Play it again, Robin
Becoming a musician was the last thing on Robin Nievera’s mind until he touched the six strings
Robin Nievera admits that growing up, his last name haunted him. The son of music icons Martin Nievera
and Pops Fernandez knew
the public expected him to
fall in love with music the way his parents did, but,
well, sorry.
Robin Nievera admits that growing up, his last name haunted him. The son of music icons Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez knew the public expected him to fall in love with music the way his parents did, but, well, sorry.
“I didn’t want to be a singer or anything in music when I was under 10,” he said in an interview.
At 12 years old, Robin learned playing a musical instrument as a requirement in school. He picked what he thought was the easiest one there is: The guitar.
“I picked it out of laziness,” he said. “In my school, you had to take either voice lessons, which meant reading notes – I didn’t know how to do that – or learn piano, which looks very complicated because there are so many little keys.”
So, the guitar it was and things fell into place. Robin so loved the six strings that he became close friends with guitarists and other musicians in the church he attends, who all helped him master his skill.
Robin joined a band at 18 and the experience changed his mindset on becoming a musician.
“It was the time when I said, ‘I want to do this.’ I really thought music was the one thing that I was called for and the one thing that I wanted to be better at,’” he shared.
These days and for some time now, the 28-year-old has been dead serious with his craft. He had gone into the music business, crafting tunes in singer-songwriter mode. He produced the “No More Than Words” duet album for his parents in 2012, and even contributed his composition, “Smile.”
Robin has released two albums (“Overwait,” “Nightmares”) and is working on the next. He and his band are making the rounds in the live performance circuit both here and abroad. He won the Best New Male Artist at the Star Awards in 2012.
Does Robin aim to be the Concert Prince? Note that Martin is dubbed the Concert King.
“My goal in life is not to become the Concert Prince. As much as I wanna be here in the industry, it’s not my goal to duplicate my dad’s records – to make an album and have it turn triple platinum in the span of a week or sell out a concert in Araneta.
“What I want to do is make music – good music. I want make the music industry a little more credible. (I think) it’s a deeper goal.”
Robin is part of a concert he dubs “extra different.” In “The Next Attraction” produced by Pops, Robin collaborates with children of other iconic singers. They are Paolo Valenciano (son of Gary V), Isabella (Kuh Ledesma), and Karylle (Zsa Zsa Padilla). Indeed, there’s such a thing as “talent gene.”
In putting the young artists together for a project, Pops said, “Sila talaga ’yung tinatawag
na next attraction. I’m very proud of each of them because they’re very, very talented and they have good chemistry.”
Pops, who is close to the other concert artists’ parents, practically saw Paolo, Isabella and Karylle grow up. Seeing them now as excellent musicians makes her nostalgic.
“They are doing their thing and finding their way in their respective fields. Hopefully, this project will be an instrument for them to go further,” she said.
“The Next Attraction” will be held at the Music Museum in Greenhills on July 4 at 8 p.m.
‘It’s not my goal to duplicate my dad’s records... what I want to do is make music – good music’ – Robin Nievera