Mikee: It’s time to focus on my singing

MANILA, Philippines — Let it be known that aside from acting, Mikee Quintos is also into singing. This side of her is shown in Ang Awit ni Lira, Panaginip and Di Mawawala (a duet with Kelvin Miranda). She recorded the songs for her shows Encantadia, Onanay and The Lost Recipe, respectively. Mikee sang them as her characters Lira, Maila and Chef Apple.

Recently, Mikee has released another song titled Just Enough, under GMA Playlist. What makes this different from previous releases is, Mikee sings it as Mikee, the actress-singer. Thus, Just Enough is her very first single.

“As a singer, what’s important to you should be the reason of your singing or (is what makes) you sing,” said Mikee on the stories and themes her music explores in a recent media call. “For me, right now, it’s love and the comfort (one could share) to people, with what’s going on around us. That’s something I feel that they need (the most) now and even people close to me.” Through her music, Mikee simply wants to touch the hearts of everyone and their lives, within and beyond her sphere.

“With this recording, nakapaglaro talaga ako as Mikee,” added she, who, as you know it, compared her experience in interpreting a song, whose message and singing style were made for and based on a particular TV character. This required Mikee to be in character.

“Like (the song of) Lira, my approach was young and I couldn’t incorporate (into it) my own style, which is Mikee’s,” said she. It’s safe to say that Mikee is one singer, who knows the value of respecting the voice or the character in her every song. This time around, her real self or voice is being captured in Just Enough. Mikee is happy to unleash it for fans to enjoy. She added that “in my memory, all of my songs I released were as (my characters) Maila, Lira and Chef Apple and never as Mikee. This is the very first time that (I recorded a song) as Mikee.”

As for the song’s genre, Mikee described it as bubblegum pop, “which is kinda new and also under the pop genre,” said she, and is characterized by feel-good, chill vibes, as one may add. “I really want to try it out. I think it’s a good place to start wherein I could explore.”

Just Enough also signified another dream fulfilled for Mikee, who prayed for it to happen and couldn’t contain her happiness during the media conference. This reminded everyone that her passion for singing came first before acting.

“What happened was when I got into showbiz, acting was new to me, so parang duon ako mas nakaka-feel ng growth, mas nakaka-feel na this was something new,” recalled she. “All my energy was focused on developing my acting. Feeling ko it’s time naman to focus on my singing and to put more energy on (my) music.”

Even if she put aside her singing, though not totally, Mikee had never forgotten it and just waited for the right time to revisit and rediscover it.

What was the process like in recording Just Enough and her motivation to pursue it?

“(Of) all the songs they sent me, (ito) yung tumama sa akin at (ito yung) malapit siya sa definition ng what love is to me (It hit my core and the song was close to my definition of love),” she answered. “Na-very calm, very comforting. Honestly, my motivation for this really was the fans, their support.” For someone, who has done more acting than singing, Mikee considered recording Just Enough “a hard jump,” perhaps because the public is used to see her portraying characters on the small screen. But she got the courage from her following to embark on it. “Yung fans ko yung nag-push sa akin na, na nag-message sa akin to release a song. I wanted them to feel the love… Sila yung naiisip ko.”

What’s in the pipeline after Just Enough? “I have a lot,” Mikee piqued everyone’s interest. “Ayoko siyang i-announce until (I’m really) sure (about it). But this won’t be the last. That’s the promise. I really hope that people will enjoy the song (Just Enough).”

With that, Mikee will churn out more ditties as this one is not enough to showcase her potential as a singer.

(Just Enough is also streaming on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music and all other digital stores.)