Shooting for the sky

MANILA, Philippines — You’ve seen this before: kids who can’t seem to settle in one place, always reading, watching and listening to something. For them, the world is a place to learn and explore. And when you think about it, your early years are really all about feeding the constant hunger that you have in honing your skills.

Yellow Cab rounded up eight individuals and organizations to inspire people to never stop feeding their hunger to succeed and do better. Among them are director Pepe Diokno, band UDD, rapper Anygma, tattoo artist DJ Ron Poe of P&P tattoo, athlete Eric Giganto of KAYA FC, Philippine Wrestling Revolution (PWR), streetwear brand Don’t Blame the Kids and electronic artist Skymarines.

Just like any budding musician, Skymarines’ journey started with curiosity and experimentation. “When I bought the Nintendo DS, that’s actually when it started. I bought it for my daughter and there’s a game where you can play or compose music. And that’s when I started playing around (with it),” she says. Since then, she has been signed to Terno Recordings (with UDD, no less), and making waves both offline and online. 

We sat down with Skymarines to talk about her beginnings in music and her hunger to create more.

YOUNG STAR: Why did you decide to change your name to Skymarines?

SKYMARINES: Back then, when I used Sharky and the Whale, nothing was very serious.  You know how the ocean and the sky are places where we travel? To me, nothing is temporary in both of these spaces. That’s what makes it so beautiful because we hold on to moments more when nothing is forever.

How did you feel when you started building an audience?

That’s one of my struggles. I’m not really good with socializing. Random people would just message me and I didn’t know how to reply even though I wanted to. I’m not used to that kind of thing. It’s really just about expressing myself and sharing my story through music.

I enjoy working in the office, but I’ve always had this hunger to pursue music as well because that’s sort of my outlet. When I finish a song — especially for Skymarines — it’s different.  Skymarines was that sanctuary. I never thought that it would reach that point where I’d be signed under a label or that I’d meet UDD. I never planned that, so it sort of gave me more inspiration to work on the songs and improve my music. Dreams can come true.

I read somewhere that you worked with UDD for the newest music video.

I helped them when Mizuki (Shida) came here. We went to Tagaytay together. We went to the press conference and I was the one interpreting. She’s very nice and sweet.

For your next album, what are your inspirations?

Personal experiences still. When my first album came out, I didn’t really think of making another album. But there’s this hunger to improve myself when it comes to production and editing the sound of my synths or my voice. Maybe that’s where all of this comes from.

Do you think you’ll ever stop making music?

No. It’s a part of me now. Although a lot of people say that Skymarines is my second personality, I’m actually the same person. Skymarines is me. I don’t change or morph anything I make when it comes to my music. It’s me and it’s already a part of who I am so I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I think there’s still room for improvement and I also have dreams for another album.

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Check out Yellow Cab’s Facebook page (facebook.com/yellowcabpizzaofficial) for more information. You can listen to Skymarines’ music on Spotify.