Levi’s has long been a familiar name in the the music culture for decades—from musicians donned in their iconic silhouettes to collections that give nods to various musical influences, to being a staple sight in music fests and events. As a brand who is committed to giving back and supporting the industry it closely resonates with, it is only imminent that Levi’s began the Levi’s Music Project.
Since 2015, the brand has been cultivating a community for aspiring musicians and providing them with resources to develop their skills in music. Through the Levi’s Music Project, they’ve already partnered with several artists like Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, SZA, and Khalid who served as mentors for young musicians. In the Philippines, the multi-hyphenate creative Reese Lansangan took the role of mentor for Levi’s Music Project.
With the goal of encouraging creativity and building a community, a remix challenge where participants were invited to put their own take on her song “What is This Feeling” was also held.
Reese Lansangan On Stage
Reese Lansangan, like many other artists, loves performing live because she draws energy from the audience. It’s a place where she can feel the crowd’s excitement, and in return, she brings back that same amount of passion, if not even more. But now that artists are forced to make do with online shows, it’s a challenge to feel that same excitement on screen.
However, that did not deter Reese Lansangan from doing live performances of her tracks, exclusively available on the Levi’s Philippines Music Project Discord and Levi’s Philippines YouTube page.
On her special live performance of “What Is This Feeling” from her sophomore album, Reese entered the stage and started playing the MIDI keyboard. A rather unusual sight, but, together with her band, they gave the already joyful song a more dynamic feeling even with the absence of a live audience. Instead, the atmosphere transforms–electric as she’d like to call it–and the live instruments, when played together, almost transforms you to the time when we could all enjoy live music together.
Watch Reese Lansangan’s special performance of What Is This Feeling below and other performance videos on Levi’s YouTube channel.
What Is This Feeling: The Remix
Aside from Reese Lansangan, other local artists also showcased their artistry by doing their own take on “What Is This Feeling.” Levi’s uploaded these in their Discord channel as a way to inspire aspiring musicians to do the same.
Fern Tan
More commonly known as Fern., his take on “What Is This Feeling” is his usual dreamy, enchanting-indie pop. Opened with a soft melody played on the keyboard and slowly inserting lo-fi beats to match the vibe, Fern. shifted the originally joyful song to something that you would play on a midnight drive.
Leanne & Naara
The acoustic duo Leanne & Naara showed their powerful vocals and harmonies through their own version of “What Is This Feeling”. Their remix is more like a verse challenge. They inserted a short verse where they talked about growing up and choosing your battles, something a young adult can easily relate to.
Jarlo Base
Songwriter/producer Jarlo Base also put his own spin on Reese’s song. He retained the original lyrics of the song, but he expressed himself through his smooth voice, steady beats, and a sexy guitar solo that gave the song a new flavor.
Strengthening the Local Music Community
The efforts of Levi’s to uplift the local music community do not stop with the first Levi’s Music Project in the Philippines. It is bound to be even better. Since it is now easier to build a community online, Levi’s took advantage of this by partnering with Discord, an instant messaging and digital distribution platform.
The Levi’s Music Project Discord server, which now has over 3,000 members as of writing, makes music education more accessible to their audience—especially during the pandemic. Not only they can access content such as inspiration and tips for creating music, but it is also a place where fellow aspiring musicians engage with each other, exchanging conversations and ideas to better hone their craft, and possibly collaborating with other artists in the channel.
Levi’s Philippines promises that they are committed to giving back and supporting the music community through the Levi’s Music Project, and the partnership with Reese Lansangan is just the tip of the iceberg.
“This is not a one-off campaign. It’s our long-term commitment to the community, and we will continue to engage with music fans here with relevant content. We will continue to roll-out localized Levi’s Music Projects that connect with relevant artists in the near future.” says Kat Costas, Levi’s Philippines Country Marketing Manager.
You can view the other remixes made by the participants, meet fellow artists, and learn more about the Levi’s Music Project here and by joining the Discord community.
