Multihypenate Gari Escobar is not letting the pandemic affect him. Instead, the singer and composer has been using his time at home to indulge in his passion for music. He’s also hosted Facebook live to reach out to people who might be feeling down or just simply give them some entertainment while passing the time.
“I sing and play the guitar every day. And I always think of different ways to make my music fresh and exciting. As for my FB live, I realized that a lot of people are feeling depressed because of the pandemic. So, I decided to do an FB live to at least give them some words of encouragement,” the businessman and music artist told Manila Standard Entertainment in an interview.
“With my music, I have started kind of late. While some people start at a very young age, I went through some difficult times and I had to gather all my courage to finally realize my dream to become a recording artist. I was bullied before so I guess you understand where I’m coming from,” he carried on.
While his self-esteem was affected by negative words, the same experience pushed him to prove his bullies wrong.
“Their words hurt me for a time but they kind of inspired me, too,” he asserted.
Two years ago, Gari was able to release a self-titled album under Ivory Music & Video with Vehnee Saturno joining him as album producer. The album is composed of 12 tracks, 10 of them written by Gari.
“You see, I have so many experiences in life. And I want to be the voice of the people who might be experiencing the same thing. I express them through songs. I believe, one way or another, people can relate to my music,” he said.
According to Gari, the lyrics to his songs are inspired by his personal experience and he tries to tweak the words to make them relatable and applicable to any situation.
“I have a song for my mom, but some people interpret it as a love song. This makes me feel more inspired to create music because when people listen to my songs, they get to have different interpretations. It means, they really try to listen and understand the meaning of the songs,” he related.
Last year, Gari received the Best New Male Recording Artist of the Year Award from the 11th PMPC Star Awards for Music for his composition “Baguio.” The song was the carrier single of his debut album.
And for the same album, the singer-composer also received a nomination for Best Pop Artist of the Year from Aliw Awards 2020.
“I really didn’t want to be a singer but I wanted to be a superstar like my idol Nora Aunor. I wanted to be a superstar not as a singer or an actor but in a different field and I believe I have already achieved that dream,” beamed Gari who is one of the top performers of 4LIFE Philippines, for which he has been awarded Hall of Famer by the Direct Selling Association of the Philippines.
Since Gari has been realizing all his plans one after another, he said he would want to produce and direct a film in the future. And sure, Nora Aunor is her chosen star to top bill this project.
And it’s just one of the things that he carefully places on his drawing board. Soon, he will release another album which songs are again inspired by his life experience.
“I have some dark and sad moments, which reflect into my songwriting. This time I want to use the same experiences for my next music project. I want something upbeat. I know it sounds strange but there are upbeat songs that if you examine the lyrics, they’re really sad or heartwarming. That’s how I'm going to reinvent myself. I'm going for upbeat, danceable melodies but with the same style of writing,” he ended.