One of Philadelphia’s brightest young guitarists, Marisa Salazar of Philly funk, rock, hip-hop group Da Rezarekt, is currently battling stage three breast cancer. No words or cliché phrases can do justice to the situation. Though no one could ever be prepared for such a diagnosis or the scores of emotions that it brings, Salazar has decided to fight and she isn’t going battle it alone. She has the love and energy of some strong allies.
Members of Da Rezarekt seem to be as much family as they are a band, standing by her through every step and staying in contact every day. They lift each other’s spirits through jokes and prayers. Instead of sitting back and waiting for Salazar’s full recovery, the band decided to record a song and donate the money to other people who deserve a chance to fight. When drummer turned producer/engineer Ron DiSilvestro (of Forge Recordings) became aware of her situation donated his time for the band to come in and lay down a track to help the cause. Last November, a week before her scheduled surgery, the band recorded the song, FIGHT!.
Salazar felt a sense of urgency to record the song. “I wanted to record the song before going into surgery. I didn’t know if the surgery would leave my left arm useless,” she says. “I wanted to get the message out there to FIGHT against my cancer.”
The band ended up recording the high energy banger inspired by Salazar. At home, she was working on a song that had hooks similar to those of Guns N’ Roses, Motorhead and Rancid. When she introduced the material to the band, every member threw in their own rendition of what they thought the song should sound like.
“Dar (Derek Gallagher), drummer, wanted to play a song that emphasized the two and four beats. He called it the Church Song. At practice, we played a progression that was very chromatic to Dar’s beat,” says Salazar. “Puffy (Derek Miller) interjected his magical bass lines and riffs and got a really cool sound from one of his pedals. Supreem had strong lyrics that fit right in with the massive wall of sound.”
Everything in the song came together like clockwork. “The vibe was exhilarating and exciting,” she explains of her battle cry song. “We all went in like warriors and Ron brought out the best of us. He did an amazing job! Our good friend Alberto Muñoz from The Great Socio lent his vocals as well. Doesn’t get any better than that.”
FIGHT! is available for download at www.darezarekt.com, it requires a $.99 donation, but everyone is encouraged to give more if they can. All proceeds will go toward Salazar’s medical bills and cost of living while she is unable to work. The band is giving any surplus funds to the MusiCares Foundation, an organization that provides assistance for musicians in times of need, covering a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies. The organization also focuses on human service issues that impact the health and welfare of the music community. The band doesn’t want to pitch the song to one specific organization, instead they want to make their track available to organizations like American Cancer Society and any other group that can benefit from it as a source of inspiration. A video is in the works as well.
“We are eagerly waiting for the finishing touches on our video recorded by our good friend Anthony Caroto (Grape Room, Origivation). This should be a good springboard to put a name and face to the song,” says Salazar.
Somehow, she has also found time to design a line of FIGHT! gear. The logo, a pink ribbon replacing the “I” in fight, is available on hoodies, t-shirts, dog tags, and travel mugs. They can be purchased through Da Rezarekt’s ReverbNation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/darezarekt) , with all proceeds also being donated to the MusiCares Foundation. Salazar also hopes to add wristbands, stickers, and car magnets in the future.
“When I started designing the FIGHT! logo, my friend Leslie suggested the pink ribbon for “I”. It fit in perfectly. Not much is made in profits but every penny counts,” says Salazar.
Members of Da Rezarekt are overflowing with optimism- for Salazar’s health and for the band as a whole. They’re currently writing a new album. Touring is also something they’re looking forward to as soon as Salazar is up for it. While she’s resting up and strengthening her health, the band hasn’t been able to perform live as much. That hasn’t stopped them from creating and working on new material, though. As soon as she’s back 100%, they will be back 100%, the rest of the band says.
“We will be coming back stronger than ever,” she says. “I feel that through this difficult time we will rise to the occasion and be ready to hit the scene hard with touring. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but we are very excited to return.”
Marisa’s inspiring attitude and energy are paying off in her treatments as well. She says the worst of her treatments are over and up next is a few surgeries. There’s a possibility of radiation and she’s already prepared to take a pill for the next five years to keep the cancer away.
“After that, I should be home free,” she says, adding that her song is certainly a battle cry for everyone who knows what she is up against. “We all go to battle each and every day and united we stand against anything that is supposed to make us fall.”
Written By: Jay Davis
