Jericho Streegan finds his rhythm in R&B

After Jericho Streegan saw Brian McKnight in a 2018 Cebu concert with his mother, he realized he wanted to become an artist and perform for an audience.

Nearly seven years later, Streegan would go on to perform in the same venue as the opening act for Maki’s first concert tour in Cebu last January. Some in the audience were already familiar with his music, and he may have gained new fans that night when a handful approached him for a photo.

Streegan signed with Maki’s label Tarsier Records last year, which is under ABS-CBN’s Star Music. He said, “I’ve been an ABS-CBN fan for a long time, and to be connected to them in some way is like a dream. Especially with Maki booming right now, to be part of that was really fun.”

He previewed his then-upcoming single “Unsay Gibati,” his second release under the label, which was later made available on music platforms just in time for Valentine’s Day. Produced by Streegan and Azi Rodriguez, the song centers on the will-they-won’t-they tension between two people left alone in a room, wondering whether they should take things to the next level or not.

“It’s not based on a real story,” Streegan clarified. “It’s more about the romantic tension of what these two people are gonna do when they are the only ones left in that place. Are they going to do it or hold back? I really wanted to make something like this that is quite laid-back but in Bisaya and can be played at night with a band.”

What is based on a true story, however, is “Shine”, his first release under the label last November. Produced with Rodriguez and Vince Lucero, Streegan was inspired to write the song after an out-of-town date with his girlfriend.

“I wrote this when I visited my girlfriend in Manila, and we were going around the city at night and the lights were beaming,” he explained. “It’s like an ideal song for a date night. It’s all about how we both shine at night, and that’s what I see in my head writing this song.”

Streegan said there’s a different approach to writing a song in English versus in Bisaya.

“English is the most comfortable language for me to write songs with, and I can play a lot more with that. But with Bisaya songwriting, it’s like painting a picture and being descriptive of the story. It’s a syllabic language, so it’s easier to make rhymes because there’s some sort of meter and rhythm in Bisaya when you’re talking,” he said.

Signing with Tarsier

Streegan being one of the talents under ABS-CBN Music through Tarsier came at the right place and time. After departing from his previous label 22 Tango Music Group, he initially planned to go independent.

“When I left the label, the first thing I wanted to do was to be independent. That means doing every single thing by myself. But I realized after a month that it’s hard. You need a team around you, and it takes a lot to sustain your brand and career, or else you might burn out – especially if you have other things going on,” he said. “But I didn’t automatically think that I needed a label immediately. It’s just the timing felt right.”

According to Streegan, the heads at Tarsier Records heard some of his demos through a friend of his cousin in Manila. He later met with the label’s head, Marey Garcia, when Star Music visited the University of Cebu during a campus tour last year.

“I felt from Tarsier that they wanted to help me,” Streegan explained. “It’s the freedom they’ve given me in terms of creative direction, and they are not pressuring me to have a hit already. I am free to be the creative director of my own stuff.”

Part of having creative freedom includes learning how to produce his own songs, which he started doing using Logic Pro as his software. By familiarizing himself with the layering of music production, he’s begun noticing differences compared to when he was purely a songwriter.

“As a songwriter, I just write and usually never revise them because that’s how I feel at that time. But as a producer, when I finished working on ‘Unsay Gibati’ last summer, I thought it was good already. But when it came to releasing it, there’s actually more work to do – some layers to add, some refining, some elements to sprinkle in there,” he shared.

“As a performer, you leave it all out there and you can’t change it anymore because it already happened. But with producing, you can actually take your time and step back and revisit songs with a fresh set of ears,” he added.

Mom’s influence

When The FREEMAN interviewed Streegan, he had just finished his first day of work at a real estate company.

“It’s hard to earn from music, especially here in Cebu. We are not at that stage yet where we can make music as our main source of income. I took that as a challenge to support the art that I am making,” he said.

His mother was the reason Streegan considered going into the field in the first place, having worked with her one summer for a gig.

“My mom is really business-minded and imparts her knowledge to me about sales. I can’t imagine myself in engineering or a science course. Real estate is where I think I can see myself if it’s not music,” he said.

She also influenced his taste in R&B and remains one of his biggest supporters.

“She had these CDs of R&B music lying around, and she would play them in the car. And then she plays them on YouTube at home. I would discover some new songs through her, and they end up becoming my favorite,” he said.

Streegan considers R&B to be the genre most fitting to his personality, which he hopes comes across when he performs onstage.

“Playing R&B for me is like a soft pillow. R&B is suave, free-flowing, and laidback. I am not the kind who screams or shouts out the bad feelings. I am more of a person who takes it in, just breathes and chills out,” he said.