Offstage, Rob Deniel is soft-spoken however carries with him an air of assurance.
It’s one thing that may take you unexpectedly after you hearken to his music. Take “Miss Miss,” for instance. You get a track that begins tame and mellow, after which it steadily progresses right into a high-note-laden observe that conveys a deep longing you may nearly really feel by way of the audio system.
All of it appears to come back effortlessly for the 22-year-old artist, so it wouldn’t be uncommon for one to imagine that he’d deliver the identical type of energy to his regular life.
However there might solely be one factor driving the paradox of his robust demeanor behind the mic and his extra reserved nature with out it: love.
From the classroom to the massive stage
Rob grew up surrounded by love — from his household, his pals, and now, his followers. This was how love turned so central to his music within the first place.
“I grew up sa household na mafi-feel mo talaga ‘yung love, so malaking bahagi siya ng buhay ko. ‘Yun lagi ‘yung laman sa isip ko at sa puso ko tuwing nagsusulat ng songs: expressing love,” he instructed Rappler.
(I grew up in a household the place you may actually really feel the love, so it’s a giant a part of my life. That’s all the time what goes by way of my thoughts and stays in my coronary heart each time I write songs: expressing love.)
The “RomCom” singer was simply in highschool when he considered making an attempt his hand at music. Within the classroom, when college students aren’t preoccupied with their topics, their crushes are all they appear to consider.
“Uso ‘yung joyful crush,“ Rob recalled of his highschool days. “Efficient talaga ‘yung haharanahin mo siya, kakantahan mo siya ng one thing.“
(Comfortable crushes had been fashionable then. It was actually efficient to serenade your crush and sing one thing to them.)
And when you might have a expertise for singing and an acoustic guitar in tow, you’re virtually all set to win your particular individual over. Consider a teenage boy confidently making his strategy to the classroom of the woman he likes, and he begins singing to her regardless of the stares he may get from her curious classmates.
It’s a foolish trope each Filipino is aware of, but it surely’s turn into an unlikely catalyst for Rob’s inventive course of. When he’s cooking up a brand new single, he asks himself, “P’wede ba siyang ikanta for somebody? Or bagay ba siyang ipangsuyo for somebody?” (Can or not it’s sung for somebody? Or can I take advantage of it to woo somebody?)
A yearner within the making
Rob is really a yearner at coronary heart. All of us do it otherwise — however as Filipinos, maybe we will all agree that eager for the individual you like is finest carried out with the best music taking part in within the background. Rob’s music occurred to be simply that for tens of millions of listeners.
As somebody whose shyness usually acquired the very best of them once they had been youthful, Rob used music as a vessel to place out into the world his deepest ideas that the usage of phrases alone can’t convey.
“Sa music ko nae-express ‘yung nararamdaman ko. Doon ko na-e-express ‘yung mga hangad ko sa pag-ibig, and siguro nakaka-relate ‘yung tao,” Rob stated, reacting to the concept that he’s turn into one of many faces of craving within the native music scene.
(It’s by way of music that I get to precise what I really feel. I get to precise my deepest wishes on the subject of love, and I assume individuals can relate to that.)
However regardless of the craze for it on social media, craving isn’t a brand new factor to Filipinos, and Rob would be the first to attest that it runs deep in our tradition.
“It goes again all the way in which sa harana days. Talagang makikita mo ‘yung pag-yearn sa mga pagkanta nila ng mga kundiman. ‘Yung mga kumakanta sa labas ng bahay ng kasintahan nila…. Talagang all by way of generations, napapasa siya. Hanggang ngayon, lahat tayo nag-ye-yearn,” he defined.
(It goes again all the way in which to the harana days. You’ll actually really feel craving in the way in which individuals would sing the kundiman. Those that would sing exterior their lover’s home…. It cuts throughout generations. Till now, all of us yearn.)
Longing within the fashionable age
Whereas Rob has already made a reputation for himself from his expansive catalog of authentic hits, he’s garnered an all-new following from his newer covers of traditional Filipino love songs like “Nandito Ako” and “Ikaw Sana.”
Ogie Alcasid’s authentic renditions of those songs got here out in 1989 and 2001, respectively — even earlier than Rob was born. These songs had been reflective of affection of their time, when there was no social media, no courting apps, and when individuals didn’t should chase after natural encounters that seem to have turn into elusive now. Nonetheless, Rob maintains the nuance of those songs and provides a layer to the extraordinary pining you hear Alcasid convey in his personal variations.
“Hindi naman namin talaga intention na ilayo ‘yung sound ni Sir Ogie sa sound namin. [Nilagyan] lang namin ng contact na makarinig ng ibang components naman na kadalasan maririnig ngayon, tulad ng electrical guitars,” he defined.
(It actually wasn’t our intention to stray away from Sir Ogie’s sound. We simply put a contact of recent components you’d usually hear these days, like the electrical guitars.)
Greater than that, although, it’s Rob’s personal expertise with love within the fashionable age that allowed him to place a brand new spin on the track, maybe with out even making an attempt.
“Malaking bagay din na kinanta ko siya as a Gen Z. Mas naiintindihan ng tao ‘yung nararamdaman nila. So, masaya rin ako na nagkaroon ako ng alternative to be that individual na isa sa mga naging boses ng era na ito on how one can love somebody,“ he shared.
(It’s a giant factor that I sang these songs as a Gen Z. Folks these days will be capable of higher perceive how they really feel. So, I’m additionally very joyful that I acquired the chance to be one of many voices of our era for loving somebody.)
Rob is grateful that these covers have propelled his artistry to even larger heights. He hopes that by way of this, individuals get to discover his authentic creations, too. He attests that new listeners are certain to get pleasure from his debut album, Wander Boy: a 13-track report that takes you on a tumultuous experience of wanting to bounce, sing alongside, and cry.
However clearly, Rob’s is a journey price following. – Rappler.com
