From being a finalist in the first season of The Voice Teens in 2017, Jeremy Glinoga, known as Jeremy G, has carved out his path as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Now with his new album ODDicted, he reflected on how writing for other artists shaped his artistry and confidence.
During his album launch, Jeremy admitted that creating music for himself comes with greater pressure compared to producing for others.
“It’s more pressuring when writing and producing for myself, kasi, alongside producing, I also wrote and co-wrote the tracks, so kahit papaano may vision na ako, and if along the way in producing, if I felt like I haven’t met that vision, that starts getting to my head. Whereas, if I produce for other artists, I just help guide them on the way they want to go. I don’t wanna dictate where I think they should go; it’s always guiding them. So, I think I feel more pressure with my own stuff,” Jeremy explained.
ODDicted is a six-track album that explores different forms of love, highlighting Jeremy’s more authentic and vulnerable side after taking a two-year break from writing for himself. During that time, he shifted his focus to producing and writing for fellow artists.
“The 2 to 3-year hiatus that I was going through, after releasing an album and then eventually start to write and produce for others, it showed me a different side of music, and I’m grateful for it kasi mas lalo ko na-appreciate ‘yung behind the scenes,” he said.
“During that hiatus, it was only me, my computer, the studio, and the artist that I was working with,” he added. “Whenever I write for other artists, I feel that that’s what I work more personal, kasi there are songs where I write where I feel mai-iyak ako when I sing it myself.”
Jeremy has collaborated with several Kapamilya artists including Zsa Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez, Belle Mariano, Sofronio Vasquez, Rain Celmar, Kai Montinola, Kolette Madelo, Jarren Garcia, and P-pop boy groups WRIVE and 1621.
“Working with other artists, I feel like it built my musical sense and my musical capabilities kasi, I released my album Late Night Madness, and after that, I lost inspiration trying to write for myself. I would try to write for myself pero walang lumalabas, so I feel like it wasn’t good enough. Pero when I was writing for other artists, it helped me develop that inspiration even more and helped me develop the capabilities that I can do as a producer and songwriter na rin,” he explained.
“Those collaborations, especially when I’m helping other artists start out their music careers, I felt like it helped shape this, especially this EP, even more.”
One of his most memorable experiences was writing “Never Be Alone” for Zsa Zsa Padilla, which also featured her daughter Zia Quizon. The song, about a mother’s love and the pain of children leaving home, was a challenging yet rewarding project for him.
“It was difficult for me because ang objective ni Ms. Z sa akin was to write about emptiness, which is about children leaving the house, starting to have their different lives not under your roof anymore,” Jeremy told PUSH ABS-CBN.
Jeremy thought of his own mother while doing the song.
“Ako naman, being from the US, being close to my mom din, she was with me for the first 5 years after The Voice Teens tapos nung umalis siya, parang dun ko nahugot ‘yung message na pwedeng gamitin ng story sa song na ‘yun. I just put my position to where I felt like my mom would be, and then sinabi sa akin ni Ms. Z nung narinig niya ‘yung kanta, umiyak siya,” Jeremey recalled.
“To hear that parang gusto ko sabihin na natuwa ako e, pero it felt good that the message got across na it had that kind of effect because siyempre it was hard for me to write that kasi I don't know how that feels for them. My only inspiration is what my mom would feel, but I’m glad that the message came across Ms. Z and loved it as well,” he added.
For Jeremy, writing for others has been a constant source of learning.
“For me, the mindset, one thing is always the same to create art. To have a great output I think as something different to my writing music for others is. Ako, I think I'm freer and I'm more driven to give the output that the artist wants, what they want and if it's something out of my field. I'm always open to it kasi at the end of the day I'm always learning,” he expressed.
Jeremy’s ODDicted is now available on all streaming platforms. He is also a mainstay of the Sunday noontime variety show ASAP.