Diego Gutierrez finds affirmation in ‘Mamita’ Pilita’s words

Diego Gutierrez — INSTAGRAM/@diegogutz

Now that he’s about to start doing more live shows and gigs, Diego Gutierrez said one of the things he has to overcome as a music artist is shyness. Luckily, he can always count on his grandmother, Pilita Corrales, for kind words and reassurance.

“She would tell me that even if she has been in the industry for a very long time, she still gets nervous before she performs. It’s okay to feel nervous. Own it. Work hard and be the best you can be,” he told the Inquirer in an interview for his new single, “Huling Sayaw.”

There were times, he admitted, when he felt he wasn’t ready to sing in front of an audience. But in moments of doubt, he draws strength from the words of his beloved “Mamita.”

“‘You’re there for a reason,’ she would tell me. ‘They chose you to sing and perform there because they know you can do it,’” said the only son of Monching Gutierrez and Lotlot de Leon.

“That helps me a lot,” added the singer-songwriter, who first pursued basketball and played in the National Basketball League before music beckoned. While Diego has been writing songs since he was in college, it wasn’t until the pandemic that he realized that he wanted to take it more seriously.

“Kapal lang daw ng mukha!” the 27-year-old said, laughing.

Diego has been visiting his Mamita more often because his sister Janine Gutierrez is producing a documentary on the life and career of “Asia’s Queen of Songs.” It’s always a treat, he said, listening to his Mamita’s stories and sharing a song or two.

“She would tell me about the time she opened for The Beatles and worked with Sammy Davis Jr. Everyone at home would be singing. Of course, my favorite is ‘A Million Thanks to You’… We know how much she has achieved as an artist,” he said of Pilita, who once told him that she was excited to see another singer in the family.

Postbreakup song

Does she listen to his songs? “She has yet to hear the upcoming ones, but she has heard my previous releases. She’s always happy and supportive,” Diego said.

While “Huling Sayaw” has an upbeat vibe, the story that inspired it was anything but. “Around this time last year, I went through a breakup. It was a seven-year relationship. This was the first song I wrote after that,” said Diego, who favors pop and R&B, and loves listening to Justin Bieber, John Mayer, Zack Tabudlo, Juan Karlos and Adie.

“Huling Sayaw” is his sixth single and will be released Oct. 2. It took him a while to put his experiences into words because he’s the type of songwriter, he said, who processes his emotions better once things havsssse settled.

“I write better when I’m calm. There was a time when I couldn’t bring myself to write,” he said. “No hard feelings now. It’s all love at the end of the day. I think it just wasn’t meant to be.”

While his shyness can be a hindrance on a live stage, it’s what ultimately inspires him to write songs.

“I write about my feelings or the things I see around me. I don’t really open up too much, even to my family. I don’t really talk much when I’m going through something. Songwriting is my outlet,” he said.