His music got Per out of depression

MANILA, Philippines - Per Sorensen of Fra Lippo Lippi fame knows how to play the music industry game. Turning 50 in December, he’s been there, done that long enough to know its do’s and don’ts.

“You can’t go out and pretend,” he points out. “You have to be yourself. The charisma of people who pretend goes down the drain.”

So he comes up with songs “frighteningly close to who I am.” And he knows people won’t mind.

When he croons “loneliness is harsh” in the song — what else — Loneliness, you feel Sorensen’s pain down to the last note.

It was a pain so terrible he admits falling into two bouts of severe depression. But he’s not saying why.

“You do not share everything about yourself,” he warns. “You need to protect yourself. If you don’t, they’ll swallow you. Don’t let anybody know everything.”

So you hold your tongue and give the guy the privacy he wants — and deserves.

Besides, Per is a singer-songwriter who interacts with a big crowd only when he performs all over the world.

Thus did he find out that the British are so blunt they tell you, “Back off!” when they don’t like your music.

Per doesn’t mind. At least he knows where he stands.

He’s had no such problem with the Filipinos so far. Yes, he’s heard that the Pinoy audience is hard to please. But he hasn’t felt it in any of the shows he’s had in the country so far.

“I’ve always experienced a very warm welcome here,” he explains. “Filipinos connect with what I’m trying to express. We have something (in common). That’s why I’m always coming back.”

Filipinos just can’t get enough of his hit songs Everytime I See You, Later, Angel, Stitches and Burns, Light and Shade, Beauty and Madness, Shouldn’t Have to be Like That, The Distance Between Us and others.

And so, Per will sing them again, in Steve O’Neal Productions’ Fra Lippo Lippi’s Greatest Hits tonight at Ormoc Astrodome; tomorrow, Feb. 11 at Tacloban Coliseum; Saturday, Feb. 12 at University of Baguio; Sunday, Feb. 13 at Waterfront Cebu and Monday, Feb. 14 at NBC Tent at the Fort.

His repertoire may be oh-so-familiar since Per once said he won’t experiment with any musical style ( good-bye, RnB and hip-hop!).

 But he won’t mind stepping out of his comfort zone and squeezing in a Tagalog song “if you give me the lyrics.”

Since 1988, he has performed in the Philippines several times. Thus did Per become yet another fan of Pinoy musical talent and beauty.

He remembers admiring Kyla’s talent when they sang a duet. Per also recalls having dinner with Sharon Cuneta.

Per’s eyes must have sparkled the way they did when he shared how the melody of Beauty and Madness “just came through” him one day. So did The Watchman, which he wrote at age 14.

Per’s first performance goes even way back, when he was four and growing up in his native Norway.

His parents planted the seeds from which his musical talent would grow when they bought Per’s first piano at 12. He has fallen in love with the music of Elton John, Carole King, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles since.

Today, Per and his music are inseparable.That’s why he has continued to perform solo after Rune Kristofferson, Fra Lippo Lippi founder and bass player quit to form his recording company.

“I’m a musician. I need to play (my music),” Per explains.

So Per goes on performing to fan the flames of his musical passion.

“I hope they will carry me out of the stage and say, `This is it, man,” he says.