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 music that begins tame and mellow, after which it progressively progresses right into a high-note-laden observe that conveys a deep longing you may virtually really feel via the audio system.
All of it appears to return effortlessly for the 22-year-old artist, so it wouldn’t be uncommon for one to imagine that he’d carry the identical type of energy to his regular life.
However there might solely be one factor driving the paradox of his sturdy 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 grew to become 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 informed Rappler.
(I grew up in a household the place you may actually really feel the love, so it’s an enormous a part of my life. That’s all the time what goes via 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 attempting 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 pleased crush,“ Rob recalled of his highschool days. “Efficient talaga ‘yung haharanahin mo siya, kakantahan mo siya ng one thing.“
(Glad crushes have been in style 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 particular person over. Consider a teenage boy confidently making his solution to the classroom of the lady he likes, and he begins singing to her regardless of the stares he would possibly get from her curious classmates.
It’s a foolish trope each Filipino is aware of, nevertheless it’s grow to be 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 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 are able to all agree that eager for the particular person you’re keen on is finest finished with the best music enjoying within the background. Rob’s music occurred to be simply that for thousands and thousands of listeners.
As somebody whose shyness typically bought the perfect of them once they have been youthful, Rob used music as a vessel to place out into the world his deepest ideas that using 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 mentioned, reacting to the concept he’s grow to be one of many faces of craving within the native music scene.
(It’s via music that I get to precise what I really feel. I get to precise my deepest needs in the case of love, and I assume folks 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 best way 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 via generations, napapasa siya. Hanggang ngayon, lahat tayo nag-ye-yearn,” he defined.
(It goes again all the best way to the harana days. You’ll actually really feel craving in the best way folks 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 unique hits, he’s garnered an all-new following from his more moderen covers of traditional Filipino love songs like “Nandito Ako” and “Ikaw Sana.”
Ogie Alcasid’s unique renditions of those songs got here out in 1989 and 2001, respectively — even earlier than Rob was born. These songs have been reflective of affection of their time, when there was no social media, no courting apps, and when folks didn’t need to chase after natural encounters that seem to have grow to be 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 parts 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 parts you’d typically 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 music, maybe with out even attempting.
“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 particular person na isa sa mga naging boses ng era na ito on how you can love somebody,“ he shared.
(It’s an enormous factor that I sang these songs as a Gen Z. Folks these days will have the ability to higher perceive how they really feel. So, I’m additionally very pleased that I bought 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 via this, folks get to discover his unique creations, too. He attests that new listeners are sure to get pleasure from his debut album, Wander Boy: a 13-track document that takes you on a tumultuous experience of wanting to bounce, sing alongside, and cry.
However clearly, Rob’s is a journey value following. – Rappler.com
