Four Equals One Vo1ce

It was last decade’s magic beans, so today’s record producer can no longer take a bunch of voluptuous women, feed them a dance step and a catchy R&B tune, and just sit back and watch the moolah roll in. After years of milking that formula dry, it’s now considered a risk.

This holds true, regrettably, for One Vo1ce–the talented, female vocal group that has been making waves almost solely around San Francisco’s nightlife for the past six years. And though still young, members Marie and Mae Ceralvo, Monica Castillo, and Melissa Ruiz–all Filipina-Americans–are already considered veterans in the field. Barely in their 20s, the quartet has been serenading Bay Area folks since the re-birth of modern soul during the late 90s.

They’re relatively popular in certain parts of the country, and have clearly paid their dues playing the nasty clubs for scrap change, but the bottom line is that One Vo1ce has yet to reach the big time, even though they already have a new album out, Luvin’ You, which is nominated for "Outstanding R&B Album" at the upcoming California Music Awards.

The group was born out of Vallejo, California, part of the San Francisco locale that spawned diverse Asian American acts like Dan The Automator, the Invisible Skratch Piklz, Julie Plug, and Ee. It was clear that "Amerasian" pop was more appreciated in the Bay than anywhere else, thanks mostly to a unique sense of community. "We think the music scene has a lot of talent," unofficial spokesbabe Marie says, "including artists that truly love what they do and support one another."

According to the girls, they have always admired 90s vocal stars En Vogue, Boyz II Men, and Mariah Carey; but that their parents and other local artists were still their main musical influences. "My folks sang quite well," Melissa shares.

Indeed, it‘s a popular notion that Filipinos have wonderful singing voices. And this belief is proven in the works of Pilita Corrales, Regine Velasquez, Martin Nievera, and most recently, Sarah Geronimo. These artists, of course, have tasted phenomenal success in the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) industry. But despite their sometimes god-like stature here, none of their names would sound even remotely familiar to Billboard and its unforgiving staff.

To date, no Filipino music artist has really made it big in the States. And it didn’t even matter how good he (or she) was. A prime example of this is Kuh Ledesma, who, several years ago, had aimed to penetrate the Western market. Kuh has always been a wonderful singer, but her debut album, although hailed as "exceptional", bombed horribly in the record shops. It sold so poorly in fact, that the album was shelved after only a few weeks of release.

Up to now, Lea Salonga, Miss Saigon notwithstanding, is the only Pinoy who actually ever came close to making it there. And saying "close" is already being polite, because Lea’s star faded when the Kim brouhaha finally died down. It is therefore not surprising for some to think that One Vo1ce, despite their sultry features and syrupy vocals, are headed towards that old, cruel path of failure and despair.

Fortunately for them, a lot of people, especially their fans in the San Francisco area, may believe otherwise. It’s of course, still too early to tell which direction their careers are going, but if recent pop charts have something worthy to say about this, then the girls will, at the very least, fare better.

Their MCA-released single When U Think About Me cracked the Billboard Hot 100 back in the winter of 1999, when the girls were still known as Voice V, enjoying some radio and MTV rotation. And now on Luvin’ You, their third album, they make a fresh start on their new label, Oakland-based Straight Hits Records. "We simply wanted to explore new terrain," Marie explains, "consider other options, and take a different route."

Luvin’ You is also (perhaps most importantly) an enjoyable affair–fans of acts like Dream, "Funky Divas"-era En Vogue, Blaque or newcomer JoJo will probably dig the cuts on this CD a lot. Its lead single Poison has currently been getting a lot of radio airplay in Northern California, and deservedly so; it’s a great song. Another track, Lite My Fire, also stands out with the girls’ passionately soulful urgency so poignantly infused into a ballad that it will remind listeners of 702’s I Still Love You and En Vogue’s Don’t Let Go (Love). The harmonies on this track are so hypnotic and trance-inducing that it would be a delight to hear it performed live.  

Indeed, sacrificing time and effort for music stardom makes it very difficult to focus on anything else. But if people think that it included the girls’ studies, then they are grossly mistaken.

As is typical with Asian households, the girls have taken care of academics. "We‘ve been juggling two careers ever since we started college in 1998," Marie says. In fact, Melissa has already landed two jobs in cosmetology, while Monica is graduating from a nursing program (which may have guys getting sick on purpose). Mae Ceralvo, on the other hand, will soon transfer to a UC system class, while sister Marie has less than a year left in her studies.

To say the least, its a good thing One Vo1ce holds their schooling in high regard, because life in the music industry is obviously competitive and unpredictable. There is no assurance, and it never hurt anyone to have something to fall back on. There is also a glaring lack of Asian faces in US pop–not counting, at the moment, the perverse popularity of American Idol laughing stock William Hung.

The four beauties are also very much aware that sex sells. And interestingly, they are comfortable with the maxim. "It’s true, sex does sell," Mae points out. "It’s just an image and to get attention. It’s not like these artists are telling people to have sex after listening to their songs."

But the question still remains: Are "Amerasian" pop groups just as good as their counterparts?

"Yes, definitely," Ceralvo says. "We think anyone and everyone has potential. It just depends on who really wants it. There are plenty of Asian American artists who make music just for the love of it, and have no desire to sell products or become internationally known. And as for us, we just want to take it as far as we can, without holding too high expectations."

But perhaps they should be entitled to at least a few. Who knows? They might actually get lucky at the upcoming California Music Awards next month with Luvin’ You. And if they win there, could a Grammy come next?

"Sure, why not? It’d be great to take home an award like that!"

Author’s note: Info and quotes courtesy of DJ Filibuster at the chop block web page.