Rico Blanco brings summer vibes to Soundbites Festival

MANILA, Philippines - Rico Blanco is one of those rare Filipino songwriter/performers (another one being Ely Buendia) whose reputation has survived — even thrived — beyond his previous band’s already-stellar fame.

When people think of Blanco, they think of Rivermaya, the popular alt-rock band he fronted for over a decade. But they also think about his solo albums “Yugto” (2008) and “Galactik Fiestamatik” (2012) or the many other bands he’s produced (Slapshock, Sugarefree, The Dawn, Teeth), or the songs he’s written for others (like Solenn Heussaff, for whom he wrote the song Chemistry for her debut album).

In short, Blanco — who is set to perform at Soundbites Music Festival at Robinsons Galleria, May 30, 8 p.m. — has a wide-ranging career that includes charity work, writing songs for Sesame Street Philippines, even acting and dancing (in the music video, Ayuz, where he makes like Fred Astaire).

You’d think that, for someone who’s won so many songwriting awards (Awit, NU Rock Award, RX93.1 OPM Male Artist of the Year), sitting down and composing would be as easy as breathing. But there’s no set process, he says.

“It would be hard to describe the process because I’ve never had a standard way of creating music,” he says. “Each song is conceived uniquely. The only constant things in the process are imagination, logic, and some guts.” He adds that writing or recording the song isn’t the final stage: “Each of my performances is a continuation of the song’s life.”

Juggling so many projects at once, I ask if he ever gets writer’s block. “Yes. I do get stuck often,” he admits. “Not just with words and music as I am involved in areas such as arrangement, recording, programming, mixing, mastering, performing. In each area challenges arise. Those challenges keep the music making interesting.”

Branching out from Rivermaya in 2007 for a solo career must have been a big step. People still remember his days in what was arguably one of the most popular bands in Filipino music history. Fourteen years with Rivermaya must have seemed like a lifetime. But Blanco doesn’t look back that much.

“I started as a keyboard player singing a bunch of songs I wrote before meeting the boys,” he recalls. “They liked my songs so we recorded them. Everything that followed is pretty much public knowledge. Here I am now, a keyboard player singing a bunch of songs I wrote.” So he’s come full circle to what he did at the beginning.

Growing up listening to his uncle’s record collection — everything from the Beatles to jazz and ‘70s rock — he became heavily steeped in the music of the ‘80s as a teen, as did most Pinoys. With Blanco, the ‘80s sound is usually just a breath away.

But living in the past doesn’t appeal to him. I ask what songs he gets the most satisfaction from performing, and he says: “There’s no such song. I take a little pride in the body of work I’ve done, but the greatest joy is knowing I’m still just getting started.”

I ask Blanco, at 41, what the key is to longevity in the local music scene. “I don’t really know if I have the answer to that. I think all of this is a blessing. It can be taken away from me anytime without warning — that’s why I try my best to enjoy every second of it.”

But surely, longevity must have something to do with constant motion: Blanco does it all — a clothing line (for Human), restaurant ventures (Capone’s, Alphonse Bistro), advertising jingles and postproduction (Loudbox).

These days, he’s performing with drummer Robert de la Cruz (of  Queso and Skychurch) and bassist Ricci Gurango (Hungry Young Poets, Mojofly), along with the occasional guest musicians. It leaves a lot of room for him to play guitar and keyboards and sing — probably what he was born to do.

Nobody knows what’s next for Rico Blanco, perhaps not even him. For now, he can only see as far as the summer. And what does summer conjure up for Rico Blanco?

“The sun. Freedom. Youth.”

Ah, yes. Should make for a blissful concert experience.