Darren coping with separation blues
To hear budding performer and singer Darren Espanto tell it, the most difficult challenge he has faced to date is battling homesickness.
Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the 15year-old alum of The Voice
Kids Season 1 says it’s hard to be separated from his loved ones as he pursues music here in the Philippines. Darren is quite close to his parents Lyndon and Marinel, as well as to his six-year-old sister Lynelle, all of whom are currently based in the Land of Maple Leaves.
But Darren and his family have found ways to make it work for all of them. For his part, Darren channeled his feelings into music, as any musician worth his salt would do. He just released Be With Me, his second album under MCA Music, on which he wrote two songs: A bouncy pop ditty titled Hanggang Hi Hello and Home, a piano ballad. Darren poured all his homesickness into writing and recording the latter, and the result is a song even the hardest of hearts would find touching. “I had the help of some musicians
pagdating sa music, pero yung melody and words sa akin talaga,” he says proudly. “If someone were to ask me which of my two compositions in the album is my favorite, I would have to say Home. Parang mas ramdam ko po siya.”
Darren shares that the song is special to him because it’s an accurate reflection of how he feels about his situation. Some- times, he feels so homesick that he wishes returning to his hometown would be as easy as picking up a pen and writing about it. But since that isn’t the case, the last time he felt a pang in his heart when he thought about Canada, he sat down and composed Home instead.
But Darren clarifies that he didn’t write it solely for himself. He also wrote it for those in similar situations, in the hope that listening to the song will help them as much as writing it did. People like OFWs and their own families will surely be able to relate to Home.
Speaking of OFWs and their families, Darren’s parents — who are medical professionals in Calgary — have resorted to modern technology to take care of their son from halfway around the world. Social media has made it possible for them to be a presence in his life, although virtual, and give him advice on everything under the sun.
“My parents and I, we do Facetime and text each other, basically,” Darren explains. “If there are shows — like during the album launch for Be With Me at the Market! Market! — Mom would send me pictures of the pants, shirt and shoes that she wants me to wear that day. We’ll do video calls where I’ll show her how I would look in those get-ups then she will choose. She and my Dad always tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, and what’s best for me.”
The 14-hour time difference between Calgary and the Philippines notwithstanding, this arrangement is perfect for Darren and his doting parents. Their schedules are such that even if one of them has to be at work, the other is available should Darren need someone to talk to. But it seems that part of him prefers his mother’s advice. “My Dad works the day shift and my Mom works the night shift,” explains Darren. “So she’s awake from 11 o’clock at night to about five in the morning. At
minsan naman when it’s her day off, she’ll still find time to take care of me. If she’s not available, I would call Dad, but I’ll ask him, ‘Where’s Mom?’”
At the moment, Darren lives in the Philippines with relatives, but sometimes his mother takes time off to fly back here to do her maternal duties in person, which Darren says is so much better than when she does them via the Internet. On the rare occasions that their schedules match, Darren, his parents and his sister go on family vacations — which he calls Espantastic
Adventures on social media — to maintain their closeness.
In the meantime, to keep from succumbing to his homesickness, Darren is throwing himself body and soul into his work. He recently did a concert at the Kia Theater called D’ Total Experience, and released three digital singles off Be With Me. A fourth single is in the works, as are music videos for all of them.
“It’s been a great ride for me because I’m doing what I love. Yung pinapangarap ko lang po noon, natupad ko na po sila ngayon, saka yung mga awards din po, I feel very blessed and very happy. The Darrenatics are always there for me po, which is amazing,” he says.