MANILA, Philippines—Celebrated Filipino multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter juan karlos drops three new singles “Aminin,” “Buksan,” and “Pancit” under his latest “Drop 1” collection.
With collaborators drummer Rickson Ruiz, bassist Karel Honasan, horn player Lester Sorilla, keyboardist Nikko Rivera (on “Buksan”), and featured vocalist Janine Berdin (on “Pancit”), juan karlos hopes for listeners to draw from an active imagination and be willing to engage with his music.
Image courtesy of Island Records Philippines
juan karlos says that his songwriting process depends on what he feels like doing. Sometimes, he draws from real-life sources and imaginative scenarios, and one approach he often takes is to imagine a film and write a soundtrack for it. Hence, there is a strong element to storytelling that shows in his work, where real and imagined experiences and their connected emotions come together to produce a work that engages with the listeners’ own experiences.
In many ways, juan karlos ’trust that listeners will engage in his music in their own way makes his work meaningful. He says, “People will have different interpretations because we all have different experiences.” His thinking will resonate with contemporary schools of thought which hold that interpretation starts with acknowledging that we have lenses through which we see the world.
For example, puppy love, as portrayed in “Pancit,” is something most of us have experienced. The first stirrings of affection for someone else are something universal. juan karlos particularly draws on the thoughts people have when they feel those emotions, especially in the song’s bridge. Whatever connections and resonances listeners have is up to them. Even a song like this will mean something else for listeners many years down the road, he says.
When we asked juan karlos about what we usually ask our artists, his answers were refreshingly honest. He says that people have different reasons for approaching his music, including through our very own marketing efforts. He trusts people to feel whatever they want to feel when hearing his material. Most of all, he wants to make an original body of musical work that draws straight from himself, avoiding the tendency to ask what else in the musical ether it sounds like. This is why juan karlos is a strong creative force in a very diverse musical landscape.