Tokay grad helps make benefit album for Sonoma fire victims
To help students devastated by the October Sonoma County fires, Pac Ave Records, a student-run record label at the University of Pacific, recently released a benefit album titled “Rose’s Gold: Songs for Sonoma” last Friday.
Tokay High graduate and Pacific student Gabriel Ojeda is one of the nine artists featured on the album.
“Any musical opportunity is fantastic, but I heard that all the revenue they were going to make was going to the people that suffered the Sonoma fires. I was 100 percent onboard once I heard that,” Ojeda said. “I thought it was a great idea. I thought that I could use my music to help people out.”
Pac Ave members matched artists with a Grammy song of the year from the past decade, and Ojeda was chosen to cover “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.
“I wanted to give myself a challenge. A guy singing a girl song, I thought that would be interesting,” Ojeda said.
More than 30 Pacific students helped create the new album, from musicians, sound engineers, to Pac Ave Records' 11-member staff and three faculty coaches. For those involved, creating the album was really personal and really hit close home. One of the students involved with the album lost their family home in the Sonoma fires.
“Any time someone loses their house to a fire, that’s absolutely
“Any time someone loses their house to a fire, that’s absolutely horrible, but I just wanted to do my part to try to help out my community. I wanted to see if I could use my music to help people through a tough time, and hopefully, this album does well.”
GABRIEL OJEDA, TOKAY HIGH GRADUATE AND UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC STUDENT
horrible, but I just wanted to do my part to try to help out my community. I wanted to see if I could use my music to help people through a tough time, and hopefully, this album does well,” Ojeda said.
Working on the album was a rewarding experience, Ojeda said, adding that everyone came together to make sure they were producing a quality product.
It took him about six to seven hours to complete his song and a couple of months to complete the entire album, Ojeda said.
Anyone interested in supporting the project can donate to the crowdfunding efforts directly through the Indiegogo page for "Rose Gold: Songs for Sonoma." Physical copies of the album can be purchased for $25.
On the Indiegogo page there is an option for students looking to support the project to get a download and a Rose Gold sticker for $10. The album is also available for digital download for $10 on Amazon, iTunes and CD baby.
For a donation of $1,000 on the Indiegogo page, contributors will receive a private concert at their homes. The goal is to raise $3,000 and all of the proceeds will go to the Santa Rosa Junior College Fire Relief Fund.
“Everybody should check out the Rose Gold album. The university, students and staff have worked very, very hard to produce our very best product,” Ojeda said.
A series of local gigs in the San Joaquin County region are being booked by Pac Ave staff to showcase "Rose Gold" artists and increase awareness for the fundraising efforts.
Ojeda is a second-year business marketing major and has been singing since he was 5 years old. He just started singing professionally about five years ago and specializes in acoustic pop rock. He’s released a single on Spotify titled “Follow Your Heart.”
“It’s melancholy song, not necessarily super sad, but more like reflective,” Ojeda said.