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The Digital Soldiers

 

The Digital Soldiers began in 1994 when Marss Ramos met Mark Ortega through a mutual friend in Long Beach, CA. The two shared singing and songwriting aspirations and their musical chemistry was instant. The duo began writing original tunes set to a dance beat with lyrics that were deep and meaningful. Marss was influenced heavily by synth-pop groups Erasure and Yazoo while Mark had studied jazz and pop writing in college and was influenced by Madonna and Ricky Martin.

 

In 1995, the duo got a big break when they were invited to perform at Palm Springs Pride. Marss had always envisioned adding a female voice to the group and reached out to high school friend Paula Flowers to sing with them at the event. The trio's first official performance was at Palm Springs Pride and they were a hit. The diversity each member brought was unique and made them instantly in demand.

 

Soon the group appeared at many prides in California including Long Beach, San Francisco, L.A., San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and also appeared at Las Vegas Pride and Phoenix and Tucson, AZ.

 

In 2002, the Digital Soldiers auditioned and earned a spot in “The Rainbow Revue,” a musical variety show that featured exclusively LGBT singers, comedians, performers and actors at the Ivar Theater in Hollywood, CA. The group performed their original song, “Forever,” which became the theme song of the show.

 

All of their musical success reached a pinnacle when the group was honored as the last local band to perform before The Motels, Berlin and Taylor Dayne at Long Beach Pride in 2003.

 

Soon after, the group decided to explore their solo musical aspirations. Mark Ortega moved to Phoenix, AZ and formed the group Hi-Teck. His group appeared at Long Beach Pride in 2007. Marss Ramos formed two groups, “The Century Blue Project” and “Situation,” a tribute band of Yazoo. Paula continued to sing at private functions.

 

It was during this time the group reached out to Lorie Madison to join the group. Paula, Marss and Mark had performed at the same venues like Palm Springs Pride and Pasadena Pride and became fast friends with Lorie as she shared the same musical aspirations.

 

More than a decade later, the group has reunited and have released a Christmas CD featuring 3 new original holiday hits. See their Press Release. 

 

To contact Digital Soldiers, please email TheOriginalDigitalSoldiers@gmail.com or contact Mark Ortega at 714-392-3356 or Marss Ramos at 562-415-5644.

 

For their music and an in depth look at each member, please continue here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Members of Digital Soldiers

 

 

Mark Ortega

 

Born and raised in Iowa, Mark is a jazz, classical and pop trained singer/songwriter.

 

After a successful musical career with Digital Soldiers, Mark moved to Phoenix to pursue a solo career in 2004. He soon teamed up with Long Beach rocker Danny MacArthur Kemp to form the group Hi-Teck. From 2004 to 2008, the duo performed at Prides in Long Beach, Palm Springs and Phoenix and preceded acts Sir Ari Gold, Brian Kent, and Jennifer Holliday.

 

From 2009-2014, Mark Ortega moved to Chicago and founded a musical showcase series featuring talented local gay artists. The showcases provided exceptional live entertainment while raising funds and awareness for causes important to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community. The showcases benefited The Trevor Project, Ride For AIDS Chicago, Test Positive Aware Network and Lambda Legal. Mark's showcases were held at various clubs in Chicago including Spin, Circuit, and The Glenwood.

 

In June 2012, Mark was honored to be the opening act for NBC's The Voice Finalist Beverly McClellan at Capital City Pride in his hometown of Des Moines, IA in front of an attentive crowd of 10,000. Mark was also the opening act for favorite 80's cover band Sixteen Candles at Pride North in Chicago in June 2013.

 

In 2013, Mark released “Boystown,” a song co-written with Danny MacArthur Kemp, about coming out and life within the LGBTQ community based on personal experiences. Available on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play, the song debuted at #3 on OutVoice.net's top 10 in April 2013. “Boystown” was also featured on the “Gaybourhood” podcast hosted by Hong Kong's DJ Stonedog in March 2014.

 

Mark moved back to Phoenix in September of 2014 and was soon reunited with members Marss Ramos and Paula Flowers of Digital Soldiers and is looking forward to performing once again with the group.

 

In November 2014, Mark released an instrumental piano christmas EP titled, “A Grand Christmas,” which is available on iTunes and Google Play.

 

Mark is currently rehearsing for upcoming pride performances in 2015. Please visit www.MarkOrtegaEntertainment.com for more information on Mark.

 

 

Marss Ramos

 

Born in Long Beach, Marss has been performing since the age of 7. Marss' introduction to the arts was through a dance/acting/singing group called ACE, based in Long Beach. Marss continued to act, sing, and dance through high school and studied music writing and production at Long Beach City College. It was at this time Marss met Mark Ortega and formed the group Digital Soldiers.

 

After Digital Soldiers, Marss went on to form two musical groups, “Century Blue Project,” and “Situation,” a Yazoo tribute band. “Century Blue Project,” has performed at Phoenix Pride among other venues.

 

Marss is also a member of the South Coast Chorale where he has helped write, act and sing in their most popular shows. He is truly a show stopper when he performs. Marss can also be seen with various groups throughout Long Beach.

 

Besides appearing with the theater groups, Marss is looking forward to reuniting with Digital Soldiers and writing new matrial.

 

 

Paula Flowers

 

Born in Belize, Paula says she found her voice at the age of 15 in California. It was there, at Paramount High, where she met Marss Ramos. As she continued to grow with her voice, Marss asked her to join Digital Soldiers. It was her addition to the group that solidified Digital Soldiers musical success.

 

During the span of Digital Soldiers and beyond, Paula pursued a solo career. It was during this time that she met musical producer and Long Beach rocker Daniel MacArthur Kemp (of Crush 333 fame) and their musical chemistry was instant. Paula's first original song, “When I Look Into You Eyes,” was a beautiful ballad. Paula also has performed with Danny's Band Crush 333 and has appeared at the Viper Room in Hollywood.

 

Paula admits she enjoys performing more at intimate settings such as weddings, but when she jumps on stage with the Digital Soldiers or Crush 333, her inner diva screams out.

 

In 2014, Paula auditioned for the X Factor and The Voice. Paula also got married in 2014, and besides looking forward to reuniting with Digital Soldiers, she is enjoying married life.

 

Lorie “Madeve” Madison

 

Lorie got her musical talents because of her parents. Her mother was an accomplished pianist and her father was a singer. Lorie was shy about her musical abilities until she got enough courage to sing at a wedding. Someone attending the reception asked her to perform at a night club and she immediately met Sean Niles of Exhibition fame.

 

She performed and recorded with Exhibition and soon she was introduced to Steve Bronski of Bronski Beat. Writing and recording songs with Bronski, the duo traveled Europe as Bronski Beat. The duo released a remix of “Smalltown Boy” during their tour. It was at Pasadena Pride in California where she met Digital Soldiers and the rest is history.

 

The group is currently writing songs and will be announcing some news shortly.

 

For more information on the original member of Digital Soldiers, please email them at TheOriginalDigitalSoldiers@gmail.com.

 

 

 

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