Lian Kyla dreams big and is a Dream Maker in her own right.

From singing the songs of Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd Webber and wishing to see her name on Broadway, the Filipina singer has turned herself into a star in the world of P-pop as a songwriter for the likes of BGYO and BINI. It's a bit of a jump from what she'd previously hoped for but writing music has certainly taken her down a wonderfully creative path.

Largely influenced by the likes of Lea Salonga, Sara Bareilles, Norah Jones, The Corrs, and Corrine Bailey Rae, Lian Kyla is set on creating music that's close to her heart, whether it's P-pop, vocal-led, or LoFi.

Bandwagon caught up with Lian Kyla to talk about her work with BGYO and BINI, how different it is to write for herself vs. other artists, and the defining factor of the P-Pop sound.

How did you end up writing for BGYO and BINI?

I wrote 'Kapit Lang' as a song for myself upon the prompting of Jonathan Manalo. Then I made the Star Music team listen to it and the BINI management heard the song and thought it would be good for BINI. I agreed to have BINI release the song under them and after that, the BINI team asked me if I could write a song for the girls and also for BGYO.

I teamed up with my friend, Ainna Antiporda, and we set out to write two songs for them. We wrote them not knowing they would eventually be included as part of their debut albums! We wrote 'Here with You' and 'Rocketman'. When we were writing them, we just tried to keep the group's stories in mind and craft songs that would reflect their journeys so far.

What is it like working with them?

Working with the Star Music team, BINI team, and BGYO has been great fun. We were doing everything remotely. Once we finished with the demo, we handed them over to Jonathan Manalo (as the overall producer on both albums). He would then have it arranged.

We're excited to hear them during their concert this November. It's like watching this little baby song you and your friend made grow up in front of your eyes and become part of something so much bigger than yourself. It's humbling and exciting. Both groups are really good performers as well so they are able to really deliver the message of the songs.

How do you know if a song is for Lian Kyla or for another artist?

In the middle of making the song, halfway through writing it, I'll just have this instinct that "oh wait... this doesn't sound like it's for me. It sounds like it's for someone else." It may be an instinct based on the sound and the melody that's coming out of me as I'm crafting the song. And if it feels like me vs. it feels like a song that could belong to someone else.

I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's just a feeling I get. There are some songs that come out of you that aren't for you like they feel like you were just the channel but it's meant for someone else. 

Do you feel working with BGYO and BINI has helped you grow creatively as a songwriter? In what ways?

Oh, yes. I think with BGYO and BINI, the challenge for us was how we craft a pop commercial sound but try to bring something fresh to the table. Like with 'Here with You', we tried to spend a lot of time on the lyrics and kept on going back to the drawing board with lines we felt were too cliché.

We kept trying to challenge ourselves, "How can we say this differently? Is there another way to say this line?" Because these songs also have to add to the equity of the groups. They have to help them make their own unique mark in the industry so we definitely learned a lot. It was a learning experience to figure out how to balance the needs of the artist, audience, and of course from a creative perspective of pushing the craft. 

What do you hope listeners will take away from BGYO and BINI songs?

We hope they'll be inspired by listening to the songs. We hope they'll be able to feel their journey and not just hear or see their journey.

Korea has a very defined and recognizable sound for its brand of pop music. Could you describe the defining factor of what the P-Pop sound is?

I agree. I think over the years Korea has been able to mold and shape the brand and sound of their pop music that makes it "K-pop".

I think P-pop is still finding its footing. I can't really say what the defining factor is. Is it the use of Filipino or any one of the many languages in the Philippines in the lyrics? Is it using traditional instruments? Is it telling stories that are localized in perspective, telling the experience of a Filipino? I'm not sure. Even using the term "P-pop" probably brings questions in people's minds since it's closely related to K-pop or J-pop.

I think it's a really exciting time to be part of the P-pop scene right now. I feel like we're all still defining, molding, and negotiating the sound of "P-pop". What with all the different P-pop groups are bringing now—different perspectives, different sounds, different styles and approaches—it can only enrich and help us further define what that "P-pop" sound is. I think only time and perspective will further tell what that defining factor will be.

Let's talk about your self-produced project, Dream Maker. What inspired you to come up with this EP?

I wanted to challenge myself creatively, I wanted to explore LoFi, and I felt relaxing instrumental music was something people could appreciate and listen to in their everyday lives.

In November last year I started a 1 beat a day project just to practice making different beats. I'm a singer by training so this way of making music and thinking about music is different for me. Typically, when I think of a song I think, "Okay lead vocal melody + lyrics" but I wanted to explore the production side of music more. I figured LoFi beats was an entry point into beat making and production that I could feasibly try to get into because it's closest to my style (I like things nice and chill and slow).

I created the second track on my EP called 'Flower Tea' live on Twitch. We finished it in one hour and it was because of that track actually and the response it got on this site called Thematic (a website where content creators can use royalty free music) that I decided "Okay, there's a demand here, how about I create more?".

I wanted to use my own music as background music whenever I livestreamed. I pushed myself to go outside of my comfort zone and made these 6 tracks over the course of 5 months. 

How did you get into creating instrumental tracks?

I think there are three points to this. First, is that I was listening to a lot of these LoFi playlists on YouTube and using them as background instrumental music. Maybe it's hubris or ego but I had this thought where I was like "Hey I can make something like this. Wouldn't it be cool if I could use my own beats or instrumentals?" I have a tendency of challenging and pushing myself.

Second, I'd been playing a lot of video games over the pandemic and I really loved the music in those games. I thought maybe one day it would be cool to score a video game or provide music for a video game.

Third, I think I needed space away from my own singing voice. I reached a point where it was just getting too frustrating to sing. I was noticing all these little imperfections in my technique and in my expression that I was getting frustrated over. At some point I lost a bit of the joy I used to have when I sing and instead, I would always be filled with self-criticism and feelings of not-enough-ness.

This is something I'm still trying to unlearn because I know that the music that connects with me most is music that isn't necessarily perfect but is most felt. I'm still trying to learn how to sit with my imperfections and be okay with them.

What future music projects do you have down the line?

I'm releasing an EP of vocal-led songs in February. These are songs I wrote over the course of the pandemic and are a real time capsule of my feelings at the time. These are the first few songs where I got to explore writing songs in full; meaning I wrote the melody and lyrics myself.

I also have a lot of singles I want to release throughout the year. There are new things I want to express and share with the world. I started writing again and I feel like it's going to be completely different from what I've done so far.

Although I am contemplating releasing a Dream Maker Vol. 2 or another collection of instrumentals with a different vibe. I'm ready to show more of myself through my songs—my thoughts, feelings, and fears—even if that means showing my imperfections. I just took a songwriting class too and I'm eager to apply my learnings.