MANILA, Philippines — Martin Nievera is now a proud grandfather to baby Phineas Atlas, his and ex-wife Pops Fernandez’s first apo from their eldest son Robin and his non-showbiz partner.
As Pops mentioned in previous interviews that she preferred to be called baby Phineas’ “Lolly,” the Concert King said he wouldn’t mind being addressed as “Lolo”.
“We thought so hard about my name. I’m okay with Lolo. I mean, hello, people, when I was younger, called me Lolo,” said Martin during the press gathering for his contract renewal for Vicor Music.
“But now, it’s Lilo. Lilo Marts like Lilo and Stitch. If she (Pops) can be a Lolly, I can be a Lilo,” continued Martin who was able to see and hold baby Phineas two days after he was born last December in Chicago.
The music icon furthered that he was initially hesitant to carry the baby. “I’ve held kids all the time. I love kids but grandkid? My kid, I held someone else’s kid, but my grandkid? I thought he’s going to break. I’m gonna break this child. I’ve held kids so much all my life but two days old? Baka mamaya sobrang hilaw pa.”
According to Martin, Robin and his partner Mian Acoba’s firstborn is nicknamed Finn because “we wanted something with a (letter) P for his mom if it’s a boy. If it’s a girl, the name is supposed to be Martie. But it’s a boy so, Phineas or (pwede rin) Philippines, Ph.”
“It’s what they want. Robin and Mian think alike. They wanted the same name. They wanted (something) different, not the usual. He (baby) looks like his dad, Robin na Robin.”
As for Pops, it took three months before she could visit their grandson in the US due to showbiz commitments.
“This happened just now, a few hours ago,” shared Martin and calculated that it was almost the same time as the press con. “Robin and Pops went from Vegas to Chicago to introduce the baby to the Lolly.”
Martin also expressed delight that his son Robin has found the perfect partner in Mian. “They are a great couple. We’ve seen them for a day or two to be able to see how they click with each other, and they are a perfect couple.”
Asked if he feels envious that Robin has already found his perfect partner, Martin was quick to reply that he, too, already found a perfect lady, and it’s none other than his ladylove Anj del Rosario.
“I’ve been a good boy. We’ve been together long enough to know that this is it,” he stressed, adding that marriage is the only thing missing.
“I’ve always been afraid of it but she’s not rushing me naman,” stated Martin.
He revealed that he composed a song for Anj at the beginning of their love affair. “It was a secret before. I wrote her a song many years ago when we first fell in love.”
The song, titled Forever in Your Eyes, was given by Martin to Christian Bautista to record. “We’re thinking of bringing it back, I don’t know how is that with royalties and all. So maybe, we can do our version of it.”
Now that he has returned to Vicor 40 years after he first became a recording artist for the music label, Martin is planning to write songs for his new album. His very first album with Vicor was titled Take 1.
“So, when I rejoined Vicor, I said, ‘Let’s do an album, let’s call it Take 2 but the concept is my second take with Vicor.’
“And my second take on some of my favorite OPM songs so I said, ‘Can we do Be My Lady again but make it a different arrangement? (They said) Yes. (How about) Say That You Love Me? Yes.
“And then, I chose Tell Me, Never Ever Say Goodbye, Tag-Araw with Hajji Alejandro, ‘yung mga old OPM songs but my take, Take 2 or remake as we know it. They all fit with Take 2,” he shared.
Also in the planning stage is the inclusion of Basil Valdez’s Ngayon at Kailanman, as well as The Itchyworms’ Di Na Muli, in Martin’s album, which is going to be in vinyl record form.
“We all agreed that since the songs are classics, we should make it something collectible, hindi lang ‘yung pang streaming. But of course, it will be available the way everyone is buying their songs now. But in an album form, the big long playing (record) like the old days, it’s a perfect album for that.”
Did Martin ever imagine returning to Vicor after four decades?
“Like I said, I feel like I never left every time I see the Vicor people although there are new ones since I was here. But it’s like I never left and we still help each other. We even had concerts where I’d be doing Vicor songs and they never gave me a hard time or the company I was with.
“They were always in my corner, maybe not in the recording aspect that we are now, with contracts and handshakes. It was always in an understanding. Since we both started almost 50 years ago together, we have this relationship. May bond kami. As I’ve said, I never even read the contract,” he said.