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Part of our mission is to bring the less obvious, the counter trending, the sonically different out of the messy of the dead Internet and curate a moment for them to find a willing and receptive audience. Janine has such obvious talents, an operatic voice that bellows out of her deceptively small frame, a global audience, we consider her a settled celestial event, a star already high in the night sky. BUT we were beyond thrilled when Janine came down from the upper atmosphere to unearth her amazing story, and telling that even metric rises have humble beginnings:

OnesToWatch: Who are you? 

I'm Janine Berdin. I'm from the Philippines. I am 24 years old. I'm a singer songwriter, and I love music. 


What part of the Philippines are you from? 

So the Philippines is composed of 7000 islands, 3 big ones. I'm from the middle group of islands, called Visayas, and I'm from the city of Sebu. You been? 

I'm a Luzon guy myself. 


Well, I've been living in Luzon for 8 years now, so... 


I was just discussing with your team how it’s the worst traffic I've ever experienced in my entire life. 

I agree. That's why I love my home. I love to make my home my haven. 

We know you have enormous musical talent, but if for some reason, you didn't. What do you think you would be doing? 
Oh, so many things. I love everything and I wanted to do so many things growing up. My house was in front of this big film school where people from all over would fly to just to go there. I always thought I'd be able to save up and go to that film school too, because I always wanted tp make movies. I made little videos. 

Did you want to be an actress or a director? 

Both, but more on just the creation of film. I would post little films on YouTube. I honestly thought that was my route. 


But you can do both. 

I guess, but I like to focus on music now. Music is my number one. 
I just never thought it'd be a career because – even though I'd never shut up at home. I would always sing, even if we were going to church, I'd have a ukulele on me. Going to the mall, people would look at me because I would just play while I was walking. I think it's just a part of me, but I didn’t know it could be my career. My mom wanted me to be a doctor because at school we had these exams where it would tell you what field suits you best, and I was kind of a top student. 


Why do you not want to be a doctor? 

I'm afraid of blood, so. 


It sounds like you're very prodigious and you're great at everything, so I'm not jealous at all. When did you for sure know you were not just good at music, but that you wanted to share with complete strangers? 

I don’t know if there was a moment of “this is it.” Growing up, I would go on live and have one viewer and just sing and sing for hours. It was language almost. I didn't do it because I thought I'd be super famous. I just did it because I wanted to do it. I always wanted to write songs. That was my number one goal. So when I got into high school, I figured I should start a band. But I didn't know anyone from the little island. So I decided to join a singing contest because there was this one Facebook post where someone looking for bandmates. So I joined the contest. And in the Philippines, what's popular there is balladeers and divas. So I really did not come into the contest expecting to win because I was 15 and the youngest. I came into it singing “Creep” by Radiohead and I didn't plan on winning. 

If you went on, say, Twitch right now, how many people do you think would tune in? 


Oh, I don't know I'm not good at that stuff. I always think like nobody would show up. Like when my label told me I would get a tour in the Philippines, I said, “Are you for real?
No one will buy any tickets.” But for some reason, so many people showed up. I just get so surprised when people like to hear it. 

Let's get into the music and your process. What's your best approach for songwriting and creating your own music? 

Honestly, I still really don't know the answer to that. It's hard because I listen to so many types of music. Of course, Queen and the Beatles, they raised me, that's what I was first exposed to, and we have MTV at home called Mix. It's like an MTV Filipino version where they play the top songs of the week. I would rush home to look at Evanescence and Avril and I found them so cool, how they how they sang their vowels and jumped around, and I would try to emulate that. But then I grew up watching the show Adventure Time, I fell in love with it. Just how the songs made me feel and made me cry, I guess that's why I picked up the uke more than the guitar. 
I started with the guitar, but I fell in love with the uke eventually more because of Rebecca Sugar, who writes the songs in Adventure Time. I think that's why generally I write more conversationally because she writes very conversational. A lot of my artist friends are like, why are you so literal when you write? When I sing, I feel like I'm just talking. 

What would you say your process is of achieving that? 

It’s different everytime, but usually I write everything by myself, then I bring it to my band, and we bring it to life. I've been having sessions here in LA though, so that was a culture shock to me. I've never really written with other people before. 

Was it tough? Was it different? 

I think it's super cool. When I write by myself, I take a little while. Sometimes I'm in a flow state and I everything just word vomits out of me, but there are also times where I get stuck, and I don't know how to form the words in my head because I have so many things to say. So it's cool to have someone around you. Also,
I only know 8 chords, so it expands on what I know to work with other people. I love that I get to work with other people. I get to learn so many things from them and I think I'm more confident now that I've had those sessions. 

I heard Doechii reposted you? 

Yeah it was so wild. I just stared at it and thought I would cry for so many hours. I'm like, how, on the other side of the world, does she know about me or how did this reach her? That's just how awesome the internet is. 

It is a very interesting place. All right, I'm gonna pivot to some more fun, spontaneous questions. If you are at your happiest, most relaxed, most peaceful. Where are you? What are you doing? 

I am at home. With my cats, and it's quiet. Maybe Game of Thrones is playing. I'm rewatching for the 5th time. For some reason, even though it's my 5th time, there are things that I catch I haven't caught before. 

What do you think of House of Dragons and Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? 

I am up to date on House of the Dragons, and I love it. I don't want to say anything. I love it so much. Even my mom, who is super religious, you know she doesn't like me having tattoos and wearing shorts, I forced her to watch Game of Thrones and she likes it.

There's some Old Testament in there for sure, you know? Fire and brimstone. If I were with you in Sebu or Manila, and I’m hungry, where do we go and what do we get? 


I would bring everyone to get Tosloboa. The story is, I almost went into the Air Force, and so I was training as a cadet and after every training from the camp, we would go to this place. It’s an eatery, like street food, and the food is called Tosloboa, and it's pig brain. I don't know what else is in it. You cook it yourself. They give you caldero, kind of like hot pot, but you fry it yourself. And there's a rice in the Philippines called puso and you dip it. It's the best. It's delicious, I swear. 

Okay. I was not expecting pig brain, but I'm here for it. If you could perform with anyone, dead or alive, pick two or three artists. Is there anyone you'd love to perform with? 

Freddie Mercury. Evanescence, Amy Lee. 

If you could manipulate time, would you want to go back or forward in time, or would you just leave it alone? 

Oh my gosh. Honestly, after everything that's been going on, I think I’d leave it alone. I've been telling myself the past few days that I should just stay in the moment and just drink this coffee. Try not to cry every time someone talks to me because I'm about to cry right now. 


Okay, last couple of questions. I would love a non-music recommendation, and then a music recommendation. 


Non-music recommendation, I would say what's been keeping me going for the past few months is this anime called Blue Lock. I love anime. Blue Lock approaches things differently when it comes to achieving your ambitions and stuff. It's very bloodlusty and very egotistical, and I need that in my life because I have 0 ego. And many of my favorite codes that I like to live by are from the show. There's a code that says, it's not about the decision, it's about your resolve to make your choice the right decision. 

I like that. 

Music recommendation. My favorite song right now is Nothing Matters by The Last Dinner Party. Or Cancer by My Chemical Romance. 

Lastly, I want to end on your words. Anything you want to share. 

I think I just want to say thank you, first, because I wouldn't be here if without people listening and supporting. So thank you to all my people. Thank you to everyone who listens to music. And if there's anyone who was like me, from a small town or island, that didn't know that they’d ever get to have the chance to be in LA or have someone in Sephora know their name, just know that there is a possibility if you just don't stop. Be hardheaded, and you can make it even if you're from anywhere. So yeah, thank you for having me. 

I love that. Thank you so much. 

Listen to What if I miss you for the rest of my life? below: