Selena – Campbells Bay
“I think the last time I felt really proud was for myself and it was after my band launched its last album, because I’m a musician in the Philippines and we launched an album last March. So that was a really great moment.
Well, I’m from the Philippines, and I arrived recently to Auckland because I’m going to be studying, and right now I am studying a Level 8 post-grad diploma in Applied Business at NZIE in Takapuna.
I love music. I love culture. I’ve been trying to check out gigs in Auckland. I haven’t gotten the chance to do that yet, but I’ve been going through places like K-Road and checking out bars there. It’s great.
I mean, I enjoy roaming around. I have two bands; one of them is a Filipino band and we play Filipino songs about pop-rock, about love and angst and stuff, but I have another band which is an English band and we play most of the same stuff except it’s a different format, and it’s great. I enjoy doing it.
I actually like how Aucklanders love to greet each other in the morning or whenever on the street and things, but it’s something I’m still getting used to and I think I just want to add to that. You know? I want to try to look people in the eye more and just sort of get to know them a little deeper. I talked to a guy at the bus stop I met earlier and it was great. So just sort of increasing that connection with everyday people and practicing that more.
I think about love and also how difficult it is to be responsible when you’re an adult. I know it sounds very immature, but you know I write those songs to deal with things and conflicts like that. Well, the impact of music on people is that first of all it allows them to experience beauty, and anytime you experience beauty you experience gratitude that you’re alive, and that’s why I love music, and that’s why I love making it.
It also allows other people to connect, because sometimes you write about something that’s very personal and you think it’s yours for yourself, but then when other people hear it there’s something that they can hold onto and connect to and it improves their own experience somehow, and that’s what I love about it.
I’m from Manila, and people there, Filipinos, are very friendly actually, but when you’re on the street you don’t really look people in the eye too much. They’re only friendly when you’re right in front of each other and have to interact then they can open up, but when you’re out on the street you don’t really care to look at the other person, and it’s not really the fact that you’re not caring; it’s just more you sort of respect their space, but I think it’s better to be open to people right up front, because then you show them that they have nothing to be afraid of about you and you’re just giving them all of yourself; what you can offer. So that’s what I love about being in New Zealand.
Oh, you can go to Bandcamp and look for Slow Hello. That’s my other band.”
