Why CJ only writes songs from experience

CJ Navato with the cover art
of his latest single (right)

While it was acting that allowed him to get his name out there, singing, former child star CJ Navato said, will always be his first love. And now with record label backing, he finally gets to pursue his dream of becoming a full-fledged musician.

“Acting gave me the chance to be known. And I still want to continue doing it. But when I sing and write songs, I feel so free,” he said in a recent virtual launch of his latest single, “In My Imagination,” under Ivory Music.

Now 24, he first appeared on television in 2014 as a contestant in the first kids’ edition of the talent search “Star Circle Quest,” where he finished fourth. The following year, CJ was cast as one of the main stars of the children’s comedy sketch show “Goin’ Bulilit.” More recently, he competed in the third season of the singing-impersonation show “Your Face Sounds Familiar.”

CJ recalled singing Backstreet Boys songs when he was a young boy. He had no idea if he was any good, but he did it because he enjoyed it. But looking back at old episodes of “Bulilit,” he was surprised to hear that he could actually carry a tune.

“I didn’t know it back then. Now I understand why I was made to sing band songs and take part in musical numbers. I did quite well in them,” he related. In his teens, CJ joined a glee club and songwriting workshops. He wrote his first song at 17. That’s when he first entertained the idea of becoming a singer. “It’s fulfilling to know that people like your singing and voice. It makes me want to do better, or sing to more people,” he said.

His earlier compositions were raw; he doesn’t want to listen to them anymore, he jested. But now his songwriting has grown to the point where he’s confident enough to share them with people.

“I realized that if you push yourself hard and put your heart into it, you can make it. Your dreams don’t come to you. You have to make them happen. I now have a couple of songs [in the vault], and I’m just enjoying the process,” he said.

Discipline

And one of those is “In My Imagination,” a song that talks about the survival of a relationship on the brink of falling apart; and “about fighting for love, choosing to stay together, learning from mistakes, and making things work.” The song, which is now available across various streaming platforms, has a touch of blues and rock—a fitting sound for CJ’s voice that evokes acoustic, alternative singers. “I feel like I can adapt to different genres … But when you listen to my songs, my influences naturally come out—Michael Bublé, John Mayer, Chris Brown. My love for bands like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus comes out. There’s also a bit of jazz and R&B. But I try to be myself,” he said.

Doing theater also honed his singing. “That’s when I learned that singing takes lots of discipline. I learned about breathing and technique,” said CJ, who was part of the 2019 play “Charot” by the Philippine Educational Theater Association. He’s also part of the musical “Bongga Ka Day,” which is currently shelved because of the pandemic.

“It opened my eyes to my weaknesses. I used to sound nasal, so I trained on my own after that to improve,” he added.

His next goal is to continue writing enough songs for an album. “I want to be able to touch hearts … I don’t write what I haven’t experienced, because I wouldn’t be able to sing the songs with my heart. [Writing songs] can be a challenge; you have to process your emotions. But when you do, you just let it out,” he said. INQ