Running my own smol art shop was a dream I didn’t know I had until I started making the stuff. It’s kinda funny. I have so many friends who told me over the years that I should sell my work as stickers and prints, but I kept hesitating and second guessing myself (see: token creative introvert). But now I’m doing The Thing™! All it took was that first step after a friend suggested, “Hey, wanna sell your art as bookmarks at our shop?” That was back in March. I was six months pregnant and reaping the benefits of that wonderful stage toward the end of my second trimester when productivity was at its peak. I was drawing so much. Writing so much. Heck, I even wrote and illustrated the first draft of a picture book in two days and sent it out to my agent. I had four friends check it out, and I managed to make each one of them cry! The feedback, needless to say, has been great. “Oh, so this is what motivation feels like,” I thought to myself. It was nice. KARAKUGAKI[ka·ra·ku·ga·ki]noun I got the name KARAKUGAKI during a drive with Sho to his office in […] Continue Reading
The stories about parenthood and how you’ll never sleep again are almost all true. Sho and I have been New Parents™ for a good two months and seven days now, and we evidently still lack sleep. The bags under our eyes are darker than they’ve ever been, we respond to messages in an impeccably delayed manner, and our sense of time is warped on a whole other level. On a good night, we get about three to four hours in with a much lower probability of interruptions for milky time or a diaper change from the kid compared to our first two weeks with him. We’re still constantly dazed though, sometimes dozing off in the middle of a feeding or improperly taping on a diaper. The worst is when the kid just won’t sleep and the sun is already peeking through the window, screaming, “Heeeyyy, suckas! I’m back!” We’re doing pretty well now. Although we’re still excessively tired and yearn for a nap in the middle of the day, I think a routine—albeit an erratic one—has been established. So, what do you do when things are good? You add a little something to make it even better… or more chaotic. […] Continue Reading
FINALLY!!! Freakin’ finally! The initial interior sketches for the 240 pages of SQUALO & MAGE are complete! With everything that went down since signing the contract and completing the script to bring this book to life, I sometimes can’t believe I actually made it out in one piece. It’s been a crazy past 2 years—much longer than I expected to complete this stage of creating a graphic novel. Why 2 years? Besides being totally new to this and dealing with events that were out of my control, a lot of personal life things happened, including the craziness of planning a wedding, the downward spiral my family faced following the death of our dad, suddenly having to deal with carpal tunnel pains, getting COVID, and the jampacked daily schedule I had working full-time as a music journalist. Things finally eased up after I left the day job, giving me the freedom to work on SQUALO & MAGE alongside my first picture book, BIGGER THAN ME. And then last October, Sho and I discovered that we’re pregnant with our first kiddo! There was yet again a lot of juggling, parkouring, and figuring out life in general, but halfway through my second trimester, […] Continue Reading
So, my kid is still in the womb but is already working on his math rock and jazz chords. That’s right, Sho and I have got a baby shark on the way, and we can’t wait to meet him! Continue Reading
Why, hello there, friends! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since I took a step back from music journalism late last year, I’ve been hiding away at home to focus on my life as a full-time author-illustrator. It’s been really tough, to be honest, getting the chance to actually do the thing you’d always dreamed of your entire life. But man, oh man, has it been sooooo cool! So here we are! I’m super excited to finally share with you the cover of my first picture book, BIGGER THAN ME. Written by Erica Simone Turnipseed, BIGGER THAN ME follows a sweet story of two siblings who band together with the neighborhood kids to better understand the big words that are thrust upon them through crafts and play. This book was drawn entirely on Procreate, which inevitably led to an increase in iPad time over the past couple of months. Check out the cover and what the book is all about below: Children discover the impact they can have when they band together in this picture book ode to how solidarity lifts everyone up. Siblings Luna and Zion are feeling a bit overwhelmed. Big words keep rushing at them: Homelessness. Pandemic. […] Continue Reading
Took the leap and here I am now doing the author-illustrator gig full-time. Yup, I’m stepping away from the life I’ve known for 10 years as a music journalist. For the meantime. Maybe. It was a long time coming and sometimes I can’t believe I’d actually turned in that resignation letter to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a full-time author-illustrator. You still might see my byline at Bandwagon Asia every now and then, but most certainly not on a daily frequency it appeared for almost five years. In fact, shortly after my last day at work, our Editorial Director Camille Castillo called me to do an interview with Raymund Marasigan (literally a week after my retirement) about the Eraserheads‘ highly anticipated reunion concert Huling El Bimbo this December. “You’re the only one who can do it,” she told me, adding how this was going to be Bandwagon’s biggest story for 2022. It was at that “casual conversation” where Rayms talked about his retirement from music, specifying how he’s ” technically semi-retired” since his daughter graduated from college in August. He went on to share what he’d been spending his time on, and guess what, it was still music! And […] Continue Reading
“What’s it like being a music journalist?” These days, I think my answer would be “tiring.” Heck, I’ve been in the biz for a good 10 years now and two of those years were spent indoors thanks to a neverending pandemic. But looking back, oh man, I gotta say it’s been an absolute blast. My friend and fellow writer in the book world Mae Coyiuto invited me to write about my journey as a music journalist for Young Star. I talk about how I got my start, the people who helped me along the way, and some of my favorite stories. Check it out on PhilStar Life. Continue Reading
You can’t blame the mind for wandering when you’ve been trapped indoors for months due to a pandemic that’s overstayed its welcome. The comforts of your bedroom shift into odd shapes that fuel insecurities and paranoia. They’re difficult to escape from. Home just doesn’t feel like home anymore. But there are some people—let’s call them the wild ones—who’ve decided it was time to break out of their misery and grapple with their nightmares once and for all. At the forefront, leading the wild ones, is singer-songwriter ena mori with a record that tears down walls as it demands the freedom to roam wild and happily. It doesn’t take a minute to tell you that you’re in for a kaleidoscopic bedroom party for one once DON’T BLAME THE WILD ONE! comes through the speakers. The Filipino-Japanese artist’s 12-track synthpop offering bursts with color, letting you know firsthand how she dealt with the claustrophobic grasp of the lockdowns. It’s quirky with grooves that compliment her unapologetic and encouraging lyrics, reminding listeners to embrace their true selves. Just like with her 2020 self-titled debut, the “KING OF THE NIGHT!” act tackles her insecurities by giving her most authentic self permission to dance the […] Continue Reading
IT’S HAPPENING! It’s finally happening! After sleepless nights of checking emails, getting on international calls, and drowning in anxiety, I can finally and proudly announce that I’ve finally scored my very first book deal for my very first book SQUALO & MAGE! All this wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing agent, Sara Crowe, who made sure my debut graphic novel would land in good hands. And those hands belong to the incredible Clarissa Wong at HarperCollins! It will be a while until it hits shelves—the first book comes out sometime in Winter 2023, to be a little less vague. So please be sure to look out for it laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaater. Oh, and you can add SQUALO & MAGE to your GoodReads over here. You can also follow SQUALO & MAGE on Instagram here. Continue Reading
