TARGETING millennials and the “pop generation”, Viva Records recently released #YATO, a rework of Lance Raymundo’s previous gem, You Are the One.
The mid-tempo ballad has already reached 6,000 hits barely four days after it was launched on September 7 via Spotify. Raymundo excitedly shared the good news during the viewing of the song’s music video on September 14 at the Black Maria Cinema in Mandaluyong City with his family and friends from the media in attendance.
“I am extremely happy that even kids could relate to the song, especially with the lyrics of the song. Nagulat ako, the young ones are sending me private messages through Facebook and my Instagram account, all saying that they love it,” the singer-actor shared.
SoundStrip was there to cover the momentous event of Raymundo, who once figured in an accident when a 90-pound barbell crashed on him while in a workout session.
Foremost, a singer
THE mishap though did not stop Raymundo from making himself more determined to hone his craft as an actor. For years after the accident, he immersed in theater-acting and took on various roles as Jesus Christ in various “cenakulo” plays, as well as poet and romanticist Huseng Batute (Jose Corazon de Jesus in real life), among others.
“But singing is my first love. Basically, I am singer. I started out as [one]. When I signed with Viva Artist Management, I thought the best thing to do was to sing again. It’s like going back to where I really belong. After all, I have already [recorded] around 200 songs,” he said.
What was the inspiration behind #YATO?
“It’s actually the song I wrote for my second girlfriend. She’s happily married now, but we’re still friends. At that time we were together, I felt she was the one. So the lyrics came to me very spontaneously and I wrote the song in one seating. That’s how the song came to be,” he explained.
The music video was inspired by the near-death traumatic experience of the crooner-thespian. But at the end of the video, her girlfriend/partner, played by Janna Victoria, accepted him wholeheartedly, no matter how he looked like.
“That’s true love: accepting for who you are, and what you have become. Just like in the video, it wasn’t sure that his face was restored or has improved from the accident. Yet the woman embraced him and accepted him.”
Finding happiness
PRESENTLY Raymundo sees love as acceptance, sharing and generosity. “You don’t find happiness or make yourself whole because of your partner. It’s the other way around. You accept your partner and share with him/her your happiness.”
He admitted it was not anything like such during his first, immature love. “I only had three relationships, but all of them are special in their own given time. Maybe that’s the reason I’m not looking for love at the moment. I’m still full of it.”
Aside from acting, Raymundo has also been dabbling into hosting. So what’s next after #YATO?
“The next single is on the pipeline, then the album!” he quipped.
SoundStrip will look forward to that. Meantime, catch #YATO via iTunes and Spotify, then follow the comebacking singer’s gigs via his official Facebook account.