EXCLUSIVE. One Music PH Asks: Keanna Mag on Her EP “Saan Ba Pupunta?”
Keanna Mag marked a new milestone in her five-year music career with the release of her debut EP “Saan Ba Pupunta?” on Sept. 25.
The singer-songwriter’s journey so far is one filled with growth amid uncertainties, and this non-linear pathway serves as the thesis of her EP. Taking a lyric from the EP track “Sasabay,” Saan Ba Pupunta? — the title and the record itself, encapsulates the feeling of questioning your life choices as you choose to take an undiscovered route.
Like many of her supporters, Keanna found herself connecting with the Sasabay line as she looked back on what she has gone through as a musician, “even starting, I questioned where will this music career will take me, what will be my sound or will other people like or support my music.”
Keanna, far from being an industry newbie, admitted that she sometimes compares herself with other artists and their career trajectories, but her EP helped her make sense of the different phases and lives that people have, and realized that one day, it will be her moment to shine.
“I’m being patient and I’m just doing this ’cause I enjoy it,” she said.
Describing herself as a spontaneous musician, Keanna has from collaborating with international EDM producers, to doing folk acoustic, but it is her transition to a pop rock sound that makes her feel like who she really is as an artist. When she performs with her electric guitar alongside her band, that is when she feels her audience match her perspective on the path her music is on.
Keanna does not forget to show gratitude toward the people who contributed to the growth and maturity she has experienced from being a teenager in the music industry, to a more skilled and confident 23-year-old musician.
Among these people is the band 12th Street, whom Keanna called her first industry friends. The award-winning quartet features on “Palaisipan,” a song that Keanna co-wrote with another person who has been part of her music journey — her partner, Cup of Joe‘s Rapha Ridao.
With Cup of Joe‘s fairly recent meteoric rise, Rapha‘s schedule has become very demanding, but Keanna expressed appreciation for every single time he shows up for her in any way he can. This, alongside his ability to keep her steady during gigs, was the inspiration behind Sasabay.
As she looks forward to her shining moment, Keanna in the meantime is grateful for the opportunity to work with acclaimed, veteran producers, such as Jean Paul Verona and Migz Haleco, noting how their mutual belief in each other allows her music to be the way she wants it to be.
For her EP cover, Keanna raved about visual artist Antoinette Tejada, and her ability to effortlessly match the vision she had for the record’s visuals. The cover features an animated version of Keanna sitting on a jeepney stop, clearly reflective of the EP’s theme.
Saan Ba Pupunta?‘s thoughtfully sequenced tracklist was designed to guide listeners through emotional highs and introspective pauses. In the middle of it is the song “Red Light,” which aims to give listeners the reminder to take breaks in their respective journeys. The cohesive narrative about navigating life’s uncertainties evolved organically from the earlier releases of Sasabay, as well as “Babalik.”
Keanna, who opened up about her constant cycle of planning and overthinking the future, encouraged grace in the midst of confusion. The Saan Ba Pupunta? EP is dedicated to the people who are in the middle of piecing their life together, those taking the long way and getting lost while figuring things out.