Original interview by Von Belinario
Translated to English for the general public by mocha cake
Original interview upload: February 3, 2023
Felip / Ken of SB19 went through challenges before releasing his solo debut EP
Von: Felip, how are you? How are you feeling right now? After releasing your two singles, you are finally releasing your debut EP.
Felip: I feel thankful to all the people who supported me. It’s so refreshing. I just feel so happy, thinking how many hardships I braved just to be able to do this. And it’s all worth it, everything I’ve gone through. It seemed impossible at first, but now it’s been realized.
Von: If you don’t mind sharing, what were the hardships you encountered? What were the challenges?
Felip: We were on tour while I was in the process of writing and creating music for this EP. Instead of resting after each concert, I chose to be up until the wee hours to finish this EP. And coming back home from the tour, I didn’t take a break. We were supposed to rest after the tour but I kept working, recording all the music, creating the beats, talking to the producers, etc. The process itself wasn’t easy. There were many revisions done on my end until we got the final version.
Von: You seem really meticulous.
Felip: You can say that. I mean, it’s my first EP. I wanted to really be meticulous about it.
Von: And it’s worth it, right?
Felip: Yes.
Von: It’s like giving birth to your own child.
Felip: Yes, it seems like that.
Von: Is that the same reason why it was a bit delayed? After you released Bulan many anticipated that you’d release an EP a few months after, but it took more time than expected. Why?
Felip: Like I said, we were on tour. SB19 is still my priority even when I was in the process of creating this EP. SB19 should always come first still. My solo career as Felip is just secondary. I make sure to finish all my commitments to SB19 before I go back to writing my EP. That’s why it was delayed, because I didn’t have much time for it.
Von: Who is Ken, and who is Felip? What’s the difference between them?
Felip: I think Felip is really free and much bolder than Ken. Felip is able to do what he wants when it comes to his sound. He’s experimental. As a soloist, I can do whatever I want. Ken on the other hand has a certain role to fulfill in a group. He needs to adjust to a five member group. We each need to fulfill our given roles in the group. Felip is on his own. He is free to do whatever he wants and can be experimental.
Von: I see. That leads me to my next question. How much was the pressure to do this as a solo artist? Everyone knows you as Ken, as part of a really big PPOP group and now you’re doing all this as a solo artist. What did you do to push yourself to be able to do it?
Felip: I actually don’t think of it that way. I just do what I want to do without setting any expectations for myself. Setting an expectation will put more pressure on me. I think that’s all and I really love what I do. I just really give it my best effort. Like I said, if you really want to do something, aim to do your best.
Von: Wow, it really shows Felip. Now can you explain more, what exactly is COM.PLEX? Why COM.PLEX?
Felip: COM.PLEX because as a human being we all have insecurities and weaknesses. But despite all that we can be confident too. It’s normal for any individual to have complexities. We just need to embrace our flaws. Don’t be disappointed if you have weaknesses. You can improve and hone whatever weakness you have. You might even be able to use that as a weapon in the future. Who knows, it can be your biggest weapon. I used to be disappointed at my low voice, thinking of most people’s standard when it comes to singing. I never thought that I could use my low voice to establish my own music. It became my signature as an artist. People know me to be the guy with the low voice in SB19. It didn’t occur to me before that people would like my low voice. That inspired me to keep on practicing, honing my voice until now. What used to be my weakness became my weapon.
Von: Oh , so you actually thought of your bass voice as a weakness?
Felip: Yes. I used to wish to have a higher range. But now I really fell in love with my deep voice. It makes me unique. That’s it, the weaknesses and complexities that we have make us unique.
Von: Another thing I like about you is that you’re putting effort to showcase your roots, and also as a Bisdak.
Felip: Yes, yes.
Von: Bulan was really well received by your fans. And in this EP you’re showcasing your roots. You’re representing the Bisdak community. Why are you putting all these efforts to represent our Bisdak fellows from Visayas and Minadanao?
Felip: (thinking deeply) I think it’s because I’m really proud to be one. I’m proud to be a Bisaya. I think Bisaya people are fun to be with, cool, brave, and unique. Our Bisaya language sounds really cool. I’m delighted each time I hear a Bisaya song. That inspired me to create Bisaya songs too.
Von: When it comes to the support coming from your group. How supportive is SB19 to your solo career?
Felip: The fact that they allowed me to release my own EP, I already count that as support from them. As friends, they’re really happy for me. There are things I thought I couldn’t do, but I was able to. It makes me happy to think that they appreciate me for that too.
Von: So what’s next? After the release of your EP, will there be a tour or gigs as Felip? What more can we expect from Felip?
Felip: I haven’t really planned any, but I’m hoping to have collaborations with other artists, including Bisaya artists.
Von: Do you have specific artists / Bisaya artists in mind? Who are you looking forward to collaborating with?
Felip: That will be a surprise.
Von: Wow
Felip: Yes
Von: We will watch out for that.