Moira Shares The Memories Of Her First Time Performing And Writing Songs – Watch

Billboard Philippines Women In Music Hitmaker honoree Moira discusses her first time performing and writing songs, her special musical connection with Clara Benin, her influences growing up, and more — on this week’s episode of Billboard Philippines Volumes.

When asked by Billboard Philippines Editor-In-Chief and Volumes host Bret Jackson about one of her first memories with music, Moira recalls the first time she ever performed by singing on her own at 7 years old. “I sang ‘I Need You’ by LeAnn Rimes in church. My mom made me sing it,” she reminisced.

When asked by Jackson if she knew that she wanted to do music after that, she states, “No, not really. I think, even after I wrote my first songs, I didn’t really know I’d make a career out of it,” which then prompted Jackson to ask her when started writing her first songs.

“I was 12. It was a song called “After Your Heart.” I didn’t really know what I was going through emotionally. Because I come from a broken family and so, I didn’t really know how to label or to find my emotions,” she shares. “So, I wrote to God — with the four chords I knew at that time, I wrote a song called ‘After Your Heart’ and that was it. I never stopped writing ever since.”

“This one night, I decided to share it my aunt and my uncle and my grandma and my parents, and then, they said, ‘These are actually good songs!’,” she elaborated, sharing how they got Jaco Benin be in charge of the production for ‘After Your Heart’ on my demo. “Clara Benin actually sang it… I still have the CD of my first song being sung by Clara. It was pretty cool!”

Adding to this, Moira also shared her musical influences growing up, citing the likes of Brooke Fraser, Taylor Swift, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and even Christian music in her home. “But it’s mostly Brooke Fraser,” she elaborated, sharing further, “I think when I heard her lyric, she said, ‘I could write a million songs about the way you say my name,’ I think that was the time I said, ‘I would want to write like that someday.’ And I’ve been striving to write like her.”

Alongside these, Moira also discussed her album-making process, the important things she has learned throughout the span of her career, her experience being on tour lately, and more.

Moira is the cover star of Billboard Philippines‘ Ballad Issue. Get a copy via SariSari Shopping here.

Watch the full episode of Billboard Philippines Volumes featuring Moira below: