The magic of music and seeing the power children hold
There are curious paradoxes in Yaelokre’s life as an artist right now. It has been nearly two years since the beginning (and virality) of their folk music storytelling project, and having been on sold-out shows across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, and the United States—yet the Filipino Icelandic singer-songwriter shares still feeling baffled (and still getting stage fright to this day) when seeing all the different kinds of people who come to see their show.
“For the first time in my life, I left the stage quite baffled and confused because of how different my audience was in comparison to my past audience, and I didn’t know how to take that at first,” Yaelokre says in a Zoom interview with Lifestyle Inquirer in the middle of their tour.
“But as every show went on, I learned everyone is different, and one thing they all have in common is their passion and their excitement. What was surprising to me was that they are all different and yet they all sing the same songs, they all shout the same words, they all laugh at the same jokes. It’s so wonderful to witness all of these different people in one roof combining their interests and their enthusiasm,” Yaelokre says, fondly remembering their tour, which ended last Nov. 22.
This coming together over a shared love for music—and over the shared interest and investment in the magical world Yaelokre has created—has cemented the fact that music can truly transcend boundaries.
And in the case of Yaelokre, it bridges genres and periods, too.
One look at Yaelokre, in their Renaissance outfits, animal-themed masks, armed with a guitalele, it wouldn’t be hard to believe in the return of the bard—musician and storyteller in one. But Meadowlark, the world Yaelokre built in their folk music storytelling project, isn’t just an imaginative creation; it is also the weaving together of the artist’s own influences, from their personal experiences to their interests.
What inspired you to start music? What are your inspirations and influences, especially with this style?
My mom is a singer, and ever since I was a child, I was taught how to sing and be involved with music. I think it’s probably the very first skill I’ve ever learned, and I’ve always had that. It was my dad who introduced me to fables, stories, and fantasy, and just inspired me to work up my imagination as a little child.
I then found all types of media from all across the world through the internet, and I’ve fallen in love with the concept of childhood. Growing up, everything just became a lot less colorful, and everything became bland. Your popular pinks and purples turn to grays and blacks, and everyone’s wonderment just seems to be dying nowadays.
I’m a really sentimental person when it comes to memories… and what inspired me to start Yaelokre and to keep going was the intent of being able to be that person to bring people back to who they once were and just remember the root of it all.
I’ve wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to work with kids, make books, and illustrate books for children. Unexpectedly, music came along, and last year happened in some way. I suppose I still managed to achieve that [dream] because I am teaching a lot of children nowadays. And not just young people but older people as well. Not just with my vocabulary, but I hope to be that person to encourages people to be creative.
Tell us more about your newest single, “Kamahalan.”
It’s a nudge on the idea that children are the most powerful people in the world.
There will be no great tree if you don’t tend to the sapling, and there is no tomorrow if we don’t tend to the children. I want people to listen and understand that the concept of the song and the character it’s portraying—which is Kingsley—is the fact that we tend to be so critical of our younger selves, and we are always remembering the mistakes that we made when we were younger. But it’s so rare for everybody to take notice of their own achievements when they were a child.
People need to realize that we need to be kinder to our younger selves, and through “Kamahalan,” it’s a chant of praising that child self, and making sure that we all know that we were once the most powerful people.
The belief is that when a child walks into a room, you make sure that everything is in the right place—the plugs are covered, the sharp objects are tucked away, the place is safe, the child is not bored, and they’re satisfied. It is within your responsibility, even if you’re not the parent, but as an older person, to make sure that this child is safe within that space.
When a king walks into a room, you do the same thing. You make sure everything is safe, everything is where it’s supposed to be, and you make sure the king is satisfied and happy.
I love that talk of how we should treat the children the way we treat royalty, as they hold the gate to tomorrow. “Kamahalan” is a huge message to that.
It really gives the feeling of honoring the child. Could you share the writing process of the song? Were there any challenges in putting it together?
Definitely the language. I know how to speak Tagalog fluently, and I do speak it on a daily basis, especially when I’m around fellow Filipinos, but I’ve studied English a lot more, and I’m more well-versed in English. I’m still learning, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to sing in my language and what I grew up with.
I wanted it to feel welcoming and simple enough for international people who don’t speak the language to sing it as well, while still keeping the same meaning without having the complications of it being too deep a word to learn, or too hard to pronounce.
You’ve been incorporating your heritage—not just in this song, but in your past works too. What can you say about representing your roots on the global stage?
I am very proud to be able to show this to everybody. It has been a long-time plan to incorporate more and more of my culture and my language into my music, and slowly we are getting there, especially with this release being a full song in Tagalog.
I’ve put a bit of it in my previous songs and my unreleased ones as well, which I just sing and post on the side. But since I am known not just in the Philippines but with an international audience, I don’t want it to be intimidating for them.
I want them to slowly fall in love with the language and slowly fall in love with the kids and the project [so that they’d] finally sit and just appreciate the language and the culture.
