It's hard to do the thing. You know, realizing your dreams and all, especially when things won't go your way.
The pandemic really did a number on the local music scene, and that didn't exclude members of Filipino jazz act Basically Saturday Night. One day they were booming, the next, everything was stagnant thanks to the lockdowns. This was all the result of uncontrollable externals, but despite that, true artists still find a way to regain control. The members of the 'Chemical Love' group carried on with their own ventures in and out of music, and frontman Jose Miguel realized it was time to do his own thing.
Since then, he seized his moment and released his solo debut album, 5 Star Overthinker, a 10-track offering that started off as poems before they grew into songs. He never backed down and now, he's gearing up to perform alongside some of his favourite artists at Wanderland Music and Arts Festival this weekend. It's true that pursuing your dreams is difficult, especially when you're faced with something out of your control like lockdowns and viruses. But what matters is how you respond to it, and for Jose Miguel, he fought the overthinker inside him and just did the thing.
Bandwagon caught up with Jose Miguel to talk about how he got started going solo, his introduction to jazz, and his plans for his debut record 5 Star Overthinker.
Hi, Jose Miguel! How are you? Is this your first venture out of Basically Saturday Night?
Yes. So officially, yes, I've worked with different groups before like the UP Jazz Ensemble. Some of the players tonight are from that group, Basically, the people on stage, a collection of friends, and talents that I had the pleasure to work with throughout the years. Yeah. This is my first official outing.
When did you decide that it was time to go solo?
Life, really. As you know, before the pandemic, Basically Saturday Night was really, like, rolling. We we're doing our thing, gigs left and right. But after the pandemic, we kind of ventured into our own things. Life happened. We all had to focus on what was next for us individually. We all pursue different things. Like, our drummer Faisal, now he's a health coach. Junoy went to pursuse music in school! He's in New York. So everyone's kind of busy, and I decided, what better time than now? Now's the only time I'm really able to do this. And also, I got an offer from John, we talked about it. We're here now. Very excited to perform in front of everyone.
Let's backtrack a little bit. How did you get into music?
I started listening to a lot of jazz when I was around 13 or 14. I've been singing since I was maybe 11. But more of [playing] guitar, actually. And then I ventured into singing and found my voice at my dad's birthday party. There was a live band. I just had the courage to get up there and sing.
So that was your debut?
(Laughs) Yeah, and my debut song was Rivermaya's 'You'll Be Safe Here'. It started there and my grandfather introduced me to a lot of Frank Sinatra. I fell in love with the way he sang, the way the accompaniment was with the brass section, big band sound. I did some more research as the years went by. And I fell in love with the lifestyle as well. I'm a crooner. Yeah, so basically, that's the route. I've been through different genres ever since. But my singing style is much more suited for jazz. I've done a lot of genres. I even did screamo! It gave me that energy. I try to find ways to arrange the song so that it makes me feel that same energy as metal and rock. It's jazz with a kick.
You have your first album 5 Star Overthinker. Can you tell us more about that?
It was a whole year process. Gabe Dandan, a really good friend of mine playing guitar for me tonight, is also my musical director. We sat down and I already had like two to three songs written and wanted to pursue ten songs.
Why ten?
Ten. There's something special about the number 10. 5 star, 10, you know, it's divisible. (laughs) I don't know. I guess it's just, I couldn't really limit my writing. You know, I wrote more than 10 songs, but it's only 10 songs that made it. So the sounds that came out were the ones that resonated the most with me. So we decided to go with it. It was a really interesting journey. You know, we travelled out of town just to write, go through the whole process. It was a trip, an absolute trip, but I'm glad that we're here and I'm excited for everyone to hear the songs. It's an up-and-down roller coaster. It's more me this time.
Is a physical album something that you'd like to have?
I mean, I'm a big vinyl fan. So yes, definitely. It's a dream and a goal, you know, to have a record, a physical record. You know, that's something that I can hold on to. I can pass that down to my children, or grandchildren as well. And it'll always remind me of this time. I'm excited, like I said, that's all I can really see right now as I've been trying to battle. But during my routine, getting my head in the game, preparing for tonight, and the rest, that's gonna be up to everyone to react to it. I'm just excited and happy that I was able to put out the album.
What do you hope your listeners would take away from your music?
I hope that they resonate with the lyrics. I write poems, and then I hear melodies and put them into songs. Gab steps in with me and then gets some of the instruments. And then we just pass the ideas around. I am very excited. But yeah, I just tend to overthink. The songs could have been done in four months. But you know, this is my first album ever. With the band, we only did an EP. It's a different feeling. It's something that I've never felt, to be honest. It's just getting me revved up for the next few songs that I'm about to put out. Not being able to write I kind of gotta lose my mind.
You're playing at Wanderland Music Festival, how do you feel about that?
Well, first things first, I'm really, really thrilled that I'll be able to play for my hometown. South side. Oh yeah, hometown crowd, so I'm gonna bring the thunder for sure as much as I can. Wanderland, for me is the most premier music festival in the Philippines. And I believe a lot of people can agree with that. So it's an absolute honour for me to be invited actually by Karpos to perform this year. I'm really looking forward to it and looking forward to exchanging a few words with my idols backstage – Jack Johnson, Parcels, etc.
Stream 5 Star Overthinker below.
Interview by Camille Castillo
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