Benj Pangilinan on showbiz advice from mom Maricel, brother Donny
MANILA, Philippines — As someone who hails from a showbiz clan, it was no surprise that Benj Pangilinan, brother of Donny and son of Maricel Laxa, also joined the entertainment industry as Sony Music Entertainment’s newest recording artist. Benj was also inspired by his uncle, Gary Valenciano, whose music he first learned when he had heart surgery as a kid.
The budding singer-songwriter just dropped the music video for his debut single Love, That’s Rare, which was co-produced by Grammy-nominated Xerxes Bakker (Imagine Dragons, Snoop Dogg). He conceptualized the music video with his sister, Hannah. It was helmed by Gilb Baldoza and is now available on YouTube via Sony Music Entertainment.
“We wanted to try our best to tell a story that made people see a different side of love and all that it brings,” the soft-spoken artist said during a press conference held recently.
Benj recalled that he wrote the electro-pop ballad out of those “random times.”
“I was feeling something and then I recorded myself and then Love, That’s Rare came out. It’s just random times that, ‘Ahhh… I feel something.’ You don’t know. You’re curious what’s gonna happen.
“And sometimes some of the songs, to be honest, I don’t know why… I have an idea. But I don’t know specifically why. So I said what I said. So it’s hard for me also to give meanings on some songs because I don’t even know why I sang it.”
Benj grew up watching Gary V. perform, whom he considered as his biggest influence in music and would like to collaborate with him some day (and also with Moira dela Torre). “My family naman, we are all in the entertainment (business). So when I was a kid, I would be there in the front row while he was singing.”
Mr. Pure Energy’s Warrior Is a Child is his favorite song. “I had a heart surgery when I was four,” he shared and added that he would watch his tito’s live performances on videos when he was a kid. “I came home and I had memorized that (Warrior Is a Child) and everything.”
“And I think that started (it). Just seeing how he moved and how he sang. Parang he could tell that he was singing bigger…It was bigger than him you know. It started the love (for music) and after a while, I got my first guitar. I started making music. But I never showed anyone because I never wrote it for anyone else. It was just for me.”
Benj had his first songwriting experience when he was a freshman. He bought his first guitar with his own money. He recounted, “I was learning different chords. I only learned two chords or something. And then after a couple of days, I was feeling something maybe strong or I don’t know how to explain it.
“I got my guitar. I went to the bathroom, (pressed) voice memos and I hit my phone and then I just sang. I just played two chords and I started singing. And after 15 minutes, I paused the voice memos, I typed on my yung notes what I said. And then I edited it a little bit and that was my first song. It’s really (about) emotions.”
Meanwhile, the young musician detailed how they discovered his heart problem at the tender age of four. He told The STAR in a separate interview, “The main vein connected to my heart was leaking the day I was born. And they only found out when I was four years old.”
As shared to him by his mom, “I was playing football and then I had a tummy ache. (It was) completely unrelated… So we went to the doctor. And I was playing with the device that scans the (heart)… and I wanted to try it. So OK, (I) tried it. And they found something.
“And they said you have to go to the hospital now. Of course my parents, they wanted the best so we went to San Francisco (for treatment),” he added.
Thankfully, Benj recovered from that and he is now pursuing what he loves most, which is music. As of the moment, he has no plans of entering the world of acting, like his brother and mother and just wants to “stick to my music.”
He admitted that he doesn’t really “worry too much about how to separate myself (from my family) or (what) people think how (I’m) gonna make (it), people think this way. That’s all reaction. None of it is in my control. The impression of me, the impression of me like doing that is out of my control.”
“Whatever people think if I’m trying to separate from it or not, I’m not worried about that. I’m just worrying about just being me. And whatever happens you know that happens right.”
He also doesn’t mind being compared to his brother, He’s Into Her star Donny. “Obviously that’s gonna be there (comparison). But that’s always been there. That’s why I think that’s never gonna leave but you just have to understand the bigger picture and for me personally I’m not so focused about what people think.
“I’m just focused on doing what I’m (supposed) to do. And everything that happens…I can’t control that anymore. I’m not God so… (I) can’t stop (that).”
There’s also no sibling rivalry, he stated.
“We are all happy for each other. Why? What’s the point of comparing you know? My brother is doing really well now. My sister is doing well. We should be happy for people’s success. There should be no comparing. There’s no point in it, you know.”
The advice that he would receive from his mom and brother is to “just keep grounded.”
“That’s been a big value in the family. Always remember why you’re doing it. Always remember why you started it. Because you have to have a purpose bigger than it, especially in this industry, you know it’s hard… It’s easy to lose yourself because of all the things, of all the people.
“So, to remember who you are and what you are doing and why you are doing it. And I think with that mindset, when things happen and you remember that, you’re not gonna end up doing it (lose yourself) because you are thinking about happiness or…It’s bigger than you,” he added.
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