How bossa nova opened doors for this Pinoy singer in the UK

MANILA, Philippines — The Filipino diaspora is also about pursuing passions aside from finding greener pastures. A testament to it is our kababayan who are making a name for themselves abroad, especially in the creative fields of recording and singing. The UK-based Filipino artist Marvin Velasquez is one of them.

“I discovered my passion for bossa nova in 2016 when I met sir Jun Mallillin, the composer behind Boyfriends hits like Dahil Mahal Kita and Abrakadabra’s Bote Dyaryo — along with his London-based songwriter-producer, who is a registered nurse here in the UK,” said he in an e-mail interview with this paper. Boyfriends and Abrakadabra are prominent and iconic Original Pilipino Music (OPM) bands, as available online information describes.

“They invited me to record original songs composed by sir Erasmo Mallillin, such as Tabing-Dagat. I was impressed by the arrangement, as it was done in a bossa nova style.”

That’s how he was bitten by the genre bug associated with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto. In the country, Sitti is the queen of bossa nova.

The artist’s publicity team added that “Marvin started singing relaxed, soothing bass songs that eventually led to the discovery that he could do the bossa-style singing.”

But his love for singing, he said, started when he was around eight or nine years old. Marvin began writing songs in college.

After a guest appearance, he recalled a remark from Jun that the bossa nova perfectly suited him because of his “voice’s deep, relaxing and pleasing quality.” The brothers Jun and Erasmo said, “Marvin, from now on, you are the Bossa Nova Prince of the Philippines,” the singer said.

They brought him to the UK in 2017 as a special guest for the Boyfriends’ UK tour, where he performed his original bossa nova songs. A piece of information shared that his other songs are Mambo, Samba Chacha, White Sand of Manila, Lovers Waltz and Blue Ocean.

Marvin carries on to churn out original songs, and one of them is the track titled Pusong-Bigo, to be released next year.

“Here in the UK, there are many Filipino-British events and communities, and event organizers invite me to perform at gatherings like Barrio Fiestas, charity events, corporate shows and collaborative concerts (such as the one with 2023 ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ grand finalist Travis George),” Marvin gave one a glimpse into his daily grind. “I also appear as a guest performer during the UK tours of well-known celebrities from the Philippines. I am very active in the local Filipino community, and aside from singing covers, I continue to perform my own original songs to share them with a wider audience; in fact, I have a full-length album titled ‘Bossa Et Al’ available on Spotify and digital stores worldwide, including YouTube Music.”

For the past nine years, he has performed for audiences in the UK and in venues such as hotels, restobars, stadiums and open fields. He is also organizing events like the “United Kingdom’s Awit ng Tanghalan 2026” to give back to the community and discover talented singers in the UK.

“Being both a singer and a songwriter offers the advantage of a creative process where you don’t need to look for other singers to interpret your work; instead, you enhance your creativity through music by handling everything, from writing lyrics and composing melodies to arranging and recording the songs in a studio,” said he of his craft. “It is a fusion of art forms resulting in well-crafted original songs.”

(For details on the artist’s shows and events, please check all his social media platforms.)