Sad songs, bulls**t and new beginnings for Juan Karlos
A Wi-Fi router is now a standard feature of every home, office, restaurant or any other establishment. But sometimes, at the right moment, it could also be the inspiration for a new song.
We are talking, of course, about the final track of Juan Karlos’ latest album “Sad Songs and Bulls**t Part 2,” which is now streaming on Spotify—“Bagong Simula.” It’s a song that sounds different from the rest of the tracks in the set, which dwell more on heartache than hope. That’s because it was written at a time when Juan Karlos was starting to get over the end of a relationship.
“After I went through a breakup, I got my own place, and then I got my own Wi-Fi,” he recalls. “The guy was like, ‘Oh, you can put whatever Wi-Fi name that you want.’ [I went with] ‘New Beginnings.’”
The song, initially written for a new relationship, became a symbol of a fresh start for the artist. Like the rest of Juan Karlos’ music, it’s a reflection of his own experiences.
When he needed to heal, he says creating and consuming music gave him solace and allowed him to still connect with others. And he believes that, through music, he can let people know that whatever they are going through, they are not alone.
“People who go through things don’t necessarily need help. They don’t need temporary solutions and easy fixes. Sometimes, people just want to hear that they’re not the only one going through this,” says Juan Karlos.
Nine songs
“Sad Songs and Bulls**t Part 2,” which has nine songs, is the second half of a project that focuses on themes about the things that happen when people fall apart, especially in the context of relationships. Juan Karlos eventually decided to divide his song output into two albums. All in all, the two albums took around 1 ½ years to complete, he says.
Part 2’s top-played song on Spotify is “Kasing Kasing,” a collaboration between Juan Karlos and his “Senior High” costar Kyle Echarri. The title means “heart” in Cebuano.
“While we were doing ‘Senior High,’ Kyle and I would always bring a guitar and just always play random stuff, without any plans,” he recalls.
“But then one day, we were just playing the guitar and he came up with this line, and [it felt like we were] the first persons who discovered using day-old rice and then putting it back in the pan and making something new. We said, we should just release this, right? The story [of the song] is more on Kyle’s situation.”
While the whole “Sad Songs and Bulls**t” repertoire seemingly dives into the vulnerabilities of a heartbroken Juan Karlos, the 23-year-old musician says he still keeps some of his songs to himself—and that doing so is a large part of who he is as an artist.
“Something that I feel is important, as a musician, is that you have your songs that you release to the public, and you have those that you know you just keep for yourself,” he says. “You don’t really think about, you know, sharing them widely. That’s an important thing for everything that you do. There are some things you just want to keep to yourself, or at least keep to only the ones that are like really close to you and within your vulnerability space.”
