While acting is in her blood, Claudia Barretto opts to be a music artist

Claudia Barretto

For Claudia Barretto, the pressure to deliver as a music artist comes not from her family, but from within herself and the people who get to hear work.

“My family encourages me and guides me … The pressure is within myself. But I also can’t deny the fact that there are outside sources, like what people think about what I do, because I pour my heart and soul into it,” she said in a recent video conference for “Everything,” her new single with the hip-hop artist Because.

“So even if there’s pressure, I just try to make the most out of it,” she said, adding that while she isn’t averse to criticism, she doesn’t let it get to her. “I try to be responsible with the kind of criticism I consume—I don’t want to reach a point where it distracts me from what I want to do.”

As a singer-songwriter, Claudia is in the stage of exploring and experimenting with different sounds. Many of her past singles were electropop, lo-fi or pop-R&B. This time, she finally gets to dabble in hip-hop with the help of Because, who’s behind the hits “BMW” and “Sandali.”

“He’s super cool—swagger personified. From the moment I met him. He knew what I was trying to achieve with this project I was experimenting with. I have been doing pop-R&B for the longest time and it has always been a dream to try melodic rap. I wanted to do a hip-hop track,” she said. “It’s a dream come true.”

One session

Working with Because was seamless, so much so that they finished writing “Everything” in one session. “The whole process was interesting. We managed to write and record the entire single during our first meeting and session in the studio,” she said. “It was fun. The project was easy and exciting to work on.”

“From the moment I met him, he was very respectful and humble. He’s very talented and easy to work with. It’s nice to be with someone like that, because you don’t feel intimidated about exploring your ideas,” said Claudia, who sees to it that she creates a connection with the people she collaborates with—whether they be producers, co-writers or sound engineers.

“I get a lot of inspiration and guidance from them. I ask for their input about song structures, how to write them, or how to make them catchy,” she said.

“Everything,” released under Viva Records, revolves around being “married to the game.” “It’s straightforward. It’s about doing everything to pursue your dreams and reach your goals … working hard and being committed,” she explained.

This year, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter plans to continue exploring new sounds and write songs in Filipino. “Writing one will allow me to reach even more people. Filipino material is in the works and will definitely happen in the future,” she said. “I also want to try different genres.”

Not closing her door

“I want to make bigger strides. I want to keep the heart and soul of my music while reaching a wider audience to share my message with,” she said.

One of the questions Claudia often gets is whether she plans to try her hand in acting like her mother Marjorie, sister Julia and aunts Claudine and Gretchen. It’s not her first choice, she said, but she’s not closing her doors to it.

“It’s a question I have had: How come acting wasn’t something I was inclined to do when it was in the environment I was in? It’s just that I grew up looking up to musicians and singers, and I naturally ended up wanting to write songs. And I’m happy doing it,” she said.

“But I will be taking acting workshops so we will see if it’s a skill I have. People tell me it’s in my blood, but we really don’t know that. But I’m willing to try and see where it takes me,” she said. INQ