The reluctant rock & roll heroine

It’s way too easy for any rock and roll heroine to be consumed by the flames of success and all its related self-indulgent excesses. Luckily, Kitchie Nadal managed to veer away from that path, choosing instead to bask in the warm glow of an inner sacred flame.

Her spiritual journey is chronicled in her newly-released single, aptly titled Fire. Released by Warner Music, the track echoes her own tale of redemption and renewal.

"It marks the beginning of my journey as a Christian," Kitchie explains. "I’m now a born-again Christian, just like my manager, Tommy (Tanchanco), and Barbie (Almalbis). We all go to the same church, the Victory Christian Fellowship group. But it wasn’t Tommy who got me in. It was actually Barbie who discipled us."

The song, with its half-cryptic lyrics, indeed bears out a few tell-tale signs of inner turmoil, remorse and salvation – hardly the stuff typically found in today’s vapid pop anthems.

Lifted from her best-selling debut effort, Fire could easily dislodge its contenders in the ratings game. After all, radio fans who may have had their fill of Wag na Wag or Bulong, could very well acclimatize themselves to the new song’s offbeat appeal.

"It’s not as typical as Wag na Wag, or Bulong. It’s definitely not mainstream," Kitchie explains. "There are songs that grow on you, and this is one of them. It took some time before I explained the song to Tommy. It’s a little bit of everything – side comments I hear, something from a movie, a Biblical verse. I wanted other people to know another side of me, and this could very well do that."

"It’s out of the box," Tommy chimes in, offering his own two cents about the new single’s crafty marketing ploy, and his ward’s phenomenal ascent to fame.

It wasn’t an easy start, he narrates. Fresh from her departure from Mojofly, Kitchie was deadset on pursuing her studies. "There was this urgency," she recalls. "Everything just fell into place. When I quit Mojofly, I just decided to record the songs just for the heck of it. I thought I could use them in the future – for my kids, for other artists, whatever. Then, out of the blue, Tommy came along."

"Since we all went to the same church," she continues, "I let him hear the songs I recorded, and he broached them to the radio stations like NU. And then people started calling. And that’s how it started, one step at a time."

Tommy picks up the story from there. "There was so much resistance from other camps," he adds. "Even the name ‘Kitchie Nadal.’ There were people who said it was a tongue twister. Would you believe, even the first single Wag na Wag had a hard time penetrating the masa stations? Some said it was too upscale. And then, it was used as the theme song in Lovers in Paris. By then, it gained quite a following already."

Of the Lovers in Paris issue, Kitchie seems unfazed by rumors that Wag na Wag’s popularity stemmed from its affiliation with the prime time soap. "Well, it’s good," she remarks in jest. "We helped each other. Actually, I didn’t know about that. I just tuned in one time and thought, "Whoa! They’re using my song!" But apparently, all artistic and business concerns had already been ironed out.

Even with her current rock star and hot commercial endorser status, Kitchie would rather prioritize her studies. She’s already finished her degree in Education, and is currently wrapping up her second one – Psychology. "A lot of people think that school is a fallback for me," Kitchie clarifies. "But actually, it feels more like therapy to me now. It fits in with everything, like my songwriting."

The reluctance becomes more obvious once she unplugs her Parker Fly and steps away from the glare of the stage lights. In person, Kitchie is a far cry from the loud and flamboyant personas who typically make up the rock scene.

"She’s an artist," Tommy butts in again. "The sudden fame, it was fun and good, but it’s like a big shock to her."

"People should understand that I’m not really a very ‘social’ or outgoing person," Kitchie adds.

Ironically, it was only some time ago when she wanted to earn her place in local music history. "There was a time I was in school and I was watching this documentary and the kids were singing Eraserheads songs," she narrates. "And I wanted that."

It wasn’t too long afterwards when another director made another documentary. "This time, he went to the outskirts – the remotest areas of the country, and guess what? He got footage of some kids singing Wag na Wag. I was so amazed by that. It was like a dream come true."

If her songs weren’t catchy enough, imagine how much more pervasive her videos can be – considering their heavy exposure in today’s music video channels. For her Fire video, they tapped the services of a young advertising guy: Nicolo Reyes. "They conceptualized it, and surprisingly, they got the idea right away," Kitchie exclaims. "I can’t imagine any other concept that would’ve been more appropriate."

Unlike most upstarts who fret endlessly about the second album syndrome, Kitchie and Tommy take it all in stride. "Actually, as Christians, we’re not really that worried," Tommy emphasizes. "That’s because of our faith. Everything is ultimately up to Him. But as a marketing guy, of course, we have to rely on our own experience and wisdom. In the end, we are our own worst enemy, and it’s up to us to wage our own war and win our own battles."