Kiko’s advice to aspiring songwriters

When Morissette took time out during her sold-out concert at the Music Museum to thank her mentor Kiko Salazar, people wondered. Kiko is the producer and songwriter who had a big hand in Morissette’s rise to fame.

?Kiko didn’t start out wanting to work behind the scenes. Like most musically-inclined kids, his first dream was to be front and center as a performer.? “I probably started wanting to perform when I was learning how to play the keyboards as a kid,” he recalls. “Also, I always enjoyed watching bands play live, so I always dreamed of being in one.”

He honed his skills playing music in school all throughout college, and upon graduating, joined a band called Metafour. The band was signed to Universal Records and released a self-titled album in 2006. Kiko describes the experience as “very fulfilling” because he got to perform and produce a track on its album to boot.

Then, a family friend introduced Kiko to hitmaker Jimmy Antiporda, who took the budding musician under his wing. Kiko credits Jimmy with putting him on the path he’s treading now. “He became my mentor. He showed me how I can make an actual career out of music production and songwriting,” he says.

However, Kiko now realizes that he probably wanted to become a producer and songwriter all along. Most of his musical influences were artists who wrote their own material like Mariah Carey, or people who wrote for other artists.

“Since my teen years, I’ve always looked up to great songwriters like Babyface, Brian McKnight, Jimmy Jam, Mariah Carey, Terry Lewis, and, of course, some of our local songwriters, Ryan Cayabyab, Jay Durias and Jimmy Antiporda,” Kiko says. “I already had an innate hunger to be more into music production back then.”

?Kiko finds performing just as fulfilling as producing music, but he says the latter is the kind of career that will last longer. “Performing has certain limits as we age — my body and voice can’t handle doing gigs every night the way I used to in my 20s,” he admits. “That’s why I invested more on producing and songwriting as a career. It’s something I can still do probably for the next half of my life.”

?Kiko’s first taste of production work came when he produced the song Give It To Me on his band Metafour’s album. But he truly made his mark with Kyla’s Mahal Kita (‘Di Mo Pansin), which became the lead single off the R&B diva’s eighth studio album Private Affair.

“It was bliss,” he says of the first time he heard the song on the radio. “It was a dream come true to work with Kyla and officially be a songwriter and producer for a mainstream artist.”

?In addition to Kyla and Morissette, he has written and produced hits for Janella Salvador, Karylle, Kim Chiu, KZ Tandingan, Tim Pavino and Toni Gonzaga. He has also worked with the boy groups Harana and Hashtags. In the studio, Kiko makes sure his artists feel comfortable enough to do their best, which is why they end up feeling very close to him afterwards.

“I develop a certain level of friendship with most of the artists I work with, and I’m very grateful for them,” he says.

That’s what happened with him and Morissette. They first worked together on Akin Ka Na Lang, Kiko’s entry to the 2014 Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs songwriting contest.

“Mowie was very submissive to me as the producer,” he recalls. “I was able to tell her how she should treat a particular track emotionally and technically. She was like clay then — easy to mold. Her being open to communicating with me during our sessions helped us get good results.”

Akin Ka Na Lang didn’t win, but it still made a big impact on the charts. Not only did it boost both their careers, but it also made them friends for life. That’s why Morissette gave Kiko that shoutout during her concert.

His advice to aspiring songwriters? “Don’t limit yourselves. That will only prevent you from growing as writers. Second, please your ears first before you let others judge your work. Lastly, as my own mentor once told me, to be a music producer you need to know a little bit about everything.” — With reports from Almed Garcia and Julian Mauricio