Kiana V finds safe place away from her comfort zone

Kiana Valenciano has come into her own — evolving in front of the public from a shy girl first seen singing at the concerts of her father, OPM icon Gary V, to an empowered voice who knows what she wants to do and does it.

The 27-year-old told The STAR that she did attempt to stay away from the music scene, but as they always say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Now, Kiana V is happy to take the same path but at the same time doing it differently and at her own pace.

Music fans have seen it in her past releases — from her first hit single Does She Know in 2017, to her first album See Me in 2019 — and they’re definitely seeing it in her new single Safe Place, as part of the collective of songs in the mixtape semilucent recently launched by Paradise Rising and distributed by 12Tone Music.

Paradise Rising is a new music label formed by Globe in partnership with 88rising, a US-based music and media company championing Asian-American and Asian talents. The goal of Paradise Rising is to build a “presence for Filipino artists in the West and globally through music distribution, music rights management and artists development.” For its debut offering, it has chosen to feature with four others, Kiana V and her brand of neo-soul/future R&B music.

Kiana V has been in the US since early this year to pursue her music dreams. With plans derailed by the pandemic, she considers the Paradise Rising project a lifesaver. She said, “We went into production for Safe Place in November 2019 and you know, with all the craziness of the pandemic, we kind of didn’t know when or how we will release it. So, this whole opportunity with Paradise Rising was a lifesaver for all of us.”

Safe Place’s music video, which has almost a million views to date, was filmed in the US, giving her a taste of COVID-19 protocols when it comes to production.

The STAR had an exclusive virtual interview with Kiana V recently where she talked more about writing her own music, going overseas for her musical aspirations, and what she’s learning so far from breaking out of her “comfort zone”.

What or who is a Safe Place for you?

“It’s crazy because I used to think that one person could be my safe place and I guess one person used to be my safe place, but now I’ve learned that no place is safe if you aren’t safe with yourself. If you don’t feel safe in your own headspace, then you’re never gonna feel safe and I really have experienced that. There’s so much craziness going on in the world that if I wasn’t in the right state of mind, if I wasn’t mentally healthy, I don’t think I could even be outside of the Philippines. But with time and a lot of effort came this growth that now I feel like, as long as I give myself the freedom to be myself, then I can find safety anywhere.”

Can you share with us why you’re in the US (Los Angeles)?

“You know, the heartbreaking side of all of this was I had a line of shows that were planned. I had shows in L.A., I had a couple in San Francisco and then I had the South By Southwest festival. That was really something I was looking forward to. It’s really hard to say but it would have really helped boost my career at least, internationally. Of course, things always happen for a reason. So that’s really why I left home.

“I also felt it was time for me to just figure things out for myself. You know, I was born and raised in Manila and I guess, oftentimes, when you’re raised in the industry, people have perceptions of who you are and they have ideas of where you should go and how you should do things. I think leaving was kind of my chance to figure things out for myself.”

What has it taught you so far?

“Oh many things! I’m definitely not the same Kiana that I was from January, like I don’t even know her. Because there’s a lot of isolation, and I don’t really have my friends here that I can call anytime with time difference and everything. I’ve learned how to be more secure in my independence.

“Being independent when you’re younger — and I think when you aren’t really independent — it looks like you’re just allowed to do whatever you want, and you have the freedom and you move out and you’re a strong woman, but it’s so much more than that. It’s being able to hold your own and not being easily swayed. Being able to stand up for your decisions. These are things that I’m learning now that I am on my own. Now that I’m here, I have to fight for a seat at the table. And to be honest, I don’t have an issue with that.”

Being there at a time like this, how has it changed your music-making process?

“It completely changed my process because obviously now, we can’t get into the studio because of the stay-at-home order. On top of that, I’m not exactly in my comfort zone. I’m not home right now. This whole quarantine period has shifted my perspective. I don’t think I see things the same way I did before this all happened. Because of that, what I want to say, what I want to talk about, the issues that I feel strongly about have all changed as well. And obviously, that greatly affects my creative process because if, as an artist, my focus changes, then what I share to others will change as well. That’s kind of how things have really evolved for me through all of this.”

What is it really like growing up as the daughter of a famous musician like Gary V?

“I think, as with everything, there are pros and cons. A lot of times growing up, people would always ask me, ‘Do you feel any pressure?’ And it never made sense to me why people thought I felt so much pressure because I thought I was living a normal life. And the way my parents raised us was, I thought it was just the normal way of living.

“I never felt pressure from my parents to do a certain thing or to pursue a certain career. And so when other people would ask me if I felt pressured, I didn’t understand why. It was only when I started to try to build my own path, that’s when I realized, okay, I understand now, because there are so many comparisons. And for someone like Gary V, who really impacted the Philippine music scene as a whole, to have him as your dad, it’s kind of like you’re always constantly living in that shadow even if you’re so different.

“Even if you don’t have the same goals, people will constantly just compare and be like, ‘Oh, she’s the daughter of so and so, I wonder if she does what he does, I wonder if she can dance like him,’ and that was hard for me because I knew exactly what I wanted for myself until I let other people kind of whisper in my ear, ‘But you’re Gary V’s daughter, but he’s so big, but don’t you want to be iconic like that?’

“And that’s when things kind of got hard for me — it was when I let other people dictate what I wanted or where I should take my career. You know, being outside of home, kind of having to start from scratch, nobody knows who I am here, it’s really taught me, showed me and reminded me why I’m doing this. It’s not for a label or recognition or to be iconic… I got into this because I love music, and I have a passion for just creating and also connecting with other people through my expression.”

Did you try to stay away from music?

“I studied fashion design and that was really what I wanted to do… You can ask my high school classmates and they would always just catch me doodling and I was always just drawing dresses and would always say I want to have my own line someday and I studied that for college. I spent a summer in London studying. But while I was there, I was writing songs, singing and ended up meeting people who enjoy doing the same thing and we started recording just for fun.

“That was when I realized, okay, why am I gravitating towards this? Why does it feel natural to be spending hours in the studio, trying to get something right? When I got back to Manila, I talked to my parents and said, I might want to do this, but I just have to do it on my own time, like don’t rush me or anything and, you know, I’m lucky that I have parents that are supportive.”

Best career advice you received from Gary V?

“You know, my parents (Gary Valenciano and Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano) are a tag team eh. So everything that my dad says is usually complemented by something that my mom says. So, I can’t separate it (laughs). With my dad, I think, there are so many lessons that he taught me. But one that has been constantly on my mind, especially throughout the quarantine, is don’t aim for perfection, aim for excellence and those are two different things. Just always do my best and aim for excellence because perfection is different for everyone and excellence isn’t. If something is done very well, everyone knows it’s done very well.

“With that, my mom would say, alright, if you’re gonna do this, do it wholeheartedly. Don’t make excuses for yourself. Put both feet in and don’t complain, don’t point the finger and all of that, just focus on your path, do what you got to do, keep persevering, and you’ll eventually see results. And the thing to remind yourself is, sometimes the results aren’t what you were expecting. It’s always different for everyone. And I think slowly, I’ve learned to just keep an open mind and to be grateful constantly for what I’ve been given. And that’s not easy. It wasn’t easy for me to even get to this position where I just am thankful for all the small wins even. So, yeah, I’m so happy that my parents are a good tag team.”

(You can listen to the tracks from semilucent at bit.ly/semilucentmixtape.)