Charlie Puth in Manila for 2nd time

MANILA, Philippines - Almost one year after his first visit, Charlie Puth returned to Manila over the weekend a certified music star, armed with hits from his debut record Nine Track Mind.

These include Marvin Gaye, One Call Away and We Don’t Talk Anymore, which he wrote in his hotel room during his first trip here in October 2015. At that time, Charlie was mainly known as the voice of the single See You Again from the Furious 7 sountrack. 

Like many an artist in this digital age, the 24-year-old American singer/songwriter started to earn notice after posting acoustic covers, original compositions and comedy videos on YouTube. In 2011, he scored a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which he considers as his first big break.

Charlie, who grew up listening a lot to Mozart and other classical musicians, is also formally schooled in music. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2013, after he majored in music production and engineering on a full scholarship.

When asked how he gets to write all these songs that have had charted outside the US, like in Australia, UK and Asia, Charlie said that he draws inspiration from wherever he is. “I walk around. If the weather’s nice, I hear a nice melody in my head; if the weather is bad, I hear a sad melody in my head. It all depends on my surroundings.”

Here are excerpts from our one-on-one with Charlie yesterday prior to his show at the KIA Theatre:

You first came to the Philippines in October 2015. So much has happened since then.

Charlie during the one-on-one at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel prior to his show at the KIA Theatre in Araneta Center yesterday.

“I’m fantastically back! I didn’t know it’s going to be bigger than it seems to be, even bigger now… Very fast but I would say well-deserved (laughs) because I’ve worked my ass off so I’m very happy that things are happening. I hope that they will happen. Does it scare me? It scares me when people jump at me. But I guess you can expect anything.”

How are you handling the fame, this interest in you? 

“I’m not letting it change how I make music. I’m still going up to my hotel room wherever I’m at, making music. It’s a very humbling experience because sometimes, you nail something and sometimes, you won’t. So, I’m still a person and to be famous is cool, but I try not to let it affect my creative space. How do I try to stay grounded? Well, I just think about the time I didn’t have any fans, and now I have fans, and what hard work can do.”

Any favorite memory from that first time in Manila?

“I made We Don’t Talk Anymore here. The fact that you’re hearing it on people’s ringtones, it’s nuts!”

What’s your earliest musical memory, which you think led you to a career in music?

“Probably singing to people outside my church (in New Jersey) every Sunday. I would go to church and then leave the church, and all these adults would gather around me when I was like three years old. I would sing for them. That would probably be my earliest memory. (Is my family into music?) Well, my mom plays the piano, my dad has really good taste in music.”

Who are your music idols?

“Billy Joel, James Taylor, Taylor Swift, who is named after James Taylor which is interesting enough. Max Martin. Everyone’s my idol. I feel like I can learn so much from so many different artists.

“Right now, I’m listening to PartyNextDoor, who just dropped a new record so I’m totally into this urban vibe right now. (There’s) Rae Sremmurd, Mike Will Made It… I’ve listened to a lot of Erykah Badu lately, a lot of stuff that people think I wouldn’t listen to. At the same time, I’m listening to It’s Gonna Be Me by N’Sync. I try to be well-rounded.”

You’re only 24, so young and already a success. Some people may think though that it came faster and easier to you compared to the others.

“Well, that’s not true. I mean, imagine being told so many times that you can’t be an artist. And to be told so many times that you’re not a good songwriter. You kinda have to be almost self-arrogant quietly in your head, (telling yourself), ‘I’m good, I’m dope, it will eventually happen.’ And it did! I’ve waited outside record labels’ offices for five hours, and I’m actually signed to the one (Atlantic Records) I waited outside for five hours. So you never know what can happen. Don’t give up!

“What kept me going was just the drive to make music. I’m so obsessed with like, putting the drums together, making the record sound a certain way… If I didn’t produce music, I don’t think I will be here.”

How much did the Internet help you as a musician?

“Internet helped (my music) a lot because I didn’t have the confidence to sing in front of people. So, I used the Internet as more like a gateway to send my stuff to people.”

Tell us about the stories behind your songs, like your first hit See You Again (which became part of the soundtrack of Furious 7 as a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker).

“See You Again happened after guesting on Ellen. I went to a studio, heard some nice chord changes. I had the melody in my head. I kinda wanted that haunting, melodic, nice (tune), something a violin could play, and that’s how it happened. Ten minutes later, a song was born.”

Is it true that the song was also written for a friend who passed away?

The 24-year-old musician likes collaborating with ‘female artists, female voices’ such as Meghan Trainor and Selena Gomez.

“It was two years after a friend had died, and I’ve always wanted to write a song for him. But the fact that they wanted me to write a song for Paul Walker, it kind of fell into place.”

How did the chart-topping collaborations with other artists from your album (i.e. Marvin Gaye with Meghan Trainor, We Don’t Talk Anymore with Selena Gomez) happen?

“I’m so fortunate to have all these artists who want to collaborate with me. Meghan Trainor, I met her at a party. She gave me my first big push. She introduced her audience to me. I went on tour with her. She’s a great friend of mine, a friend for life actually.

“Then I met Selena. The song with her — that was a good one. Originally, it was all me. And then I sent it to Selena while I was in the Philippines. I told her about it, then I think about a month later, she came over and recorded it.

“(How about Miley Cyrus?) That’s not true. People got confused. Miley is a judge on The Voice; I worked with Alicia Keys as a guest mentor on The Voice this fall. I think someone posted an article… But I can work with Miley, I can work with anybody. I love working with girl artists, girl voices, because of their vocal range. I do have people on the list but I can’t mention them right now because the songs haven’t come out yet. Huge people who I never thought I’d be able to work with and I feel so fortunate because these collaborations help me as an artist.”

How does being formally schooled in music help you as a pop artist?

“I think it helped immensely because I have the upper hand. Like for a producer who doesn’t know how to play the piano, they have to kind of like take the time to figure out the chords. Like, I have this whole chord library in my head from playing classical and jazz music. So, the only thing I have to worry about is not getting too jazzy sometimes or too classical, which is why I sometimes work with a producer who doesn’t have that music background but who has as many hits and knows how to keep things simple, which is what the listener wants most of the time. I have the advantage, in my own opinion, because I have a little bit more, but I need to be taken down sometimes.”

What can your Filipino fans expect from you in the next months? 

“A new album! I’m going to start working on that one soon. I don’t know when that is coming out but I have a couple (of songs for it already). I’m still on tour and producing an album takes a lot of time. I’d love to (make another song here). It’s good vibes here in the Philippines.”