The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Audie See
Mia Japson, 15, really wants to be a singer who writes her own songs, and puts them all in albums that she can truly call her own. She is just in junior high school.
But she has been willing to compromise just so she can break into the recording scene legitimately. She allowed herself to record Vehnee Saturno’s “Pintig” which was first recorded by Ella Mae Saison in the 1990s under another title. Also, Ella Mae’s version was a plaintive ballad. But Mia, since she’s only 15, too young to be in pain due to unrequited love, she turned into a swinging bossa nova.
We dare ask her pointblank what her main goal as a singer-songwriter is. Well, we got a sharp, sensible reply.
Oh, boy, she practically ranted: “Why does there have to be a choice? It can be all of the above, no? hehehe! But my biggest goal is to release a whole jazz album.
“But if I were talkin’ about intention, then I’d love to make people feel that they are not alone. That’s it, in a world where there’s so many people, yet you feel that the silence is just too loud.”
As she seems to have easily turned introspective, we followed the flow of her thoughts and asked her about the things she is very thankful for in her life.
“The 5 things I’m most thankful for are: (1) Music. Without it I don’t know what I’d find comfort in. (2) God, for everything, life and my Talent. (3) My family, because no matter what, they’ve always been there. (4) My friends, for the support they’ve given me throughout my journey.
“Lastly, I’m thankful to attend a concert I will never forget, Bruno Mars of 23. The moment he sang his song ‘Billionaire’ and everyone was singing along intimately, the lyrics ‘every time I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights, a different city every night.’ It hits me, I want that feeling. I wanna be like him. I’d love to see me that way.”
It’s a common belief that the atmosphere at home influences the interests and talents we develop along the way. So we asked Mia who between her parents sings, dances, or acts on stage, film, or television? Or who among her siblings, cousins, and other relatives could have influenced her into a strong fondness for singing and songwriting.
She replied without batting an eyelash: “No one between my mom and my dad sings professionally or as a major hobby. But when I was months old, my dad would sing me old songs that I don’t remember by name but definitely by tune.
“My cousin, whom I consider my big brother, used to sing in events for which my parents are the professional event organizers or coordinators. It was fun seeing him as a kid. My lodi!
“Oh, by the way, my parents’ being event organizers and coordinators in the past and up until now is where I found the fun and creativity of entertainment,” she said.
She has begun to write songs. She creates both lyrics and music. Since she can’t do musical notation yet, she comes up with the music by playing it on her guitar. She learned to play the guitar by herself, including the names of each chord, so she just notes down the key on paper, and actually plays them while she sings the lyrics. We make her tell us about her compositions so far.
“My very first song, well…’publicly shown,’ was for my grandfather. I can’t say I did it just to enjoy but I will say it is to learn, because music is music. It will be up to you to interpret it and feel what you feel from it.
“I don’t make instrumentals as of now, but I love making melodies and lyrics together. And how many I’ve written? Too many to count, hahaha!”
What are her other compositions about?
She candidly admitted that they are mostly about love. “Not because I’ve experienced it, but because of the movies I fondly watch. I do like writing songs about meeting someone by chance and leaving by choice.
“I once wrote about a frog that I saw. I write about my friends, my dog, how I sleep at night. Just things that happen yet maybe not normally.”
We ended the interview by asking her to enumerate the workshops, mentoring sessions you have attended, along with the name of the company or persons who facilitated or mentored her.
She listed where she has been.”DeerVoices Studio Co. with coaches Ryan Del Rosario and Michelle; Repertory Philippines, under Teachers Cara Borromeo and Jay, coach Rodnie Ferrales, coach May Gutierrez, G-Force, coach Ryan Del Rosario; Philippine Stagers Foundation’s director-actor Vince Tañada and Director PJ Lopez; and Unleashed, a master class on Hosting with Mr. Bryan Pineda, and Ms. Kali Huff.