October 22, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — “Do you want us in the Philippines for a concert anytime soon?”
This was how the sister duo Janice and Sonia Lee, collectively known as Jayesslee, responded to The STAR question about whether they planned on coming back to the country to perform for their Pinoy fans.
The exclusive interview with the Sydney-based twins took place on the sidelines of the District M: A Marina Central Festival recently held in Singapore.
Jayesslee fondly recalled the warm welcome that the Filipino crowd gave them during their intimate concert in June 2012, saying that their fanbase in the Philippines was “so thoughtful.”
“We love our Filipino fans so much! I’m pretty sure it was in (the) Philippines where someone brought a Big Mac and gave it to us on the stage. They knew what perfume we liked so they gifted us perfume and it’s knowing the details, it’s not just throwing gifts at us,” Janice and Sonia said.
“They know us. They know what we like, what we don’t like. I think our Filipino fans have always been a little bit extra like that. We see our Filipino fans. They always feel like home to us, like family.”
Filipino hospitality was not the only thing that left a mark on the Korean-Australian siblings. Janice and Sonia amusingly reminisced about the “carmageddon” traffic they experienced along EDSA on their way to the show.
“We almost didn’t make it to our own show. There was so much traffic,” Sonia narrated.
“We were just trying to make it from the airport to the show to the venue and (there) was police escort but still getting nowhere, that was incredible,” Janice added.
After 12 years, the Philippines remains to be a place the sisters look forward to revisiting, either for a tour or a vacation. “We would love to go back to the Philippines. Yes, but it really depends on whether we have friends there or not. I think it would be really great to go back and see a bit of (the) Philippines, too. We didn’t get much of an opportunity to do that last time so I’d love to go back,” Janice quipped.
A collaboration with OPM band South Border is something that the musical duo is open to if given the chance. Sonia shared that she did a short cover of the band’s hit track Rainbow during the pandemic, earning praises from Pinoy followers.
“I did do a cover of South Border. When I covered that, all the Filipino fans were like, ‘Oh my gosh, they need to do a collab with South Border.’ I was like, I’d love to,” she added. “Very hard to sing, but it’s such a beautiful song.”
Posting covers on YouTube was what made them popular way back in the early 2010s with Tamia’s Officially Missing You starting their career. Despite achieving fame, it is no secret that Janice and Sonia took a step back from the limelight for a time. Now that they’ve returned to the music scene, the sisters could confidently say that they came back with “a different heart and purpose.”
“Over the last six years or so, we’ve sort of taken a break. I think we ‘unofficially officially’ quit between us like about six, seven times. It was really hard because not only was it kind of like a war zone on the outside, but even amongst us. There were many times where we were like, ‘Why are we doing this? I’m not even good at it.’ It’s just so many doubts,” Sonia revealed.
Jayesslee acknowledged that their fans greatly helped them in walking through the storm. “I think it means a lot to us now to be back and to meet some of the fans that have been to our shows like back in 2015. They know everything and still choose to love and support, so that that means more,” an emotional Janice said.
Sonia and Janice Lee, also known as the sister duo Jayesslee, sit down for an exclusive interview with The STAR on the sidelines of the District M: A Marina Central Festival in Singapore. After 12 years, the Philippines remains to be a place that the Korean-Australian twins look forward to revisiting, either for a tour or a vacation.
Headlining for District M: A Marina Central Festival this year and receiving unwavering support from fans were testaments to them that better things may happen when second chances are taken.
“Even being in Singapore, it was just a matter of opening our e-mail and being like, okay, if there’s anything for us, let it be. Going through emails, like a lot of the ones we’ve had were missed opportunities, but this was just sitting there. And so we took that as a sign and followed through with the help of friends and family. So we’re just gonna keep doing that, just keep staying open,” Janice said, adding that their whole family traveled to Singapore to watch them perform at the Suntec City last Oct. 5.
Jayesslee delivered an emotional set before the DISTRICT M crowd with inspiring messages in between song performances. Out of all the songs throughout the night, Des’ree’s You Gotta Be was the most personal to them as they dedicated it to their sons.
Janice and Sonia are taking one step at a time in settling back to the music scene. “We just want to keep grinding. We don’t know where this is going to take us. We want to share with people stories of where we’ve been. ‘Hey, are you human like us? Are you struggling like we did?’ We try to connect with people through our music that’s all,” Janice ended.
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