Written By Kenneth Tse
And His “Conversations With the Moon”
By Luciana Moore
grentperez embodies the best parts of what it means to be a hopeful romantic: kind, intimate, sincere, and so adorable. The 20-year-old Filipino singer-songwriter began his musical journey in his childhood bedroom in Sydney, Australia with his aptly named YouTube series, 'Sing U To Sleep'.
grentperez first hit his first one million monthly listeners on Spotify in January of this year. After his Valentine's Day release of his debut EP, Conversations With The Moon, that number shot up to over 2.8 million. The EP depicts “two lovers going through the motions of a relationship” and tenderly wraps the listener in a melodic embrace.
Whether he’s sharing adorable TikTok content to make you laugh, or sending you hand-drawn pillowcases when you need to cry, his storytelling paints love’s imperfections in a way that keeps your heart yearning for more. We speak to grentperez about his recent EP, what love means to him, and what 2022 has in store.
grentperez! Thank you so much for speaking to us, and huge congrats on your newest debut EP, Conversations With The Moon! Can you walk us through your inspiration behind the project?
It's an honour to be here, thank You for having me. Conceptually the Conversations with the moon EP came together as it was being created with no real motive behind it. Although, as the songs came to be, I saw that there could be a narrative of finding, questioning, accepting, losing, and falling back into love. I have always been a fan of Rom-Coms and all things cutesy, so I guess the ideology of finding love through complications stuck to me.
What does the EP represent for you, and what do want your listeners to take away by listening to the project?
Well, the first song created, 'Conversations With The Moon' was made the night before I asked my partner to be my girlfriend funnily enough. So in turn I guess this EP kind of takes me to that moment haha. But in terms of my listeners, I'd want this EP to be an experience, much like viewing artwork or watching a film. I'd love for them to create/imagine a story of two lovers going through the motions of a relationship.
Your songs speak to the hopeless romantics inside us all. Why do you choose to sing about love? And what does the concept of ‘love’ mean to you?
I sing about love as it's an interesting concept. Definitely been done many many times before, but what's so interesting is how the feeling of love changes with whoever listens to it.
To me, I find love to be one of the weirdest things in our existence, how it doesn't physically exist but it can be such a detrimental factor to our lives as human beings. Love is care, it's a game of giving and receiving, it's a language.
Can you share what your creative process looks like? What was unique about writing Conversations With The Moon?
With CWTM in particular, I knew I really wanted something different with the way it was written. And being that it was to court someone, I was really okay with it being super cheesy and very cheeky. With the creative process, however, it was much the same as the others, starting with a chord progression, then melody, followed by the lyrics. This song actually sounded very different when it was first written. It wasn't until I E-met Stephen Day that we updated and finished the song.
What is the story behind the title?
I feel as though the title came together through true events. I know for a fact that whenever I'm up late at night it's always me and my thoughts and while I don't directly speak to the moon I do find myself holding conversations with the universe about what's been going on, 'asking for answers,' type-of thing.
Could you share some of the lessons you’ve learned about love? What advice would you give to someone dealing with heartbreak?
Love hurts and love can be tiring, but with love comes understanding: and that understanding has to come from both ways. From what I've found is that your relationship really is a team game, and when you're fighting for something that they don't necessarily want, it's obvious and that hurts. But love is also incredibly beautiful, and it doesn't take an expert to see that.
If you're going through heartbreak, the best I can say is to feel what you need to feel, let it out, immerse yourself in emotion. But you've got to find a way to realize that there's more to life than love. Obviously, never rush yourself, and take your sweet sweet time. But please just know there are two sides. It might take weeks or months but life really does move on, and so will you.
What role has music played in your life? And when did you realize it was a viable career path for you?
Music has always been a part of my life, albeit a little bit in the background but: there. It wasn't until the end of 2019 when I started taking my YouTube seriously that I saw that it could be a possibility. Then SYTS came along and I started writing more. From then I really didn't want to look back.
Your parents are Filipino, but you grew up in Sydney, Australia. How has your multicultural upbringing shaped how you view the world?
I loved growing up in Sydney, I grew up in a town called 'Fairfield' and that was Mega multicultural. I went through primary (elementary) school with a rainbow of ethnicities and I loved learning about them through our multicultural days. So from an early age, I grew up with such a broad understanding of who's out there. However that doesn't go without saying, I was not prepared to learn about how adverse people can be, and that took a big toll on things as I was coming of age.
You first generated a following through your YouTube series ‘Sing U To Sleep.’ What a beautiful concept! Where did you come up with the idea, and why do you personally feel it was so successful?
HAHA, thank you so much! It was actually inspired by Alaina Castillo who did it first, but I felt that it was missing that instrumental aspect rather than being acapella! So massive propers to Alaina! Personally, I knew a lot of people had issues with their sleep, whether it be insomnia or a busy brain: it affects a lot. I wanted to give something that wasn't white noise or a fully produced song; imagine if you fell asleep on call to someone that sang you to sleep.
Another lovely idea of yours was a “hand-drawn pillowcase giveaway”. Why did you choose a pillowcase as your medium?
That was actually suggested to me by a member of my team, so I can't fully take initiative on that. However, I was in love with the idea. I've always been a fan of crafts and printing and having the medium of such an intimate/personal item felt so perfect and interesting to draw on–especially as the song printed on being such a sad track.
Who are the artists that personally inspire you, and in what ways?
Bread, Rex Orange County, Daniel Caesar, Frank Ocean, The Beatles, Don Mclean.
Storytelling, I love how they capture moments in word form so beautifully with such melodic freedom. It just feels so warm and immersive when listening.
What do your fans mean to you? How have they impacted you as a human being?
My community means the world to me, it's just such a shame as I wish I could just give them the world with how thankful I am. They definitely do help me when I'm in my head, or if ever I doubt myself. I love seeing their brains work: all in different ways with their replies and artworks. They're a very very funny bunch and incredibly wholesome for the most part. But I'm happy no matter how they are.
Another huge congratulations for hitting 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify at the beginning of this year! What emotions did you feel on the day, and how has hitting that milestone impacted how you view yourself as an artist?
Ah! Honestly, it didn't hit me immediately until a few days later when I really thought about the size of a million people... a month.... what?! Cherry Wine definitely carried that, but it gave me the courage to really go full force with this music biz. It made me think “huh... so people really do like my music. SICK” haha
You’re only 20 years old and already generating big waves! What are your goals for the future?
Hehe, thank you. I really haven't seen it in that light yet. It feels like I'm just doing stuff and people just wanna watch which is really cool!
I just wanna keep doing that 'Stuff'! Creating is just an awesome thing, I'll definitely keep making music, continually writing new songs. I'll definitely be having another EP release and a possible album, but I just really want to get on a stage and perform. But along with that, I wanna look into other creative endeavors that I will keep a secret for now shh hehe!
Definitely stay tuned. I'm always excited for the future. Let's see where it takes us.
Who do you owe your biggest thanks to?
My family for sure. My parents in that they did believe I had a chance in this industry. And my siblings for really bringing me into the music: for being my biggest inspiration.
Kenneth Tse
