He remembers his salad days as a showbiz newcomer with fondness. Like the time when he first heard his debut single, the monster hit ballad Sana Kahit Minsan, being played on the radio.
"I was surprised," Ariel recalls. "I was riding a jeepney then. So I whispered to my cousin that it was my song being played on the radio."
When he made his stage debut as a guest in Pops Fernandez’s 12-12 show at the old ULTRA, he was on pins and needles. "I was so nervous then," Ariel looks back. "I kept rushing in and out of the comfort room. I felt sick."
By the time he made his solo concert debut in the show aptly titled First Time, held at the Music Museum in 1991, Ariel was a bit calmer, more polished, in fact.
"It really felt good," he reminisces.
Once Ariel had his first taste of being on centerstage, he knew instinctively that he belonged under the spotlight. When he mounted his first big concert at the Folk Arts Theater, Simple Lang... Ariel in 1992, he was already a seasoned pro.
"It was very easy na for me," Ariel affirms. "It’s because Backroom booked us for provincial and campus tours every week. That served as our training ground."
After 14 years in the biz, Ariel insists that he has remained basically the same person. "Not much has changed," Ariel speaks with uncommon truthfulness. "I’m still the same. For people who thought I was a jerk when I was starting out, I am still a jerk. But for those who thought I was a nice guy, I am still a nice guy."
The essential Ariel, he avows, is totally un-showbizzy. "I speak my mind. I don’t care whether other people like my opinion or not," he pipes up. "I don’t sugar-coat. I am honest and I am true to my word."
Being brutally frank can be a liability in showbiz, but Ariel has turned it into an asset.
"I turn it to my advantage," he volunteers. "If there is one thing I knew before going into the business, it’s that I cannot please everybody."
Ariel is also an award-winning actor who has shared the silver screen with the likes of Vilma Santos, Lea Salonga, and Sharon Cuneta.
He is promoting the second single off his latest album under BMG Records Pilipinas titled In My Life in which the hit carrier single, Tell Me, a revival of Joey Albert’s hit in the ’80s, was made into a duet and recorded with no less than Regine Velasquez.
The album contains nine other stirring ballads Ariel is known for. Included in In My Life album are Before You, You Are, Mamahalin, Love is the Answer, Ibulong Mo Sa Hangin and Maghihintay. It also contains two other revivals, You and Narito.
"I’m very proud of this album," says Ariel. "It perfectly captures what I am right now. As an artist, I make it a point that each album I release reflects my current persona, my feelings. It’s not just a matter of recording a song then releasing it. It should have a stamp of who I am and what I am."
Indeed, Ariel is just as busy as ever, even after a dozen years in the biz. "I’ve never looked at my job as a stepping stone to something bigger. Rather, I consider it as a blessing," he intones. "I’ve reached my goal. Being happy with myself, with my family, and with my life."
That, in a nutshell, is Ariel’s biggest achievement after 14 lucky years in showtown.