Robin Nievera's Overwait Media Launch

Robin Nievera

Robin Nievera has waited long enough. After a year’s stint in being a MYX VJ, he finally gets to make his mark in the music recording scene as he releases his debut album entitled Overwait. This album released by Polyeast Records consists of 10 tracks that were actually composed by Robin that show a side that was different from the music of his parents, Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez who are considered icons in the Philippine music scene.

Members of the media (television, radio, print and online) were treated to a performance of tracks from the album and more by Robin and his band (Joseph Wu on guitars, Bret Meneses on bass and Michael Gemina on drums) during a recent media launch for the album that was held at Rockville, the bar owned by Journey vocalist, Arnel Pineda. Also present during the launch to show their support for Robin were Pops Fernandez and contemporaries Zia Quizon, Paolo Valenciano and Yael Yuzon.

While watching the performance, it’s pretty obvious that Robin’s music doesn’t sound at all like the stuff that his father Martin used to sing in his youth. Robin’s sound leans towards rock with a lot of blues flavor. But there are tracks in the album like Sexy Strut and Blindsided wherein Robin sounds a lot like his dad. I did close my eyes numerous times and tried to imagine that it was Martin who was singing. And yet, when I open them, it’s Robin who was on stage jamming with his guitar impressively despite having very little formal training with the instrument.

Being the son of music icons, it’s expected for Robin to be asked if he were in some way influenced by his parents. He says that he is a huge fan of his parents’ work but his music was also influenced by the time he grew up with hence his work sounding a lot more recent. He mentioned that he really pushed for having all original material in his album although he didn’t know how he convinced his label to go on with it. There was lot of talk between him and the label and from the low of six, they eventually agreed to have the 10 tracks that are now in the album. Since Robin believes a lot in his own material, he does want to perform his songs live whenever he goes on tour and does shows.

Yael Yuzon of Sponge Cola

I did put the album Overwait for a few spins and one track that really got my attention was Sound Tripping. While the lead track In 3’s featured an old school triple meter, Sound Tripping has an irregular meter especially with the initial verses. It took me a while to wrap my finger around it but I did figure it out. It must be a challenge to perform it live especially for the drummer. Another track that I had to put on repeat was the acoustic Delight showing that Robin can slow the pace down and show a little tenderness. The album is now available at record stores nationwide and also at MyMusicStore Philippines.

Overwait

Tracks:

1. In 3’s

2. Sexy Strut

3. Lost

4. Smile

5. Delight

6. Beautiful

7. Sing Along

8. Sound Tripping

9. Blindsided

10. Untitled