At the young age of 17, TNT Boys member Keifer Sanchez is now venturing into the songwriting industry while exploring his new adventure as a rising solo singer.

Keifer has definitely come a long way since his preteen years competing on It’s Showtime “Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids.” Before, he was simply belting high notes of songs and going on performances with his fellow TNT Boys Mackie Empuerto and Francis Concepcion. Now, he’s more serious about his craft and tried his hand at songwriting too.

Keifer’s recently released debut single “Last Reply” is the first of many more songwriting works. While he co-wrote this with other songwriters, the idea and heart of it came from him. He reveals all of this and his beginner songwriting tips to other aspiring musicians in this Kapamilya Chat video!

Keifer admitted that he’s the type of songwriter that prefers to write out all of his thoughts and ideas before perfecting or polishing his work. But when he does, he tends to overthink the words he’s using since he wants them to rhyme in certain places. He also tends to make many major adjustments when it’s time to submit his work for production.

He’s also not one to finish writing songs immediately. As a working student, he’s juggling several things at a time. So his creative juices usually flow better when he’s bored or not doing anything.

If you’re similar to Keifer, his songwriting style might work for you. One of the things he shared on how he starts a song is by simply writing a sentence that you want to sing. It’s not necessarily the start, the chorus, or the end. It’s just a thought you want to put in the song.

One of the things he draws inspiration from is other songs. Usually, it would be the sound that resonates with him. He would create one with a similar vibe while creating his own story through the lyrics. The story could come from anywhere, not just personal experiences. In fact, Keifer’s song “Last Reply” was inspired by a story he read on a random Facebook post.

After he’s found that sentence to prompt his songwriting groove, he shortens the sentence until it delivers well as a lyric. From there, he continues creating lines related to or succeeding that sentence. It’s a practice that keeps him going until he completes a song.

If you are coming up with lines that aren’t connecting, he advises to save them for another time because they might be more suitable for a different song. Keifer also said he likes to carefully choose nice words to add variety and color to the song. Use a dictionary or thesaurus if needed.

Since we’re also a bilingual country, Keifer said you can try to translate your work. You might find out that the song sounds better in either Filipino or English.

Before leaving viewers to explore their own songwriting talent, Keifer gave an inspirational message for dreamers like him. “Do what you love. Kung ano gusto n’yo, ‘yon gawin n’yo,” he said while reminding them to not be pressured and just enjoy the journey.

“Soon mararating n’yo rin ‘yung time na maaabot n’yo na pangarap n’yo,” he added.

Check out the whole Kapamilya Chat video to know more about Keifer and his song “Last Reply,” now streaming in different digital music platforms.