Jed Madela almost quit showbiz; gives advice for singer wannabes

MANILA, Philippines — Fifteen years in an industry that sees talents come and go is a feat. 

Jed Madela has every reason to tell the world he is one of the few who have endured that long in the music scene. He knows it is best to perform songs the audience can sing along to, not those whose vocal reach are too high, only a Jed Madela can interpret them in international tilts where he emerges as winner.

This was not always the case. Like all singers who pay their dues, Jed had his fair share of down-and-out moments.

“I almost quit showbiz,” he admitted in a recent interview with Philstar.com for his 15th anniversary solo concert, “Higher than High,” recently held at the Araneta Coliseum.

People were not listening to his songs anyway, Jed told his manager (people were for those with a wide vocal range, not for the average music lover). 

The good thing is, Jed’s supporters quashed all his self-doubt.  He calls these supporters “the right people who surrounded me.”

They reminded him that he has to wait a little longer, that the people (even if they were not too many at that time) actually love to hear his voice.

Jed learned to silence the voices of self-doubt that threatened to overwhelm him when he sang before an audience of two in a small bar.

“One was my manager; the other, a walk-in customer who didn’t know I was having a show,” recalled Jed.

It is from these small performances that he learned to interact with people, to go on with the show even when things were not going his way.

Thanks to these struggling years, Jed developed a humility that keeps him from letting success get the better of him. After all, attitude is still the key to longevity when musical talent is a dime a dozen.

This is why Jed advised new talents who have won reality singing contests to nurture relationships, because these can be their saving grace during hard times.

“Ninety nine out of 100 singers are talented,” he observed. “But only a handful will remain because of their attitude.”

One singer, Jed explained, was politeness personified when he was just starting out. He would greet Jed with a “Hello po, kuya” whenever they bumped into each other.

But when he started becoming popular, the singer suddenly acted as if he did not see Jed at all when they were in the same area, “even if I happen to have a big physique.”

It saddens Jed because the scenario occurs over and over.

“More than talent, it’s your attitude that will keep you in the industry,” Jed would like to tell the singer and other new talents he mentors. 

“Someday, all of us will be on our way out. And those you meet on your way down are the same people you met on your way up.”

Of course, shunning ice cream helps Jed stay on top of the heap by preventing him from getting cough.

Age, however, is something he cannot control.  Jed professed he is not getting any younger, so his vocal strength can decline even if it has retained the power and range that has won him national and international honors. Discipline, therefore, is a must. So is discernment.

Asked why his love life has remained zero, Jed said someone like him must be extra cautious.

“You can’t give your heart away just like that when you don’t know who’s real and who’s not,” he mused.  

Some people, he goes on, only want someone they can use and brag about. That is why he admitted that he is building a wall to distance himself from these users. Jed would rather be called choosy than make a fool of himself.

But he is not closing his doors to that one person he can give his whole heart to someday. For the meantime, he is ready to try more things in his career, like theater. 

He said many have told him that his voice – strong, full-bodied and possessed with a wide range – is suited for theater.

Given the right project, Jed would gladly plunge headlong into theater. Fifteen years in the business has only whetted his appetite to learn more.

No wonder he is still around – doing what he loves to do – even when others, consumed by their own egos, have long faded away.