At last: Kate Torralba’s ‘Long Overdue’ album

Fashion designer Kate Torralba launched her debut album last year, aptly titled “Long Overdue.” The album was five years in the making and marks Kate’s formal foray into the music scene, a scene that not many know that she had been part of for over a decade.

“This is my second career and I feel like I’ve had a lifetime of so many other things before my music,” Kate said.

Child prodigy

You could say that Kate’s first love is music.

She was singing and playing the piano even before she thought about becoming a designer—in fact, she could carry a tune even before she could talk. By the age of two, Kate started singing complete songs. At four, she taught herself to play “Moon River” on the piano just by listening to various family members learn the piece. She was studying classical piano at seven, and was chosen to play in a concert for Filipino prodigies in LA at nine, where she was offered a scholarship for further training, but did not take it because her family thought that she was too young to be studying overseas by herself.

Kate discovered different kinds of music beyond her classical training via her family. Growing up in an extended household filled with music lovers meant she would be exposed to everything from the standards to pop to folk, rock, and country.

She later became vocalist of the band Hard Candy, which got a lot of airplay in her native Cebu. But even before she became part of a band, she had already developed an interest in songwriting.

“When I’d buy a cassette tape... I’d go through the lyrics, I’d go through the credits,” she said. “I became a huge fan of Ryan Cayabyab. I remember begging my mom to take me to a Smokey Mountain concert. But I didn’t want to meet the kids. I wanted to meet Ryan Cayabyab. I actually saw him leaving the concert venue. I didn’t get to meet him then.”

Fashion and music

Kate always found time for music, even when fate led her to fashion—a field where she excelled.

“Somehow, I would look for pockets of time to watch gigs and just look for places where I could play,” she said. “Remember Sanctum? That was one of my homes as an artist. I found my first friends there, Manila artists who encouraged me to play my music. It was just magical.”

Next thing she knew, guitarists such as Mike Villegas, formerly of Rizal Underground, POT’s Ian Umali, and Perth de Castro, formerly of Rivermaya and Triaxis were asking her to play with them in little bar shows. She didn’t think about making an album of her own until 2008, when Malek Lopez of Rubber Inc. and Drip approached her and asked if she wanted to work on an album with him.

“I was just like, ‘Wow!’ I had never thought about that. I had been approached about it before, but at that moment, it kind of made sense,” Kate said, admitting that at first, things were easier said than done. “I did struggle because my songwriting chops were rusty. The last time I had properly written a song was in college.”

Band camp

“The turning point was in 2010, when we had already spent two years trying to record things and not really coming up with anything solid,” Kate said. “2010 happened and I was very fatigued and just exhausted from my fashion work and I told myself that I really needed to go on a sabbatical just recharge and jump-start my creativity.”

Serendipitously, she got a text from Joey Ayala telling her to join Elements Songwriting Camp in Dumaguete.

“I was like, 'Wow, Ryan Cayabyab organized it! I just want to meet Ryan Cayabyab. I'll sign up!'” Kate gushed.

“I even asked if he was going to be part of the panel and was told that he would be part of a separate panel. I was bummed,” she added.

“I showed up for the audition and this big guy comes up to me and says, 'You're Kate! I love your song! The arrangement is really good!' I just looked up and it was Ryan Cayabyab. 20 years after that moment that I almost met him. Can you imagine? I was this little girl who idolized this person and he was telling me my song is good. I was so shocked, so happy,” she concluded.

International gigs

Even before the album was in the works, Kate was busy in the music scene here and overseas. What started as an impromptu gig for a friend’s exhibit opening in Paris in 2008 led to playing at the Fete de la Musique in the same city the next year.

She went on to play gigs in the US and Berlin.

“Everything happened organically. I would meet the right people. I would be at the right place at the right time. I ended up having annual shows in France,” Kate says. “I had songs, but it’s weird that even before the album was out, I was already touring. But it also gave me a taste of how foreign audiences would react to my music.”

“It was very encouraging, so I started to actively look for gigs if I had a working trip. Say I’m booked to do a wedding in the US, I’d make sure to extend my trip such that I have time to send my demos out to the venues, go to the open mics. I just wanted to play,” she explained.

Long Overdue

The launch of “Long Overdue” in 2013 heralded a new phase in Kate’s life. The album’s production notes features an all-star cast, including Dionne Warwick’s keyboardist Todd Hunter, Ciudad’s Mikey Amistoso, Itchyworms’ Jazz Nicholas, and Pedicab’s Diego Mapa as co-producers and Rommel dela Cruz of Barbie’s Cradle and Radioactive Sago Project’s Junji Lerma as guests.

The 11-track album has been getting a lot of rave reviews, with “Pictures,” the first single, getting a lot of airplay.

The song is about a guy that Kate used to date. “I wrote this, I was so mad. You realize at the end of the relationship, what do you have left? You just have pictures. Snapshots, souvenirs of what you once had,” she shared.

The languid “Drunk on Your Love” is a crowd favorite, as is the upbeat “Monkey Song (Nokiesque).” But really, every track on “Long Overdue” is a gem; the album has been featured on many ‘Best Of’ lists.

And even though she’s returned to her first love, Kate isn’t about to give up her day job. “Fashion is such a huge part of who I am and whether I like it or not, people will relate to me as a designer,” she said. “I’m very happy that people are giving the album a chance. I’m very grateful.” — VC, GMA News


Look for “Long Overdue” in Astrovision and on iTunes and Smart Music. Find out more about Kate Torralba and her touring schedule on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@katetorralba).