After
5 years, a new album at last. What took him so long?
RELEVANCE is Gary Valenciano’s first album of
all-original material in five years. It’s a
fitting way to mark his 23rd year in the business.
Gary says that when he looks back on those 23 years,
he sees a lot of victories, but also a lot of wasted
opportunities, particularly during the years covering
1997 (after the release of Gary V. Interactive) to
1999 when, he says, “if I had played my cards
right and been more focused, I could already have
a name out there in the US.”
There
is some regret—which is probably part of what
caused his songwriting well to dry up in the first
place—but Gary has learned to put those wasted
opportunities behind him and move on. “I don’t
allow them to dampen my spirit,” he says. “Instead,
I let those opportunities fuel my desire to achieve
what I can and maybe even go beyond that.”
Here,
Gary V. muses on his new album, the changes he’s
witnessed and the life lessons he learned in the last
23 years.
The
title of your new album is Relevance. What is the
meaning behind this title?
It
came from a top network executive who was meeting
with my wife, Angell, and he opened the conversation
asking her how on earth I could still remain relevant
even after having been in the music industry for all
these years. I guess the basic sound of the simplest
of all issues, which in this case is love, presented
by someone who’s been around for more than two
decades but presented audibly enough for every generation
to ride on, is the meaning of it all.
Kindly
describe to us what the album is all about?
It
really is a combination of love songs expressed in
a variety of ways. Even the inspirational messages
that everyone knows is an integral part of my music,
is hidden in several of the songs. It is your basic
pop love song album, something that I used to come
out with in the earlier years of my career. I celebrate
my 23rd anniversary with a collection of original
love songs that may become relevant in the hearts
and souls of different generations.
Where
and from whom did you get the inspiration to make
this aIbum?
The
inspiration came in different forms one of which was
the requests I would get from different people wanting
me to do this kind of stuff again. The late Bella
Tan of Universal Records also helped tremendously
in encouraging me to go back to writing my own music.
Then there were others who were just waiting for an
album that had less of remakes and more of fresh new
music. I certainly hope this satisfies those who’ve
been waiting for it. I wrote “Shake It”
“Even for a While.” “Wag Mo na Sanag
Isipin” is an original I wrote in 1986 but done
in a fresh new duet with (daughter) Kiana.
Why
the new sound?
Honestly,
there was no intention of having to sound like any
one artist in particular. I am a music lover, I love
anything from alternative to orchestral music but
I too am sensitive to what is being heard now and
many times I try to experiment with sounds that may
be the next trend. I will not go to the extent of
compromising my sound too much just to ride on the
latest sounds but if I like what I hear and I feel
I can do justice to it then why not try it?
Maybe
you can describe the songs included in Relevance.
Is there anything new in it? Or can we still expect
signature Gary V. music?
I
believe there’s a little bit of everything in
Relevance. There are pop tunes to dance to, “tunog
banda” type of songs like “Wait Forever”
and “Did It Ever,” and songs that can
be used as theme songs. I think vocally I also go
back to using more of my falsetto in some of the music
like “Sana Bukas” and” Kailan Pa.”
As far as a signature Gary V. song is concerned I
feel the whole album is still signature Gary V.
Do
you have any particular favorite songs in Relevance?
I
like “Wait Forever” because it’s
quite different but like all music lovers, favorites
do change from time to time. I also like “Shake
It Off,” “In Another Lifetime,”
and “Kailan Pa.” Again let me stress on
the fact that next week I may have another favorite
from the album. Even “For a While” and
“You Are,” a duet with Bro. Eddie Villanueva’s
daughter, Joni, are following close behind.
Who
were the other artists, producers and composers you
worked with in this album?
Let
me try and mention a few producers. Mon Faustino,
Jay Durias, Gerard Salonga, DJ MOD, Jack Rufo, Ito
Rapadas, Jonathan Manalo, Amongst the singers there
are Regine Velasquez who backed me up on “What
You Want,” Joni Villanueva, and my daughter
Kiana. There are many more who worked hard on this
album.
What
about your duet with daughter Kiana? How did you come
up with this idea? Why did you choose to remake your
song “Wag Mo Na Sanang Isipin”?
I
was in the studio doing my vocals when the idea to
have her on it crossed my mind. Many would expect
a ballad of father and daughter but I wanted something
less predictable. Besides my daughter has a groove
in her soul that she uses quite well when it comes
to singing. I may use more of her in the future projects.
She actually wants to record her own album.
Why
did you choose to launch an all original album only
now?
I
think the hardest thing in putting an album with mostly
originals in it, is the fact that you first have to
look for the right songs. Remake albums are beautiful,
I have nothing against those CD’s; however I
felt it was time to let people in on what’s
now. Here is where we encountered the first obstacle.
We couldn’t find songs good enough. Even some
of my songs just didn’t fit the mold of the
CD. And then things just started working. I wrote
“Shake It Off,” Jude (Gitamondoc) submitted
“Wait Forever, Jack rearranged “Did It
Ever,” Brian Cua reworked “What You Want,”
I suddenly heard the live orchestra Gerard used for
“Even for a While.”
Then
I found myself all excited about every song. Really,
I didn’t want it to take this long but better
this way then to come out with something half-baked
because mediocrity is not and never should be a part
of the music industry. Also, when Bella passed away,
no one in Genesis could work with Universal Records.
The pain was too much. My wife cried every single
time she went to their office so we opted to release
the Pure Heart project with Star Records because I
had two Star Cinema movie theme hit songs, “How
Did You Know,” and “Ikaw Lamang “
anyway, and with the number of recordings I had with
Star Cinema, we decided to do an album with Star to
allow the huge pain to leave our hearts first. Her
passing was such a huge loss in my recording career.
I
have a website, www.garyv.com, and my fans were clamoring
for originals. I am where I am today largely because
of my loyal fans and I owe it to them to give them
new material. They also wanted new material, “Break
Me” was supposed to be part of this album but
when Bella died, and this song was the last song she
heard an hour before, Angeli felt that people needed
to hear the song and we put it into the videoke compilation
Soulfull because it’s an inspirational project
and there was no original song to promote that project.
Angell and Bella were the best of friends and she
knew Bella would have wanted that song played on the
radio and released right away. So for the new album
we didn’t have enough of my compositions again
and fans wanted songs I wrote! Then she reminded me
of my song “Even For A While” which I
wrote many years ago so I recorded that and I wrote
“Shake It Off” which replaced “Oh!”
another song I wrote but which we plan to include
in my next inspirational CD project.
What
do you hope to achieve from this album?
Reaching
a whole new generation of fans. Maybe reach Asian
territories as well.
Where
does Gary V go from here?
To
tell you the truth, I honestly don’t know. I
can only plan based on what’s in my heart but
as to where it will take me – I can only imagine.
Like in one of my albums in the past I mentioned in
my liner notes that I would only go where the Good
Lord takes me. I’m learning how not to be too
driven and to be led and what better leader can I
find but Jesus. Where He takes me I will go, what
He tells me I must follow.
