It takes 2 to make music

Meet Vispop 4.0’s winning tandem, Joseph Gara and Jayneil Enriquez

THE lights onstage were reminiscent to the setting sun as Joseph Gara and Jayneil Enriquez delivered their heartfelt performance during Vispop 4.0 Finals Night. On its fourth year of producing quality Visayan songs, Vispop has once again captivated the audience with a song that talked of both longing and hope. Everyone was obviously moved by the sweet yet haunting melody of the song Paghunas, which was the champion piece in the competition.

The seemingly simple yet deep song has quite a back story according to its composer, Joseph. It is about a woman calling on to all the gods to bring her seafarer husband home safely from a storm-filled sea journey. Joseph imagined the song to be set in the olden times, maybe during the 1800s, when sea voyages took months to complete.

“The sea was rough, which made the wife worry. The song is the wife’s prayer. She was calling all the gods, praying for the wind, for the sun and the heavens that her husband will be safe. Aron sa ikaduhang paghunas, magkita na sila,” Joseph said, loosely quoting a line from his own song at the end.

Before all the Vispop shebang, Joseph has been a musician his whole life. “My mother had a hard time giving birth to me because when I got out from her womb, I was already playing a guitar,” Joseph laughingly said.

Music is life

A graduate of AB Music from the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation, music has been Joseph’s lifeline. He sings in weddings and other various gigs in his home province of Bohol where he also frequents an annual songwriting contest. “But this is my first time to join Vispop. It’s also my first time to win in a songwriting competition,” he said.

Joseph considers himself a boring man with a simple life. He takes inspiration from the movies he watches and from the books he reads. He likes to tell stories through his songs, which makes his songs come alive. When he was writing Paghunas, it started with just