Renz Verano: From singer to composer

Gen X people may not know him.  But their parents do, oh so well. Renz Verano was the April Boy Regino back in the ‘90s. His weepy songs  made him the toast of the  CD crowd. 

After he made his Vicor album in 2005, however, not much was heard from Renz. Bands of all shapes and sizes came and went, new singers faded in and out.  And fans wondered whatever happened to Renz.

The good news is that he is back, like a welcome memory from a storied past. And he has reinvented himself . 

Renz teams up with friend Rannie Raymundo  in R&R: Sessions album. The unique thing about the 12-cut album is that it is a compromise between the high-brow (Rannie) and the masa (Renz). It aims to please to the bone.

Rannie brings his music — borne of years performing in posh lounges and bars. Renz shares his sound — heard over jeepneys, buses, jukeboxes and places where the CD crowd gathers. The result is an album that reaches out to what Rannie and Renz call the A to Z market.

Renz also has another term for their music: The New Manila Sound. After all, its original source, the Cinderella band, is but a memory. And someone, somehow, must take up where the group left off.

R&R (for Rannie and Renz, what else?) also shows off a new side to Renz’s personality: that of composer.  Renz surprised even himself by making five (Uwi Na Ko, Pwede Ba, Walang Iwanan, Bale Wala and Good-bye) of the 12 cuts in the album.

“Rannie made the first melody, I made the second, and before we know it, we had a song,” relates the jubilant Renz. The fact that Rannie liked his melody flattered Renz no end. After all, Renz reasons out, Rannie is the expert when it comes to making hit songs (Rannie composed Dingdong Avanzado’s hit, Tatlong Beinte Singko, remember?). He should know a winner of a song when he hears one.

Not that Renz — or Rannie for that matter — will rant and rave if their album fails to meet expectations.  They won’t.

The two have nothing more to prove (although getting their money back, and more, would be great).

It’s just that their combined sound — a blend of Latin, pop-rock, sentimental ballads — is something the two believe will at first, tickle the public’s curiosity. Once the public has heard of it, word of mouth will come naturally.

The songs, after all, are close to the Pinoy’s heart as the ever-present jeepney. Uwi na Ako, which Rannie and Renz recorded with friend Lloyd Umali, is dedicated to OFWs and those who have migrated abroad. The carrier single Pwede Ba, is a love song children of the kolehiyalas who used to adore Rannie so much, can relate to. Walang Iwanan banks on the much-vaunted barkada mentality.

Rannie and Renz’s voices alternately tease, serenade and fire up the  listener’s imagination with a thousand and one images: Love lost and regained, friendships preserved, an OFW staring out the window wishing he’s home. It is, in other words, Juan dela Cruz’s life in CD.

If Rannie and Renz can sing about friendship so convincingly, it’s because they have been buddies for more than a decade. It all started — many friendships do — at work.

It was the ‘90s, back when the multiplex (remember those cassette tapes you can sing along to?) was still the in thing. Renz was Rannie’s vocal coach in the studio.

The elder balladeer was grooming Rannie as the male counterpart of now Vegas-based Lani Misalucha.

Years passed and the two didn’t meet again until Eat, Bulaga! came along. Renz again coached the then budding singer in Rannie. Then, by some twist of fate, Renz and Rannie found themselves jamming, this time with Lloyd Umali. The group, together with sound engineer Arnel de Vera, got so close they soon found themselves calling their group the Brat Pack.  It’s a far cry from the Rat Pack group made up of Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. But Renz, Rannie and Lloyd at least shared the Rat Pack’s passion and talent for music.

The friendship bloomed to a point where it was Renz who thought of naming Rannie’s home-based recording studio Brattrax, a spin-off of Brat Pack, of course.

Today, Brattrax, located at West Greenhills, is not just another recording studio out to make a fast buck. It aims to help discover fresh, young talents who can give new life to an industry Rannie and Renz love so well.

“We have so many talents from reality shows,” Rannie and Renz observe.  “It’s about time we give them the break they need.”

Meanwhile, the enduring duo are doing their own share in giving the public new songs they can sing to, not just cover versions based on tried-and-tested melodies. It’s a big risk, especially in an age when recording piracy hangs over the industry like the proverbial sword of Damocles.

But if veterans like Rannie and Renz won’t take the risk, who will?

Besides, it’s about time they give back something to an industry that has blessed them so.

The celebration of music and friendship goes on April 26, Saturday, 9 p.m. at Teatrino, where Rannie and Renz will combine music and humor in their show.

It will go on and on for as long as they can help it.