Michelle Ayalde making good music in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines - It takes talent and the right timing for an artist to shine. But in the case of Michelle Ayalde, it was a YouTube video showing her performance in ASAP several years back that paved the way for her to carve a niche in Malaysia’s music scene.

Michelle, who was part of Star Magic Batch 10, was an actress-singer appearing regularly on the big and small screens for drama and comedy projects, and singing engagements when she got a call from Worldwide Platinum Records president Mickey Willingham inviting her to join his band, the Crush Crew Project, in 2012.

Mickey had seen videos of Michelle performing in one of ASAP’s games High Ka Diva. “I was one of the contestants in the game where I had to reach the highest notes. Pataasan ng boses ‘yun and I won in that particular game,” shares Michelle who flew back into the country for a two-month break and at the same time to promote her album Hipnotic under Warner Music Malaysia.

Michelle relates that it was a tough decision for her to accept Mickey’s invitation at first “because aside from my career here, I was also thinking about the new environment and the different nationalities that I am going to work with.

“But on another thought, I wanted to give it a try considering the stiff competition here in the Philippines. Since nine years old kasi ako, nasa Ang TV na ko. I left showbiz when I was 21 then after that I decided to explore abroad. And since ito na yung opportunity, I accepted the offer (to go to Malaysia). The fear was there but after several months of adjusting to a new environment, everything turned out fine.”

Breaking the language barrier was her initial step to completely make herself at ease with her audience composed mostly of Malaysians and Chinese. “Sikit sikit, it means a little Malay. I am still learning the language but I can now interact with my audience during shows.”

With Tippy Dos Santos and Marcelito Pomoy

Michelle has been doing several gigs with her own band called the Cash Band in four super clubs located in Penang and Kuala Lumpur. She, too, has been helping talented Pinoys to penetrate the Malaysian entertainment scene. “I’ve been performing with my own all-Pinoy band since 2013 and I also introduced the Filipino dance group, Men on Hills, in 2014. Every six months, we need to return to Manila for a ‘cooling’ period of one month as a requirement for all performers working there.”

It’s been four years now since Michelle started performing before a mix crowd of Chinese and other nationalities. “In Penang, we do mostly pop songs, fast songs and also Chinese songs. Seventy percent of the people there are Chinese so I really need to sing in Chinese and at the same time sing and dance kasi performance level talaga dun sa super clubs. The venues are like big theaters.”

Asked if she is willing to accept acting offers here while in Manila, Michelle says she needs to first seek the go-signal from Warner Music Malaysia in which she is under contract for three years. If you recall, Michelle was part of the first installment of Tanging Ina the movie. In the local music scene, she sang Ang Hanap Ko, the Tagalog version of the F4’s Meteor Garden theme song Ni Yao De Ai. She, too, is known for singing the original theme song of the ABS-CBN fantasy series Wansapanataym.

“I’m only here for a vacation and at the same time to promote Hipnotic,” says Michelle, who also expresses her appreciation to Mickey for helping her develop a more mature image and further honing her vocal talent.

Hipnotic, produced by Filipino singer-composer Pierre Paolo Banaga, Elton Collins and Joshua Braganza, consists of seven English tracks that speak about hope, love and the aspiration to realize one’s dream.

“Among the songs in the line-up, it is Love that best describes my personality because I’m a very emotional person — madaling ma-in love, madaling matawa o magalit. And I really like love songs. The listeners will enjoy each song.”

Other songs included in the album are Hypnotic (feat. Mickey Willingham), Leave All Of Your Worries Behind, Work That, Hard On One, Regret It and Missing You.

While she did not compose any song in her latest album, Michelle promises to try her best to come up with her own compositions in the next album. “Medyo mahirap kasing pagsabayin ngayon ‘yung singing and writing songs because I am the leader of the band and we have to attend to all our shows in different venues in Malaysia.”

Music enthusiasts can see her perform with the Cash Band and Men on Hills at the SOJU outlets in Sunway, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

(Hipnotic is available for streaming on Spotify and iTunes. The physical album will be soon available in Manila.)