ON A street in Midtown Manhattan, while walking home from work late one night in September 2012, the then 25-year-old Brad Go met a beautiful girl. It was raining and she didn’t have an umbrella.
Like in any romantic movie we know, in a moment like this, the guy would approach the girl and ask her to share his umbrella. Then he would walk her home. The meeting wouldn’t lead to a kiss just yet but they would exchange numbers and agree to see one day, probably to see a movie or just have dinner perhaps. Then the rest, as they say, is going to be a happy ending.
Brad did date the girl, they went out a couple of times and they decided to write about their relationship—how they met, the joys they shared and the fights they had—through a series of blogs and vlogs (video blogs) he called Hush (Have U Seen Her) Project. But their love story didn’t end like what we see in movies.
“Although we didn’t work out, I was inspired to travel around the world in search of incredible love stories to use as inspiration for my album. If something like this could happen to me in New York, there must be countless stories across the globe that no one has ever heard,” Brad told the press at the launch of The Hush Project album last week.
Yes, from the story of a girl in the rain, Brad was able to write a song, a beautiful one. From that experience, with his guitar and backpack, he then decided to embark on a journey to find love stories that can serve as an inspiration to others. He started a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $10,000, which funded his four-month trip to the cities of Barcelona, Tokyo, Melbourne, Palermo, Singapore, Berlin, Paris and Manila.
After his quest for the most compelling and real-life love stories, the chinky-eyed singer-songwriter came back with eight original compositions.
Now an album, The Hush Project is a mix of romantic ballads, torch songs and mid-tempo jams that are decidedly pop rock in form, mostly structured around guitar-driven melodies and rousing progression.
The Hush Project has such an intriguing concept and fresh sound that upon hearing about it, MCA Music immediately committed to distributing the album.
A singer-songwriter
Brad is an artist that you would really need to know. He may impress you with his acoustic guitar and the wonderful stories that inspired his songs, but what is more interesting about him is his story before his foray in music.
The Filipino-American singer-songwriter admitted that he has always been a creative and an artistic person. He started singing at the age of five and listened to the Beatles, Ben Folds Five, Jason Mraz and Michelle Branch back in high school. Thanks to karaoke that has always been part of their household, Brad has grown to love classics. He lists Stevie Wonder, Motown, and Elton John, among others as his musical influences.
In 2005, he dropped out of an Aerospace Engineering program and eventually transferred to New York University to study film. After graduating, he joined a cover band and started performing around New York City. Then he realized that it was a very competitive environment and he was just one of the many people trying to make it in the Big Apple hence he decided to embark on a crazy journey to travel around the globe to simply make a change.
While classically trained in piano, he can easily bounce between guitar and the keyboard. Most of all, he writes his own songs.
“Songwriting is a process that consumes every aspects of my life. I usually start with an idea, be it a lyric or a melody of some kind, and then I’ll kick that around in my head for a couple of days and record any ideas on my phone,” he said.
Brad added that he would like to be identified as someone who writes his own songs. Music being his top priority, he also wants to further develop his catalog as a songwriter to other artists. He has written a couple of songs for other MCA Music artists including a track on Darren Espanto’s debut album, which was released just a few weeks ago.
VERY WANG 