Henry Moodie talks music, mental health and meeting Maki

MANILA, Philippines — International pop singer Henry Moodie has just dropped his new single, bad emotions. He recorded the track while he was going through rocky times and wrote the chorus while he was having a panic attack on the train.

“It’s a song I wrote when I was going through difficult times that started this year,” he told The STAR in an exclusive Zoom chat. “And it sort of helped me get out of that difficult time, writing a song about it, and processing my ‘bad emotions’ I guess. And it’s also like a song that can help anyone else, if you’re struggling with mental health. So, yeah, I’m really happy about the song. It’s definitely a personal one.”

He penned the entire ditty for two hours and the chorus while he was on a train going to the recording studio. Henry recalled, “I was having a panic attack and I needed to let out my emotions while I actually wrote the chorus of that song on a train to the studio. And then we wrote the rest of the song, just me and the producer, Dino (Medanhodzic). He was amazing.”

The sentiment of the song is expressed in the lyrics that go, “’Cause I’ve got some bad emotions/It’s just a part of life, it doesn’t mean I’m broken/At the worst of times, I tell myself to/Breathe, count to three, wait and see that I’ll be okay…

Artwork for Henry Moodie's new single bad emotions.

“’Cause I’ve got some bad emotions/Took a minute, but I’m finding ways of coping/When I’m on the edge, I know I gotta/Breathe, count to three, and I’ll be in a better place/It’s just some bad emotions.”

The ballad is part of Henry’s upcoming EP called good old days, which chronicles his life experiences. As he described his new music, “(It’s all) about growing up and all the different things we have to sort of face as we get older. And all the sort of aspects of growing up, my first heartbreak, my first time falling in love. (The) songs (are) about mental health and friendship.”

He is elated to be launching his EP sometime soon. “I tried to stretch myself this year. I think it’s the songwriting that I like. It’s quite easy sometimes to write about relationships.

Drunk text singer Henry Moodie drops the new single bad emotions. He recorded it while he was going through rocky times and wrote the chorus while he was having a panic attack on the train. — Photo by Katie Silvester

“I don’t really know why but I feel like I gravitate towards that. This year, obviously, the songs in the EP, they’re all about relationships. But this year, I really wanted to write like something outside of that.”

The 20-year-old music artist wants to be known for his songwriting flair. “I’d love to be known for, I think, my songwriting over anything else,” he stated.

“The reason that I got into music was because of songwriting. It’s something that I was doing from a young age. So, I think that would be sort of like what I love to be known as a songwriter.”

Just last May, he staged a free busking session at the Mall of Asia and also got to meet the Dilaw singer Maki. They shared a jeepney ride together. “It was lovely. It was great. It was cool seeing him,” Henry said of the latter. “(It’s) so cool seeing different artists because we’re all living this like unique life together so it was sick. And hopefully, next time I come back, I see him again. He is so talented. Cool guy.”

“He was just so really like empathic, open, sort of energetic, extroverted person. But I thought (he) was so super cool like really good energy. So, I feel like he inspired me to be more like warm and extroverted, I think,” he added.

The breakthrough crooner from United Kingdom reached more than 250 million music streams worldwide, becoming among the Top 10 most viewed UK artists on TikTok in 2022 and among Amazon Music’s Artists To Watch in 2023.

He earned his songwriting diploma at the BIMM Music Institute. His debut EP was in all of my lonely nights, which was released last year and included songs like you were there for me, the global hit drunk text, and pick up the phone.

Get to know more about Henry, his music, and his fun visit to the Philippines. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

Where do you get inspiration for your tracks?

“Most of my tracks are personal. All of them are personal. Because I feel like being vulnerable and personal as a songwriter and opening yourself up can really help other people who feel like maybe they are hurt and there’s kind of song for every emotion. That’s what I kinda love and there are so many artists who helped me go through hard times.

“And I think the reason they did because I felt like they wrote from their heart and their music is really personal, so if I can do the same to someone else, then that is so my ultimate goal as an artist. So, yeah, I keep it personal as possible. And also songwriting is kinda therapy for me. It kinda helps me process emotions.”

What’s your creative process for churning out a song?

“It’s kinda different from different songs but I normally enter the studio with a concept, the song that I wanna write about, something happening in my life and then we start on the piano normally. (And then) get some chorus together, getting melody, get a chorus kinda like melody and then we sort of pile lyrics to the melody and then I always go with my instinct…

“So, we normally write a song in a couple of hours. And it’s different for different songs like with my song drunk text, for example, we ended (up) going back and writing loads of different versions for that. Something like three to four different versions.

“But we got the initial song like idea in the first session and then we sort of like had some time away from it and let it sort of like (leave) it like for a bit and then came back and switched it up.”

Since the title of your hit single is drunk text, do you also text when you’re drunk?

“A little bit. Haha! To be fair, drunk text is about deleting the message and then hoping the other person will send drunk text instead, so sometimes. But I don’t drink that much anymore because I’m busy with work.”

Did you expect drunk text to be a hit song?

“No. I felt like when I wrote it, I was like, I thought this is such a unique feeling but when I put it out I was like everyone could relate to it. It’s kinda crazy. But I guess that feeling of having a crush on someone is such a universal thing and the power of TikTok is crazy. TikTok just blew it up. But I didn’t think it was gonna blow up, so I’m super grateful.”

How was your experience in the Philippines?

“(It was) so good. I love the Philippines. I always wanted to go. It’s been like on my bucket list for so long (and) actually going was so fun. Manila is such a beautiful city. It was so amazing to see all my fans out there.

“(I received) so much support (that) even arriving at the airport, there were people there. It makes me grateful to be doing this job. I can’t wait to be back ever since going to Manila. I’m just like desperate to come back. So, hopefully soon, I’ll be back and I’m just grateful for all the support out in the Philippines.”

What’s your most memorable experience in the Philippines?

“I would say I did a pop-up show which was really fun. It was really cool seeing everyone sort of like singing back my songs which was surreal but fun… I went on a jeepney (ride) which was like super memorable. That was like a touristy kind of thing. It was a memorable thing.

“I think the whole experience, it was definitely the whole experience. I was there for a few days but my whole experience in the Philippines just left me with such an amazing like memory that I can’t wait to relive and come back.”

What’s your message to your Filipino fans?

“Thank you, guys, so much for all the support you showed  me. So much love and it makes me so grateful to be doing this as a job and it makes me so excited to come back to the Philippines, hopefully, soon. So stay tuned for the information about that and I love you, guys, so much. So, thank you.”