Kiana's "Sweet Release" to be seen at Gary V Pure Energy: One Last Time Concert

The upcoming Gary V Pure Energy: One Last Time concert that has been extended this May 10th will be extra special as his daughter Kiana will be performing her newest single called "Sweet Release" on the same night. The last time I saw Kiana performed was during the Avon event where she stamped why she's a force to be reckoned with on stage. She's quite unique, has a different set of vocal styles, and is pretty talented in songwriting too. This particular single though is co-written by Rosemarie Tan and Philippe Dela Pena, and made sure it'll be danceable, more catchy, which will be quite a feat to perform on stage on the 10th. 

Kiana attributes this to her best friend and stayed very personal, and wanted this to be more pop, done in Filipino, which she's been doing recently (so watch out for more Tagalog songs from this lady). Kiana says "With this recent Tagalog songs I've been making, I'm really having so much fun! If all else gets done smoothly, I might be able to release a few this year or in 2025."

Currently, Kiana is based in the US and has been successfully performing in different events abroad. She's been heavily cheered miles away by Mom and Dad, and still won a few awards in the PH.

Dad Gary is so proud of what she has accomplished and how she got to draw her own path in the industry. Her performing on stage in the concert would be a good time for him to bond, and miss her, he gets to perform with her while celebrating 40 years in the entertainment industry.

The May 10th date was just something that was teased during the April 27 date, as there were still a LOT of people who wanted to watch it. Proceeds from this will go to Shining Light Foundation and will benefit the needy through this christian organization. There's lots of things you can look forward to in the concert, which I can only describe as WORLD CLASS!

Artist PLUME and SALA Band Join GMA's AltG Records

Just got off the press conference with new artists Plume and SALA (the band) over zoom this afternoon. They're a pretty fun bunch to talk to and yes, you kinda feel like you're in the presence of very talented people.

Plume says "I usually write music when its nighttime because it's way quiet. I start with chord progression, then lyrics, if it fits I'll make the chorus and complete it. I listen to other artists, I find good things in it and put my own style. I try to make it comforting and relaxing as possible. Since my work is dedicated to music now, I focus on myself and my hobbies while studying. It's still music in the background so there's still input. I love music like that. It's unusual to do jazzy songs available to everyone, I usually follow that genre, it's what I do to stand out. I also utilize social media to make my work known. I think I'll be doing singles from AltG records. I want people to feel relaxed, hear pop, but learn the words and vibes are different. I feel Baguio's busking music scene is still starting. Manila has a lot of bar tours, I think it's more organized here but I hope Baguio will follow suit soon."

Plume adds "I often seen albums released then sometimes they lose track of it the whole year. I think releasing content in different times would fit me. I listen to a lot of genres, but I prefer metal, the beauty of it is when you removed the angst, the noisy lines, you'll see the nice lyrics on it. I also love classical music, they do inspire me!"

Beautiful is my Plume's first single, and still testing what people would go to after they listened to it. His inspiration is from a personal experience. Right now, he's still trying to feel what happened after signing with AltG Records. He didn't believe it til they started recording.

Sala's frontman says "We do it differently, I could write songs wherever I am, but I finish my songs in my Sala hence our name. I throw it to my peers and do the other parts of the songs afterwards. That's how we do it. Our songs are borrowed experiences and I think it stems from the things that are not often talked about."

"If we have new ideas, we put it in a group chat and contribute there. Since we have different work, different jams and gigs, we try to stay healthy by eating, exercising, if we wanted to do this for a long time we try to do that as much as possible. It is art, and we love it! For us, we're glad to have YT, Spotify, platforms that we can listen to. As a band, arrangements are still a group effort. If it evolves, I don't have to follow that because we have our own message, it's not a problem to do that but we already have 4 pov's in the band and I think that's enough. Things are changing, I think people are releasing songs when there's something consistent to give. People want new things, albums kind of put it in one basket but people have different tastes. This would give artists freedom to test what's good. We want to return to not just making love stories, it should be different topics, even taboo ones, songwriting for the sense of telling them not just invoke feeling, something that people could relate to."

SALA felt that signing with AltG was surreal. The opportunity came at a very shocking moment, and feels they can't think about collaborating with other artists yet as they're not established rock stars. Though they want to do that in the near future. Their single will be out mid March. Plume on the other hand already has his single out, plus a lyric video on YouTube. He also has plans to have a music video out soon, and he's so ready!

Good luck and I hope you all continue to record more! We would certainly love to listen to it with great gusto!

SINOSIKAT's Kat Agarrado Releases New Single "Heart Calling"

Looks like the heavens are conspiring when it comes to Kat Agarrado as she attempts another shot with her music. This is still with Sinosikat, a rebuilding, a new start, stemmed by her love for music. She still never thinks about her looks (though she's quite blessed with it), and puts her efforts now in making more songs so a new generation would be able to listen to it. Sinosikat doesn't have permanent band members, it's her instincts that kick in and choose them to play with her, a different setup but works.

Kat says "My goal is to make people listen to timeless pieces, that even when we're old, there's substance, and they can still listen to it. Before I was doing rock elements, but now it's more polished, matured, the arrangements now will have horn sections. My dream is to make Sinosikat a wider audience, a younger one, to put our music in other countries. I want to do that especially when I get to network with bands and producers there, because they appreciate it but just lack exposure. Our music is world class, just like Filipinos." 

She adds "I hope to also join more international festivals, and become global. I think the youth now has lots of venues to listen to music, that's good and I would like to do collaborations with artists like Lola Amour, a indie artist named Isla, there's a ton that I see on YouTube. I'm sure they have a lot to offer, fresh ideas to contribute especially for the next singles."

Here's part of the interview we did with her during the launch

Kat continued to write songs about love, about family, a bit slow but she admits just doing it at her own pace. She also does standard songs and do Filipino versions so she wouldn't get rusty. She also writes about her friends, or things she experienced during the pandemic. Though this time, she finds it divine for everything that seemed to fall into place. From Pinoy Soul Records, to Warner Music Philippines, to her own studio, this is her way to help other artists too. This is a new beginning for her, her re-introduction of Sinosikat. 

PS Heard the single just now, and I like how groovy it sounded. It's like her being hungry to do more, I would liken it to the music of international girl group "All Saints", but it's only her on vocals. Amazing!

Go stream her new single "Heart Calling" on digital platforms and get smitten with Pinoy Soul all over again. Be part of her fresh start!