Sam Hashimoto/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — Since winning the Mister Guam title in 2017, Sam Hashimoto has broken into the modeling industry, gracing runways and magazine covers in the Philippines. Now he is starting to carve his niche as a professional singer in the country. But music was something he has long been dabbling into, even before gracing the pageant stage.
“It’s kind of a funny story. The whole reason why I started singing was because I was doing band. But that was really hard. And I wanted an ‘easy A,’ so I switched to choir because I heard it was an easy A,” he told a select group of media scribes in Makati City on Feb. 24, where he launched his first single “Before the Night Disappears” under Tarsier Records.
The Hawaii-raised multiracial (part Japanese, part Korean, part Chinese) Hashimoto was referring to a marching band, where he picked up the tuba to play. “I was a fat, chubby boy, and I can hold it so I might as well play the tuba, might as well do something again that other people aren’t willing to do,” he shared.
Since joining his school choir, Hashimoto said his love for singing continued, and even got into songwriting, too. “Before the Night Disappears” is not actually a new song, he revealed. He has written it years before and has pitched it to other labels, but was rejected.
Sam Hashimoto/ARMIN P. ADINA
Now, the searing ballad is available on all digital streaming platforms, where people can get a taste of what Hashimoto’s music is all about. “My goal for music is, I want people to be taken on an adventure, on a story. When they hear my music, I want them to feel something, whatever,” he explained.
The model-musician said he owes a lot to his choir teacher, Mr. Lippard. “He really encouraged me when I felt like a lot of people didn’t. And he took the time, personal time, out of his life to, you know, kind of mold me and like invest into me. We still talk to this day, and he really was like the person that helped mold my voice and tell me ‘hey, you do have a voice,’” Hashimoto shared.
And now that he has found his voice, Hashimoto said he will continue to make music. “I’ll write different songs. I’ll write a happy song, a sad song, you know, a sexy song. I just want them to feel something. I’ve been told sometimes that I’m not the best when it comes to expressing my emotions, like verbally or like with people in general. But I feel like my music is how I can do it. And that’s really where I show people who I am. So that’s what I want,” he said.
People may find the local music scene as a tight industry, but Hashimoto said he does not view it as a competition, and there will always be a space for him. “I think what’s different or what I have to offer is I have a story. I’m Sam Hashimoto, and nobody can tell my story like I can,” he declared.
But will he ditch modeling now to focus on his music career? Hashimoto responded with a resounding “no,” and said he does not find it necessary to let go of one to get on another. “I’m very grateful for modeling. Modeling has done me a lot, has gotten me a lot of work, and later recognition. But my heart is with music,” he said. EDV