Genre-bending Filipino artist/producer Nobrvnd releases his new EP, “GET THIS BREAD,” hoping that his unbranded style will stand out to new listeners.
After five years in the local band scene and two years as a solo independent artist, the 25-year-old’s versatility and experimental sound saw him land him a record deal with Warner Music Philippines (WMP) and a management contract with Open Door Artists.
“I’ve really enjoyed listening to gospel rap, and uplifting and energetic tracks lately – a considerable move away from the emo rap and dark R&B I used to rap/sing about,” says Nobrvnd. “I was slowly losing hope in my music during the pandemic; it almost felt like I needed a career change. But I was discovered by Open Door Artists, which led to me to sign with Warner Music Philippines. This inspired me to write ‘GET THIS BREAD’ and to work harder. I have been given another chance to pursue my dreams and I am determined to make the most of it.“
On the meaning behind the album title, Nobrvnd explains, “I’m sure you’re familiar with ‘GET THIS BREAD’ being used as a motivational slang that means ‘get money.’ To me, this means to achieve all the success we are pursuing. We all have different meanings of success.”
Ahead of the EP release, Nobrvnd also dropped his music video for the album’s third track, “SEXBOMB GIRL.” “At the base level, this song is really simple,” he says. “It talks about the disarming effect of the female form. As with any creative product, the other layers of meaning are very much open to interpretation; using superficial and external measures of success to represent a deeper search for meaning, including intrinsic satisfaction, is a recurrent theme in my upcoming debut EP album. One related meaning of ‘SEXBOMB GIRL’ is the emphasis on superficial criteria within relationships. Alternatively, some of my listeners have interpreted it as an exploration of the challenges of finding a perfect relationship match. Other listeners still may well have a very different interpretation – this is precisely what makes music, and art forms more generally, interesting.”
The inventive artist, who’s popular for writing and producing his own music, shared that this EP was harder to create compared to his previous releases. Explaining the EP, Nobrvnd says, “I started work on the EP last December and essentially finished around May this year. I followed the same process that I have always used to produce my own songs: always in my bedroom, usually in the middle of the night when there are no distractions. The difference this time is that I wasn’t able to get away from my workstation due to the various restrictions imposed during GCQ/ECQ. This was another hard part of the process for me. Having your work in front of you 24/7 makes it very difficult to switch off – I’m sure many of your readers can relate to this! My recording and mixing engineer, Axel Fernandez, played a crucial role in helping me reach the finish line for this project – and he also co-produced the EP’s fifth track, ‘DADA’.”
2020-2021 will go down in history as the dark days of COVID-19. It’s a turn of a decade that Nobrvnd, along with other artists, did not anticipate. With cabin fever slowly eating up his creativity, he was still able to write enough tracks to complete his EP. “The biggest difficulties I faced during the preparation of the EP were pandemic-related: namely, the challenge of collaborating with members of my team amidst lockdowns and social distancing restrictions. 80% of the time we have worked remotely. The lack of face-to-face interactions made it feel like I’m on my own a lot of the time. But this also made me more resilient in working independently – in these conditions it almost feels like I’m a one-man team.”
Since joining the Warner Music Philippines and Open Door Artists’ family, Nobrvnd has been working extra to make sure that the stuff he puts out shows his progress as an artist. “To be honest, it is really hard and frustrating to break that barrier – to reach a wider audience, to rise above the noise. But this is part of the experience, part of the career I am pursuing. I will just keep grinding until I’m heard.” As a quick intro for new listeners, Nobrvnd said if you want to see his happy/fun side, he’d recommend SEXBOMB GIRL; if you’d like to see Nobrvnd’s skilled/determined side, you should listen to ‘GET THIS BREAD PT. II.’ In the future, Nobrvnd plans to explore collaborations with other artists and continue evolving his style.
Stream Nobrvnd’s latest EP “GET THIS BREAD” on your favorite digital platforms now. Follow Warner Music Philippines on social media for the low-down on your favorite WMP artists.