the Philippines where I used to live, and I wanted to move to the States to get a better education and go to college here.
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I think there are great programs here at UNM. It's a smaller school and I really think that's important. You can be a bigger fish in the smaller pond instead of being just another fish in a huge pond like if you were going to NYU or UCLA or something. I really think this is a great place for education and especially at the price we get it.
DL: Was it a shock to come here after growing up in the Philippines?
RB : It was. It was totally like walking into a movie like "Clueless" and these crazy high school movies. It was just like that. There were cheerleaders, the football team and the math club.
DL: Did you have any of that in the Philippines?
RB: No. I went to a small school that went from kindergarten to 12th with only two classes for each grade and with only 40 kids in each grade. You knew everybody. It was way different.
DL: Why is your band named Mourning To Mercy?
RB: We're a Christian band, and what it means to me is that we start out in mourning. When you think of God and how awesome he is and how perfect he is and how not perfect we are, that puts you in the state of mourning. What takes you from mourning to mercy is that mercy is forgiveness and mercy is reconciliation, and it's Jesus that takes you from mourning to mercy.
That's kind of what our band is about, talking about God's forgiveness to us and hopefully to see some people change their minds and their hearts about God for the better.
DL: What kind of venues does Mourning to Mercy play?
RB: Actually, we've been really blessed because a lot of shows have been coming to us, and a lot of different churches, youth groups and bands have been asking us to play for and with them. But we've played at the Attic before, which is a bar. We'll be willing to play wherever.
DL: Does being a Christian hard-rock band pose any problems in getting gigs?
RB: No, I think it actually kind of helps us because a lot of bands can just play at certain bars and clubs and things like that. We can play at those bars and clubs too, and we can also play at a bunch of churches, youth groups and family functions and things like that.
So as far as playing, it actually opens up some spots for us. But I know that when we tell people we're a Christian band, they kind of say 'Oh, you guys are like that.' So we probably don't get a lot of shows because of it as well.
DL: Do you think they are worried you will come across as too preachy?
RB: Yeah, I think so. I think a lot of people, when you say you're a Christian, they think 'Oh, he's going to thump me over the head with the Bible.' But that's not what we want to do and hope we're not doing. We're just trying to love people and just show people God's love. So, hopefully we're not hurting too many heads.
DL: What led you to the Christian faith?
RB: I've been a Christian now for three years after growing up in a Catholic household. During high school, I was searching. I was looking into Buddhism, looking into Islam, and actually wrote my high school thesis on the Dalai Lama. I was really searching, looking for different things. But something about the Bible just spoke to me. Something about Christianity just kept knocking on my heart.
So I checked out this Christian church, and the pastor was just preaching a sermon, and it seemed like he was just speaking it right to me, and I just felt it.
I felt God just tugging at my heart, and I just felt this overwhelming sensation come over me. And that's when I knew that this is where God is, and so I devoted my life to Christ.
DL: Now you work as deejay for M-88 radio. What kind of station is it?
RB: It's a Christian radio station that plays everything from Christian hip-hop, Christian rock, to Christian metal to Christian contemporary. We have a wide variety of music.
DL: What do you think about the local music scene?
RB: I think UNM has a really great scene and a lot of great musicians. I think there's just a lot of creativity. But I think we can improve the scene by going to more shows - local shows especially.
