Karylle’s Time to Shine

I very seldom take pleasure in doing interviews inside a beauty parlor with all the racket from blow dryers, bits of talc floating into the stuffy air, and crumbs of tittle-tattle from customers getting into my old recorder. But I’m particularly looking forward to this meeting with the daughter of pop diva Zsa Zsa Padilla, not only because she’s drop-dead beautiful, but she seems to be a regular, fun-to-be-around kind of girl.

At 20, Karylle (or K to her friends) is definitely not your "little mermaid" as her parents still, in all probability, would like to think she is. With her new album Time to Shine from Universal Records out in the market, Karylle is proving that she’s not a mere shadow of her diva-mom but, on the contrary, a well-trained protégé of Zsa-Zsa’s out-and-out guidance and example. And if anything at all, she‘s slowly but surely becoming her own woman, and in a manner of saying, her own artist.

Karylle’s natural fondness for the performing arts, she points out, was born from her training in ballet. She began her classical ballet classes when she was three years old, and she went on to do this for the next ten years. It was Karylle’s personal overture to the world of the artiste, an experience she admits that she would not set aside too easily now that she’s back on stage, but in a different genre.

"I am proud of the years I spent in ballet school," Karylle recalls, her eyes beaming. "I wasn’t much into singing in the past, at least, solo singing. I love ballet because I knew I could go on stage, and I love getting nervous before the show, the feeling of accomplishment when you’re done. It’s exciting, I really love the rush."

Her fondness for music and song came a little later when she began going with her mom to pre-concert rehearsals. Karylle confesses that it’s not a profession her parents, particularly her father, would like his little baby daughter to get into, considering the huff-and-puff world of show business. But like the tender and understanding dad that he is, Karylle says her father eventually agreed. And it does not hurt a bit to have a reputable pop diva by Karylle’s side to guide her growing-up years in the music industry.

"As a trainer, my mom is okay," she says. "I get a lot of tips, but she doesn’t say it in an irritating manner like telling me to do this, do that. She says that in a first person sort of thing, like ‘This is what I do’, etc. It’s more like living by example for my mom. So when I hear and see that she’s working that hard, I’m somehow compelled–and very much encouraged–to keep up with that level of professionalism because I know how effective it is for her as a singer."

Karylle further relates how helpful mom Zsa Zsa is when it comes to training her as a singer. "Practice is the key," her mom would often repeat tto Karylle. "You should memorize your songs, and know them by heart. Try singing the songs with music and without music. Practice until you could sing them all by heart, and with feeling."

It was her mom’s daily reminders–and the professionalism that Zsa Zsa never fails to show her daughter–that made Karylle into who she is today: an up-and-coming young vocalist who has a whole future ahead of her. And Karylle’s first album is proof undeniable that the time has come for this star to shine.

"I heard Madonna say in her music that ‘Maybe someday I’ll be closer and closer to the truth’," she says. "In music, when you’ve only rehearsed songs on a shallow level, when you’re concerned only about notes and how to sing the lyrics, you altogether forget feeling, and precisely, the truth. So, what’s the message of the song? "That’s what I’m trying to enhance: how to make the messages of my songs clear to my hearers."

Gleaning from the cuts of her first album, like the remake I was lookin’ for someone to love by Leif Garrett and Bakit ba ikaw as rendered by Geneva Cruz, it is pretty obvious that her message is not one of bitterness or resentment regardless of her parents’ separation. Karylle, a name derived from the Irish world meaning beloved, affirms she has been treated no less than what her name implies–Zsa Zsa and Dr. Tatlonghari’s much-loved one.

"Growing up in this situation was okay in the sense that everything was normal," she says plainly. "I mean, I did normal things that normal kids do, like ballet. It did not stop me from being active in school activities like cheering competitions, and other contests. Likewise, it did not hinder me from studying well and making good in class. I was like every normal kid."

In not too many words, this on-the-go Atenean discloses that the intimacy between her and her father has not waned, even in the growing face of absence that hits their relationship from time to time. Her fondest memories of time spent with dad include treks to the park to throw frisbees or get into a spirited game of basketball. In some instances, however, dad would openly tell Karylle about a song that she did not render quite well. Such constructive criticisms, as she calls them, she accepts wholeheartedly from her father. She explains there is a familiarity and closeness between them that other kids her age, at best, could only dream about with their own fathers.

It’s a nearness that could be best summed up in this word: friendship.

"One thing I like about my dad is that he makes sure we have quality time together," she lets it drop. "He’s like a teacher, or a coach; he makes sure I’m always in tip-top shape and form. One thing about us, we have this kind of relationship wherein he tells me, quite honestly, things that I need to know. For me, this is very, very important. Parents should be able to tell their children constructively what they need to know about the important things in life. Only they can do this out of love and no one else. Sure, you will get hurt for a while, but in the long run, it would be for your benefit. I’m very lucky to have parents who are honest with me. In fact, we know what the other is saying even without having really to say much."

Notwithstanding the rising tide of attention slowly being given her by the opm market, Karylle makes it a point to be at the thick of both academic and extra-curricular activities in Ateneo. Today, aside from doing albums and guesting in television shows, Karylle is busy with her sound recording subjects to prop up her knowledge about her new-found pursuit. Although there’s a vast range of activities taking up most of her time these days, Karylle still finds ways to hone her singing skills and savvy. She wants to stick with it, she says, and focus her attention on getting better. Asked if she ever considered acting for either stage or the sscreen, she gives a very quick "No", and with a hearty laughter admits, "I don’t think I’m talented enough."

Success for Karylle is a simple case of knowing what one wants, and enjoying the pursuit of it. "To be successful, I believe, one should know exactly what one wants to do, and be involved in whatever it is one is producing. I’ve always been, ever since college, interested in things that are closer to music, like computers, sound gadgets, composing songs, and the like. I believe in giving everything that your creative self can give out–nothing more, nothing less."