Proud Cebuana singer-songwriter Annette Osmeña talks about her new single “cake 4 breakfast.”
Currently based in Germany, she shares with SunStar LIVE! how she produced the single and its music video during the pandemic, and how she balances her time as an artist and as a growth and marketing consultant.
SunStar LIVE! (LIVE!): How and when did you start your singing career?
Annette Osmeña (Annette): According to my parents, the first time I “wrote” a song, I was three years old. The melody was derivative of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” but the words were “Mommy, mommy, carry me, carry me, carry me,” on repeat until she carried me. But I wouldn’t consider that the start of my music career. I wrote a lot of songs when I was in high school. A couple of them played on Monster Radio 105.9 in Cebu when I was about 16, and I even got offered a record deal from Warner Music in Manila. But I was young and unsure about what I wanted to do with my life, not to mention afraid of moving to a new city on my own, so I turned it down to stay in Cebu and finish school. I continued songwriting and singing at university in Hong Kong and even won the school talent show while I was there, but after graduating I moved to Berlin and didn’t write, sing or even listen to music much. Last year, this whole part of my identity was challenged. So writing music became for me what journaling is for a lot of people. It was a way to process my stress by creating something tangible. I think that art is so important when times are tough, not just as a means of escapism but because it helps you get out of your head and into your feelings.”
LIVE!: What’s the inspiration behind “cake 4 breakfast?”
Annette: Cake represents indulgence in such an intense and honest way. You know it’s not good for your health. It’s not something you should have every day. It’s not going to help you reach your goals, become a better person, or live longer. It’s sinful and indulgent and that’s okay. Sometimes you do things because it’s what you feel in the moment, and if that doesn’t hurt anyone else then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it! The character I created for “cake 4 breakfast” doesn’t want to imagine her future with the other person, doesn’t even really want to get to know the other person or see him/her as a romantic partner. It’s in some ways based on past experiences I had with people that I just couldn’t see myself with in the long term, but liked spending time with anyway. It was frivolous, but worth the fun. That’s what the song is about. It’s saying, “Today, I’m going to have cake for breakfast. It might not be healthy for me to do. It’s not pushing me forward in the direction of progress or making me a better person, but life isn’t all about progress.”
LIVE!: How did you collaborate with Subzylla?
Annette: The funny thing is, we’ve never actually met in person. He’s a friend of a close friend (she’s practically family, actually) and we almost met a few times while I was living in Manila. I knew of him through her, so I knew about his work at Tarsier Records and had heard his tracks on Spotify. After writing a couple of demos, I asked my friend if she thought it would be okay to write to him, and was so grateful to learn he is such an open, kind and generous person. He did not only listen to my demos but also gave me feedback, career advice, and was always happy to answer my questions. From the demos that I sent him, he really enjoyed “cake 4 breakfast” and decided to develop it more together. Since he’s in Manila and I’m in Germany, we couldn’t sit down together to work on it, so we went back and forth sending each other recordings and multiple versions of the song. Thankfully, Subzylla and I understood each other well, which made the process itself pretty easy. I’m lucky and appreciate being able to collaborate with him on my debut single.
LIVE!: How did you come up with the concept of the music video?
Annette: I strongly believe that my creativity is strongest when I’m given barriers. As I like to say, “Desperation leads to innovation.” In this case, the biggest challenge was shooting a music video in the middle of a strict lockdown, in a small German city where I don’t know anyone and don’t have access to good equipment and a team. So we had to be creative. The Tarsier Records team sent me some pegs/ideas they had about an at-home shoot, and I had the idea to also crowdsource videos from other people. Since the metaphor in the song is such a strong image, collecting videos of people indulging in cake seemed like the best representation of it. It shows that everyone has their own indulgences, everyone deserves it, and no one is judging you because you’re not alone.
LIVE!: How do you manage your time as an artist and a growth and marketing consultant?
Annette: Well, first of all, I’m actually the interim Head of Growth at Kumu for now, and only work there half-time. The rest of the time I’m juggling my music and consulting other companies on growth and performance marketing. I actually started my own Growth Agency at the beginning of 2020, but struggled to hire a good team and found myself doing most of the work. It was definitely a challenge to juggle all that, including making my own podcast, writing music, starting an e-commerce business with my close friend, researching health tech and sustainability projects in the Philippines, maintaining all my hobbies, taking care of household chores. I needed to remember something that Brian Tracy once said: “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” So these days, I’m doing less, but am achieving way more. Google Calendar also helps.
One of the things that is really important for the 27-year-old is cultivating a community that can share with, learn from, and support each other. A big part of her mission both as an artist and at Kumu—a Filipino video sharing and e-commerce social networking service—is to uplift Filipino talent on a global scale.
Currently, Annette is working on her next project that will be released before the month ends. Follow her social media account @annette_ on Kumu and @annette.music on Instagram for updates. You may stream “cake 4 breakfast” on all music platforms including YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.