Quarantine not a problem for Jay-R’s music-making and married life

Jay-R (right) with wife Mica Javier

With music artists Jay-R and Mica Javier getting stuck in quarantine just two weeks after getting married, people around them have been predicting in jest that the newlyweds would probably end up having a baby by the time the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

But if they were to have it their way, Jay-R said they would give it a couple more years before they start planning to have one.

Mica’s foray into acting has been steadily gaining steam since starring in ABS-CBN’s 2018 drama series “Los Bastardos,” and Jay-R would love to see her seize whatever opportunity that may come her way in the future.

“Mica still has lots of aspirations and goals she wants to do when it comes to her career,” he said in a recent video interview for “Soul in Love: Live,” his new hourlong musical show that streams Sundays at 8 p.m. on Cornerstone Entertainment’s Facebook page.

“She has this newfound career; she’s still relatively new in acting. And she was actually doing very well on television prior to the quarantine. She also has a new show coming up,” the 39-year-old singer-producer said of Mica, who also headlined the iWant original “Hush,” an erotic anthology series.

Jay-R, on the other hand, is ready when Mica is. “I have been wanting to have a baby. But of course, it takes two to tango, so to speak. So I will just have to wait for her to be ready,” he stressed.

The couple initially planned on having two wedding ceremonies: A civil one, for Jay-R’s family in Los Angeles, California, set last February, and a fancier ceremony in Boracay last March 1. They had to call off the US wedding, however, because fears over the coronavirus had been growing and international travel was deemed risky.

Mercifully, the beach wedding pushed through without a hitch. But little did Jay-R and Mica know that they would be spending their first three months as a married couple in self-isolation.

“We’re both artists and we have sporadic schedules. Usually, our schedules are the opposite: She’s home when I’m not and I’m home when she’s not here. But because of the quarantine, we get to stay together and spend more time with each other,” said Jay-R, who dated Mica for over five years before popping the question to her.

“Being 24/7 with a person … it’s the first time something like this has happened to us,” he said.

One of the couple’s favo­rite bonding activities while in quarantine is cooking. Well, eating is more like it, Jay-R quipped.

“What I have discovered is that she’s really a good cook. One look at a recipe and she will pull the dish off and it will be delicious. I’m her assistant in the kitchen,” he said.

Meanwhile, despite the pandemic, Jay-R continues to create music and promote the artists under his record label, Homeworkz.

“We’re continuing to put out content. The live shows are affected, so we have to find other avenues online, where the majority of the people are. It’s a passion, so we will keep at it. We will figure out ways for our artists to put out new music,” said Jay-R, who intends to capture the bar gig atmosphere in “Soul in Love.”

The online show will have Jay-R performing, doing collaborations with other artists and taking song requests from the viewers. “What’s great is that I can still create more music and videos even while in quarantine,” he said.