How music kept JM de Guzman company at rehab
JM de Guzman
JM de Guzman, who has always been very vocal about having entered rehab twice in the past for substance abuse, also recalled how he was able to write over 30 songs while inside the facility.
The singer-actor released a single, aptly titled “Convalescence,” in 2021 under Star Music.
“It’s actually a combination of two songs that I wrote while inside the rehab. This was in 2016,” he told Inquirer Entertainment.
“We’re not allowed to carry pens inside because these can be used as weapons. We’re also not allowed to write because we’re all busy with chores in there. I got hold of a pencil, which I used to write with while inside the bathroom. I would sneak in some writing whenever it was my turn to clean the toilet bowls.”
JM said that it was in these small sheets of paper that he poured his heart out.
“I wrote everything I could think of. I just kept them hidden until I became an officer, because officers are allowed to use ballpens and read books. I simply transferred everything to a notebook when I was finally allowed to own one. Sadly, the melody that was in my head while I was writing the lyrics were all gone by the time I got out. That was the annoying part… I had no way to record them,” the actor said.
JM added that Red Bull Studios invited him to record in August 2021, “because they heard that I wrote some stuff while inside the facility. They asked me what beat I wanted as ‘peg,’ so I made them hear a rap song that I liked. They made their own beat for me, on the spot. What you hear in the single is actually what came out on the first take. The other takes were for the second voice and that whisper you will hear at the back,” he explained.
