About
UNIVERSALROYALTY IS:
Juan Toro – Turntables, Vocals, Programming
Dave Toro – Lead Vocals
Nick Toro – Sound Technician
Daniel Toro – Drums, Vocals
Chris Vasquez – Guitar, Piano, Programming
Luis Toro – Guitar, Vocals
Marcos Toro – Bass, Vocals, Smiles quite a bit…
MISSION STATEMENT:
In an industry where clapping hands is evidence of success and where praise is given to the creation, we as a band, a family, and as the redeemed of Christ have learned that success and praise are often misunderstood and misdirected.
UniversalRoyalty is a ministry of music, labored in love, founded and rooted in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to intimately love, diligently obey, and humbly submit to the will of our Lord. We have committed our gifts to edify and encourage the body of believers, as well as, esteem and evidence the person of Jesus in our character, singing, teaching, and lifestyle, all of this established through the absolute truth of the Bible.
We don’t claim to have perfectly attained to this. We only seek to take hold of and share the gift of salvation, which Jesus attained for us. Our loyalties are not to a culture, an industry, a style of music, or even an audience, but to The Conductor…God the Father, His son Jesus Christ, and the precious Holy Spirit. Any other goal would be living out a vain attempt to fulfill longings of acceptance that neither the audience, nor the process can ever satisfy. Only faith in Jesus will bring true contentment. Our prayer as a ministry is to usher others closer to Jesus and bring glory to God.
HOW WE GOT OUR NAME:
When we first felt the stirring to start ministering through music, we as the brothers sat down and really considered what name we would go by. After a time, David suggested the name we have today…UniversalRoyalty.
In 1 Peter 2:9, 10 we read:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Throughout the Bible, God is often referred to as King, primarily for His attributes of sovereignty, majesty, and absolute dominion in heaven and earth. In the Old Testament there was one group of people set apart to minister within the inner courts of the tabernacle and later the temple. These were the priests, men consecrated by God to minister to Him on behalf of the people, and to minister to the people on behalf of Him. This was the highest privilege for a man to have. We are told in 1 Peter that when we by faith confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ died for our sins, we enter into God’s royal service ministering to His people and to Him. However, God does not need servants. In fact He doesn’t desire us to be slaves, He desires us to be sons and daughters. He wants to have intimate and personal relationship with all of us. He desires relationship, not religion.
In Galatians 3:26 we read:
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Through faith in Christ Jesus we have been adopted into the spiritual family of God the Father. We, through this confession of faith, have entered into the family that has one language and that is praise to God, one nation and that is the kingdom of God, and one Lord and that is Jesus. This family is “Universal” in that all are welcome upon faith in Jesus, and it is “Royalty” under the kingship of God. The only thing left to consider is whether or not you are in the family…
F.A.Q.:
Q. – Are all of you really brothers?
A. – Yes, everyone with the exception of Chris.
Q. – Are any of you married?
A. – Yes.
Q. – How long have you been a band?
A. – We started rapping and singing together in 1998, in 2000 Luis and Chris started playing guitar together, and in 2002 Daniel, Marcos and Juan began playing their respective instruments; everyone in the band plays music “by ear”.
Q. – Who’s the oldest?
A. Juan
Q. – Which one is named One?
A. – No one, his name is Juan.
Q. – Who’s the youngest?
A. – Marcos
Q. – What’s it like traveling together all the time?
A. – Lots of work, not much sleep except for when we’re in route, lots of prayer, and quite a bit of fun. Sometimes our quarters are cozy, sometimes very spacious. And sleeping on the floor has become very comfortable. It’s comparable to full time missions work…and we praise the Lord for the privilege.
Q. – Do you have any sisters?
A. – Yes, Chris has four sisters, and the Toro’s have one sister.
Q. – Where have you played?
A. – Thus far, all across the USA; England, Wales, South Africa, and Swaziland.
Q. – Who writes the music?
A. – Everyone writes their own instrumental piece, and that’s generally the case with the vocals as well.
Q. – Do you guys ever fight?
A. – Yes, but we try and keep that to a minimum. The Lord is working on us too.
Q. – Who is your favorite band besides yourselves?
A. – Most of us like different bands and groups…and we ourselves probably are not our favorite band. That would be a little conceited.
Q. – Are you rich?
A. – Where we’re headed, they use gold as pavement. So you’ll have to define rich. In Jesus’ love… yes, we are very very rich.
-UNIVERSALROYALTY
