Robin Nievera: Tunesmith on a dare

MANILA, Philippines - Rare is the artist who dares.

In this day and age, where success is gauged by the number of virtual likes and hits, it takes a great deal of courage and conviction to buck trends, shake up the status quo and take the road less traveled.

Robin Nievera is one such artist.

Rather than riding the coattails of his famous kin, he pitched his musical tent on totally unfamiliar and shaky terrain, driven by his deep-seated yearning to find his own sound and nurture his unique musical voice.

It’s a move that has left many music fans scratching their heads in disbelief. Here is a guy who could’ve milked the same tried-and-tested pop star formula dry, but chose instead to shed himself of all the trappings of stereotype and clichéd commercial success.

Now older and wiser, Robin summons even more guts as he issues a challenge to fellow artists and musicians with his latest release aptly titled Dare.

He explains, “My inspirations for Dare are musicians and singers who write music but are never listened to or completely ignored. Everyone wants to make it as a songwriter, but everyone says, ‘That won’t work, it’s not masa enough, or not mainstream enough.’ Or my favorite, ‘We don’t have a budget for that kind of recording.’

“The reason I produced all my songs in my bedroom is to show that you don’t need a fancy studio. You don’t need fancy chords or instruments. You just need to believe in what you write. Stop relying on what worked in other countries. Dare was meant for songwriters and producers who feel ignored and underappreciated.”

True enough, Dare’s carrier singles, No More Light and Love and War, echo his artistic struggles for the past five years.

He confesses, “It’s based on my feelings about my career as a musician/singer/producer for the past five years. I sing about how much I have struggled and if I should give up on this career. I saw it fitting to write these singles because of the irony, that I make a comeback singing songs about my frustrations.”

While his previous works betray the strong influences of such artists as Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Jason Mraz with their eclectic fusion of blues, rock, folk and grassroots music, Robin’s latest work finds him experimenting with a fresh musical palette.

Robin elaborates, “I try to take a different approach with every album I make. Dare is the album that’s the easiest to listen to. I usually write my songs on a guitar, and they usually turn out to be very riff-heavy. For Dare, I wrote the songs on a keyboard first, to make my chords easier to listen and sing to. I also used a lot of Pad sounds to give some of the songs a drone-y sound.”

He adds, “I think Dare will be the ‘poppiest’ I will ever get with my music. I like music that makes me think. So, the next album I’ll do, I’m gonna go all-out with music I write my way. If I ever do a pop song/album, it will be for an artist that asks me for his/her help.”

Thankfully, Robin has found his kindred spirit in R ’n B royalty Jay-R, himself a staunch OPM crusader and record producer whose label is fast becoming the haven of tenacious indie artists.

Robin says, “I’ve been through a number of labels and teams that couldn’t live up to their promises. I totally understood why. I’m not a marketable artist. I like doing my own thing. With Jay, I like what he was doing. He gave me the freedom to do what I wanted and helped me in areas I wasn’t good with.

“Jay-R is a very good producer. He knows what he wants. He has mastered the sound he wants to sing for himself. Jay and I have our own opinions about the industry which we talk about occasionally. I am over being disappointed with everything. I want to be the one to change things. HomeWorkZ has made me very comfortable with my career. I am working with people who feel the same way and want the same things.”

Just like Jay-R, Robin finds himself aligned with their common vision to be more proactive in creating original music.

“I think we have the same mission. Everyone needs to be more proactive if you wanna be in the music scene. It’s going to take more of that original music to make an impact. And that’s what will happen next,” he says.

As part of his marketing strategy, Robin is gearing up for a promo tour this year.

Even when he’s not busy composing or playing, Robin still finds himself surrounded by music 24/7.

“I’m a radio DJ for Wish 107.5 by day, a music video producer by night, and a singer when I can be,” he admits sheepishly.