A songwriter and artist from Jersey City is André Molina. André was born and raised in the Philippines, where he was exposed to a wide variety of music that has influenced the way he writes today, bending genres like pop, alternative, indie, and more.
The new single from André Molina is “Jealous,” a sensual indie pop song about the destructive aspects of young love. In order to keep the relationship “fun” and exciting, the NJ-based songwriter romanticizes an unhealthy (unfit) relationship and adds fuel to the fire. The song features a smooth and seductive vocal performance, haunting and beautiful harmonies, and a dark and moody production that creates an atmosphere of misconstrued “love” that is fueled by resentment and obsession. Check out the exclusive interview below:
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1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I was born in the Philippines, and moved to the US in 2007. Music has always been a part of my life, I’m such a big fan. In my childhood home in the Philippines we only had two television channels and if you move the antennas patiently into the right direction, sometimes you’d be lucky enough to get American channels like MTV and I would to watch music videos all day. I used to dance, and then I became a rapper, and then I rediscovered my love for Pop music after high school, and fell in love with songwriting. My life change right there and then.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: Besides, a couple of singing lessons for about 2 to 3 months, I’ve always been self taught and just found ways to improve from the Internet. As far as songwriting goes, I just listen to so much music and really understand and feel the way these songs would be written and I just applied my understanding into my own art.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘ANDRÉ MOLINA’?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I feel like I’ve listen to so much music growing up that I don’t really have only one artist that I really look up to. It would be a blend of some Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, John Mayer, Paramore, Ja Rule, Filipino musicians and bands like Parokya Ni Edgar, Hale, a combination of what I would hear on MTV. My full name is Jose Andre Molina Borgonia. So I go by my second first name “André” and my mothers maiden name “Molina” as André Molina.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: One of the main key elements in my music are my lyrics. I think my lyrics are very conversational, relatable, and easy to listen to. I like creating worlds using my words and pairing that with masterful production from my team together creates this intimate world I let my listeners in and get lost and escape for the duration of the song. It’s fun and nice way to escape day to day life sometimes. Some descriptions are used to describe my music would be cinematic, bitter-sweet, relatable, and unique.
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5. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I feel like it’s been a long time that I’ve gotten some real haters out there LOL. I think I remember that and it made me sad reading some negative comments but if I was to get that today, I’m not really sure how it would affect me, but I think I can handle myself better than before. I’ve received some criticism and slightly negative feedback when I am pitching to blogs and labels and I’m pretty good at handling those, and not really affecting me. I can handle criticism really well, especially if it’s a good one I actually listen and consider making changes and applying to my work. But if it’s nonsense, I can tone out pretty easily.
6. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
ANDRÉ MOLINA:
My creative process always starts with guitar chords, or a beat that my producers would play for me. If I’m inspired by it, they will know immediately because I would get so excited. Melodies will just start flying out. I always start with melodies and add lyrics to it later, sometimes I would freestyle a song and rewrite parts of it. It’s rare that I start with a narrative/lyric idea first but this has been happening more lately which I think is very cool.
7. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
ANDRÉ MOLINA:
Oh my god this is such a good question for me. Even in my rap days, I just had this ability to imitate other rappers’ sound. Whenever my Producer would play a beat, and he would say “this sounds like a Kodak Black beat” I would start rapping and singing, melodies similar to the style of that rapper. We would get a huge laugh out of it, but at the end, it really helped my songwriting, because I am able to pull inspirations from the countless amounts of artists that I’ve listened to in my life. And now I would even say that my very own style is just a melting pot of everything that I like listening to.
8. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I am a big advocate of self expression. It’s always been my thing, expressing myself away has always been what makes me the happiest and seeing others express themselves also makes me happy. I’m also a big supporter of mental health. This is some thing I’m still learning how to talk to people about and learning more as i go. I’ve always wanted to write songs about it. It’s always such a struggle because I feel like I can’t get my point across or with the fear of sounding corny, and thinking my audience might not receive it well. But recently, I’ve been diving into it, so expect more music in the future talking about mental health!
9. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I feel very much fulfilled with my journey with music so farwhether it’s the creating part, songwriting, making the art and rollout, doing shows, there’s nothing I’d rather do. But of course I’m always going to want more and have that hunger inside me to go bigger, and have better opportunities. There are no limits.
10. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: Off the top of my head, I can’t really think of any significant hardships besides just struggling with my own mental health, and also struggling financially. Sometimes it’s hard to be creative when you’ve spent an entire day working to pay the rent, feeling burnt out and down. Sometimes you can’t help but feel like you’re behind, and your time and energy is being wasted when it all could be poured into making music, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
11. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: A couple of significant accomplishments in my music career would be getting to perform at some of the venues that I love going to see concerts at. I love going to concerts, and every time I would go, I say to myself “I’m going to be playing here one day” enter manifest that is such an incredible feeling. My song “Euphoria” what is streamed over 200,000+ in under a year I think that’s pretty cool. “I NEED U!” Was featured on an editorial Spotify playlist. My songs have been played on the radio in the Philippines! I can’t wait to manifest more things like touring around the country and overseas!
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: This is a difficult one! I love the process of making music with my friends, especially hearing it from its early stages and blossoming into the final product, what an incredible feeling! But I also love performing in front of a crowd. The rush of adrenaline, the energy, the way I can express myself on stage is also amazing, there’s nothing like it.
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
ANDRÉ MOLINA: I feel like it’s not that important for other people to understand the story behind my songs. It’s free for interpretation, and I actually would love to hear their version of it. I think the only time I really tell people what my music is about, or what a certain line means is if they ask about it, or if it just comes out during a conversation. Or when an interviewer asks me LOL.
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