MANILA, Philippines — In songwriting, there’s the melody-and-lyrics dichotomy. Either one becomes the germ of any musical composition.
For singer-composer Arnoldg, specifically in his latest single, Nonchalant, a commonplace narrative commenced everything.
“There was one night after (doing a) gig, my manager pointed out to me a nonchalant person (a stark contrast to) my being OA (overacting), and teased me,” said the artist in a recent virtual interview with The STAR. “When I went home, that narrative stuck, and I told myself that I would write about it.”
Such an act may be considered OA to some, but it’s a valid, real-life source of inspiration.
And that’s how the Nonchalant song came about. The team behind Arnoldg describes it as “alternative, pop and upbeat” with the opposites-attract theme, putting the calm and unconcerned, and the exaggerated and overly involved personas in the story arc. The word, “nonchalant,” has recently become in vogue as part of pop culture and Gen-Z language.
So, what’s his intention in foraying into Nonchalant, message-wise?
“It’s more of looking for people who are in that same situation like, ‘Oh, I have a crush on this (nonchalant) person, do you also have this feeling that I’m experiencing?” shared Arnoldg.
“To be honest with you, my brand is all about looking for love… actually knowing what love is. That’s pretty much what Arnoldg is. Hinahanap ko talaga ang description ko about love (I’m really looking for my description of love).”
He reiterated that the song is, in a way, picking the listeners’ brains about whether having a nonchalant crush is good or not, and if being with someone of a similar personality is better.
“It’s pretty much an open topic,” said Arnoldg, who grew up watching rom-coms and teleseryes that sparked his interest in presenting various faces and facets of love. It did instill in him images of what an ideal family, relationship or love is like. His curiosity about whether he could possibly experience them led him to compose songs about love.
That and his passion for music have propelled Arnoldg to write tunes that engage people and make them happy. It’s safe to say that Arnoldg is glad to be the singing voice of themes about love.
“There are songs I can write (in one sitting) at midnight — that’s when my creative juices come out. And within an hour, I can finish it,” said he. “But it doesn’t mean it’s fully finished. Sometimes, after two or three days, I go back to it and change some phrases.”
“I think the quickest time I took to write a song was an hour,” added he. “(It happens when) I’m really in the mood, I really like the narrative. When I’m emotional and I can really feel the situation, especially when the experience becomes very personal, I can finish it fast.”
For Nonchalant, Arnoldg had two key moments to finally reach its refinement and completion.
The first time was when his manager brought to Arnoldg’s attention his nonchalant crush, and the second time was when the artist and the nonchalant person crossed paths.
From there, Nonchalant evolved from being a song of hope to becoming a courtship track.
His publicity team shared that “around 90 percent of his songs were born from true-to-life experiences, while the remaining 10 percent came from inspirational stories (Arnoldg) has read, watched, or shared with him by others.”
The singer-composer also wishes to collaborate with Yeng Constantino, Moira Dela Torre, KZ Tandingan, and James Reid.
“The most usual process is really narrative. I will write something and then, I’ll try to sing it. But I have these so-called magical moments. When I just sing, I blabber words, and then, I’m done writing the song,” said he, who captures the melody or the lyrics through his voice memo and notes on his phone.
Away from the recording studio, Arnoldg works as an admin for a retail corporation and does freelance design work. He is an architecture graduate of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. Arnoldg is a corporate guy in the morning and a rock artist in the evening. It’s the time of the day when he nurtures and chases his musical creativity and dreams.
Asked what’s in the pipeline for him after the release of Nonchalant, Arnoldg said, “Actually, more songs… Medyo mahilig talaga akong magsulat (I’m really into writing songs). And whatever is in his vault of tunes, he hopes to release it one day. So, one can also expect Arnoldg to release an EP or an album in the future.
A music video for Nonchalant will also soon be released.
For now, give Nonchalant a listen on all streaming services, such as iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube, and through Arnoldg’s social media platforms.
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