Instead of being the one to receive gifts on her 23rd birthday, Pamilya Ko star Maris Racal sang in September 22 by releasing a brand-new music that she wrote titled “Not For Me”.
And recently, Star Magic caught up with her to know more about the story behind the relatable and LSS-inducing song and her promising musical journey through the “News ‘To Ko ‘Yan” segment that was shown on KUMU.
The fun chikahan commenced with the actress-singer enthusiastically recounting how she celebrated her birthday differently this year.
“Ever since kasi talaga ‘yong mga birthday parties ko. Sobrang small lang na gathering, dinner lang kasi ‘di ako marunong mag-host ng party. So for this year, siyempre bawal mag-host ng party, so naisip ko, mag-release ako ng song kasi gusto ko, ako naman may gift,” she imparted, saying that releasing “Not For Me” made her feel like promoting movies.
As she nervously and giddily waited for the clock to strike 12 in the midnight in order to post the music video, which was shot and directed by famous photographer Shaira Luna, on YouTube, Maris recalled asking herself why she was even allowing herself to feel that way on her birthday.
“Sobrang saya ko buong araw na ‘yon. Even the day before that masaya na kasi ‘yong kaba, ‘yong excitement kasi magre-release ako ng song and then naghintay talaga ako ng 12 midnight para ma-post na. Para akong nagpro-promo ng movie na feeling. Parang napaisip ako, ‘bakit ko ba ‘to ginagawa sa sarili ko sa birthday ko?’” she said.
When asked what inspired her to compose the song and the story behind it, she told the host that idea was born out of her personal experience and on that instance when she’s able to create a story and tune.
“While I was writing it, nag-create lang talaga ako ng story sa mind ko and nang makabuo na ako ng few lines, do’n ko na na-gets kung saan ako papunta. The song is about being afraid of commitment, mga ganyan, sobrang daming makaka-relate d’yan. Throughout the writing process ‘yong mga personal experiences ko from the past and ilang feelings na gano’n. Ni-relate ko nalang sa’kin and that’s how I finished the song,” the Kapamilya actress said.
Then Maris went on to divulge how much she enjoyed collaborating again with OPM icon Rico Blanco, to whom she had the chance to work with on song “Abot Langit”, as she learned new stuff from him with regards to producing songs. She also conveyed how kilig she is that Zild Benitez of IV Of Spades was the one who provided the bass for this piano-driven track, which she wrote early this year and was supposed to release last March or April yet didn’t push through because of the pandemic.
She discussed as well her songwriting process and cited her family as her major musical influences. Their dad was fond of playing The Beatles song everytime she sent them to and fetched them from school, their mom always pushed her to join auditions, her older brother used to have a band before, while her sisters are huge music fans too!
The talented Star Magic artist also revealed that she will star in an upcoming project alongside Iñigo Pascual, Zaijian Jaranilla, Jairus Aquino, and Dominic Ochoa, yet refused to divulge further details about it.
Maris also played the game “For Me or Not For Me”, wherein she had to distinguish whether a certain item uttered by the host is something that appeals to her or not.
Of course, her appearance would not be complete without her doing a sample of “Not For Me” and the Himig Handog 2018 entry she interpreted titled “Sugarol”.
Click on the video to see everything that went down in Star Magic’s fun conversation with Maris!