Music supersedes anyone and everyone. It bows to no one, a medium that is brave, bold, and dominant all at once. For some, it is a way to relax or to work—a channel for leisure or productivity, or even both. For others, it is company—an avenue to fill up the room when silence can be deafening. Through conversations with individuals that have made huge leaps in their career and personal lives, breaking boundaries from within and redefining Filipino culture and creativity, we learn how these people place music in their lives, whether it has deepened their roots in their favorite genres, or it has evolved their music taste.
We get to know their personality, characteristics, one sound, one tune at a time. These anecdotes remain a part of their whole story, the rhythm that continues to reinvent one’s relationship with music.
Constant Across the Board
Quiccs Maiquez has been doing art all his life. After becoming a graphic designer straight from college, he ventured into toy design, building his brand around what he enjoys the most—Japanese robots, Hiphop music, and graffiti culture. For him, music has a big part in his life, interests, and in work. “Whenever I travel, I have Spotify on. When I sleep at night, I usually listen to podcasts or sleep music. For work, it sets my rhythm and pace throughout my tasks for the day,” he said.
For Ida Anduyan, who is a limitless, boundless artist and creative that utilizes music as not only a source of inspiration, but a source of energy and relaxation, cites how her relationship with music is constant. “Though my preference always changes, music is always there. It depends on my two moods—locked in or nonchalant. For me, ang boring kapag walang music (without music, it’s boring). Music adds a layer to my inspiration, adding more aura to any activity that I do,” she shared.
For John Uy, the president and CEO of Karpos Multimedia, the company behind Wanderland, he has formed a deep relationship and appreciation for music. For him, he listens to music everywhere. He said, “I do have a very sacred time listening to different types of music.”
On Certain Moods and Habits
Aryn Cristobal has been a performance artist over the years, who has been obsessed with music since she was a kid. “Right now though, my music listening habits change depending on what I am doing at the moment. If I’m working, I listen to Lo-Fi, chill, instrumental tunes. Otherwise, I play pick-me-up pop songs. That’s where Ariana Grande comes into the scene,” she said in our interview.
Frances Lim Cabatuando, better known as Mayora Frances, is the founder of HOME BUDDIES, an online barangay where people can talk anything and everything about home living. In all her roles, whether it’s at home or at HOME BUDDIES, she is the problem solver. However, when it comes to music, she feels like she has no problems to solve in music—she knows what kind or genre of music she likes. “Most of the time, I’m alone, so I play music to keep me company. When I’m driving, I like singing along to albums like “eternal sunshine”. When it’s raining, I listen to cozy music. When I go to bed, I like old love songs because when I was young, my parents would turn the radio on, and Air Supply’s love songs would play,” she shared.
Marga Bermudez is an entertainment director, DJ, and entrepreneur. On and off the mixer, she said that music revolves around everything that she does, “from being a DJ to an events producer. It also depends on my moods and where my current headspace is at the moment.”
Shaping Music in Different Forms
Abi Marquez is the 2024 James Beard and Webby food content awardee who wants to inspire other people to cook more. For her, food transcends age—everyone eats, all age groups enjoy it. Music, in the same way, transcends her many phases in life. “My first relationship with music was when I had to dance with my siblings when I was a kid. Then it became singing—I even took voice lessons for five to six years, performing at events at school. At the end of highschool, I was into dance, dancing competitively. Then, in university, I was just into listening more. Right now, I still love singing so I often sing along to the music I play,” she said.
Shayna Cua is a movement artist who trained in dance for twenty years. Throughout her career, her relationship with music has been complex—as she listens to it as often as she could, it has been hard to differentiate between listening as a relaxation and for work. She shares that her relationship with music for work and music for leisure is different. “The former entails taking from music, carving out time for this to focus on and learn its beats, its rhythms. The latter provides me with music, allowing me to not think about it too much.”
This year, in connection to one’s growth in the music they listen to, Spotify has included a brand new feature in the personalized Wrapped experience—the added Music Evolution that reveals the musical phases that uniquely defined your year. Based on hundreds of thousands of unique descriptors, genres, and artists, each phase captures the essence of how you listened at the time. In the conversations we have had, these have been interesting and accurate across the board, with them sharing their milestones and memories this year that have shaped what they have listened to thus far.
Reminiscent of their All-Time Favorites
For Quiccs, he would have guessed his Spotify Wrapped results. “I’ve always gravitated to American and Filipino Hiphop, especially during high school and college, so it doesn’t surprise me that the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Hev Abi, and Shanti Dope are all present.”
On the other hand, Abi had her usual genres present—from musical soundtracks to Pop artists. “In April, it was the time where Miss Saigon was touring in the Philippines and I watched that show twice, so I sang along with those songs. In May, my top artist was Hippocampus, an all-time favorite artist. In July, it served as my introduction to Chappell Roan. I’m not at all surprised because I actively sing to these songs.”
For Aryn, she was also not surprised when “All I Ever Wanted” by Yebba was part of her top songs, considering how obsessed she was with her since she is able to do excellent singing, with the vocal acrobats she is able to do. “I was also not surprised with my Music Evolution since the likes of Caroline Polachek, Ariana Grande, and Bryson Tiller were there. It really reflected the kind of music I gravitated towards.”
Determinant for Milestones and Memories
Ida has shared that during the month prior to her wedding, she kept on listening to instrumentals for her wedding. She shared, “I wanted to find a specific song that reflected both our souls, and I think music expresses those quite well when it’s reflected on mindfully, and that reflected on my Music Evolution.”
For John, while his taste is really dependent on what music is out, he agrees that it will always be a good representation of what his mood was that month, and what he was busy with. “For example, in February, there was a lot of preparation for Wanderland so the artists included there were artists we tried to book. In March, I listened to a lot of local artists since I was looking for new Pinoy artists I needed to be aware of.”
For Marga, it mirrored what she was going through and had gone through this year. “This year’s results, especially the Music Evolution, were pretty accurate since my March result reflected the opening of the bar, and in October, it was a high energy time and phase.”
Enlightenment on New Artists and Songs
Shayna shared that her Music Evolution reflects that rekindling of passion in music through exploration, showing more the start to her gravitation towards experimental music. “My Music Evolution reflects how I’ve been exploring music a little bit more as I spend more time surrounding myself with it. Especially with the different milestones I had this year, the musical phases showed how music and art, in this case movement, are intertwined.”
Lastly, while Mayora Frances was surprised that Carly Rae Jepsen was not on her list, she was still surprised with how much she listened to Ariana Grande. She shared, “I definitely discovered new artists to love this year, like D.O. Though I don’t know its significance, it’s interesting to see the jump from different genres.”
Like people, music has its many faces, each face contributing to a person’s life and personality. For these individuals that are movers of their own industries, music has been omni-present—changing the way they do their crafts. Music never takes a backseat in their lives, something that they have acknowledged and have remained grateful for. While this is a mere image taken of each individual, it cannot be stressed enough that they are lovers of music, steadfast in maintaining a close relationship with such.
Furthermore, in the different Music Evolutions we saw, it is a tool to understand ourselves and the journeys that we have had. Truly, it is a way for us to not only look back on the year, but also provide a way for us to introspect and subsequently, recognize ourselves in a familiar, or different light. Either way, it will still be us at the end of the day.
As the world continues to turn, and as your lives move forward, there’s nothing to do left but to tune into the beat, and find solace in those rhythms that have been a home to your emotions and memories.
Listen to the eight personalities top five songs in their Spotify Wrapped results in this playlist.
