Glaiza Hits a High Note

You've already seen her act, but have you heard her sing? Glaiza De Castro is one of today's multi-talented artists - and she is set to make a mark in the music industry with an album of her own! Text by Jason John S. Lim. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. Simply titled Glaiza, her album boasts 12 tracks of different genres that's sure to please fans of all kinds of music. Whether you're a fan of the old classics, the 80's sound or if you're an aficionado of love songs! "Eclectic 'yung buong album," Glaiza explains, "We didn't want to stick to one genre. Kasi kapag nag-stick kami (to a genre), limited lang 'yung listeners." The album is a mixture of rock, pop, rhythm and blues, and ballads. Glaiza shares that while the album is targeted for teens, her songs are a little more mature like her. "Hindi nasa 12-13 (age group), 'di naman pa-cute. 'Yung normal lang. If you listen to the whole album, parang it's like you're listening to the radio." As for influences, Glaiza says that while she does have them, she tries to disregard them so she could come up with a new style. "Tina-try ko din para mabago 'yung style of singing ko para iba naman." Glaiza is her first album under her current record label, and she says that for her first venture with them, she wanted to do things their way. And what the label wanted was an album inspired by the 80's but very much keeping with the times. In fact, Glaiza reveals that her favorite track is 'Teka Lang' because of its 80's feel. Aside from 'Teka Lang', Glaiza is also very proud of two other songs that are translated remakes. One is a Tagalog version of Joey Albert's 'How Can I Make You See?' and the other is an English version of Dingdong Avanzano's 'Basta't Kasama Kita'. "'Paano', 'yung carrier single, medyo mahirap. Kasi ako mismo 'yung, hindi naman nag-translate, pero ako 'yung word-by-word, ako 'yung nag-sync doon sa melody." Glaiza continues that she had to figure out a way to fit the words to the stanzas and the chorus. Glaiza also discloses that she writes songs, but none of her own compositions are in the album. "Siguro kapag gumawa ulit ako. Hopefully mapasama." Why isn't Glaiza sure that her songs will make the cut? She explains that the songs she writes aren't really made for mainstream listening. "Siguro, kung ipaparinig ko sa isang producer na ang target ay pera, hindi masyado (magugustuhan)." Intrigued about what kind of songs Glaiza rights? Us too! But until the time she comes out with a new album with her own composition, why not grab a copy of the one that's already out? Impressed with Glaiza? Talk about her at the iGMA forum and meet other Glaiza fans! You can also catch her on GMA-7's teen-oriented program every Sunday, Boys Nxt Door. Want to know more about her? Find out more from Glaiza herself! Just key in GLAIZA and send to 4627 for all telcos and you can feel the fun with Glaiza! (Each Fanatxt message costs PhP2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK 'N TEXT, while it costs PhP2.00 for Sun subscribers.)