Whatever stage you are in life, grentperez – Grant Perez if you want to be formal – most likely has the perfect song for you.

Whether it’s being blissfully and candidly in love or pining for the good ol’ days with friends and family, there’s just something unexplainably captivating about how the Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter’s music is woven instrumentally and how it captures various aspects of the day-to-day human experience lyrically in an almost constant daydream-like manner – a testament to the Filipino romantic he truly is.

From the cheerful and carefree atmosphere of his breakout hit “Cherry Wine” to the sentimental energy of the songs from his 2023 album “When We Were Younger”, grentperez’ growing discography has had no shortage of songs constantly poised to enthrall each of his listeners – something that he was able to showcase recently when he took the stage at golden hour to perform at Day 2 of Wanderland 2024 last March 10 to an eagerly waiting crowd of Wanderers.

Ahead of him captivating the crowd at Wanderland 2024, Billboard Philippines sat down to chat for a bit with the “Clementine” hitmaker to talk about his return to Manila, being a romantic, his dream Filipino artists to collaborate with, and more.

For your first ever performance in Asia last year, you went to Manila. What’s it like performing back here again as part of the Wanderland lineup?

Grentperez: I think it’s very special! I think it’s very special to me. I’ve always wanted to… you know… after that first show, I was like, “Oh, I need to play with a band. I need to play with a band.” And I can’t believe they managed to get me on this… on this lineup. And it feels really really crazy to be, you know, in [the] Philippines again, let alone, a festival. I didn’t think that was possible for me so, I’m very excited.

Photographed by Mayks Go.

You have a huge fanbase here. You know, there are so many Filipinos who resonate with your music and they’re so excited to see you perform later! So that’s really exciting.

Thank you! Thank you! I’m excited to see them!

In your previous interviews, you often credit the themes of your own music to Filipino music that you listened to growing up. What do you think makes Filipino music so special?

I think someone pointed it out the other day. But for me, personally, I just like how much it has to do with… with love, and romance, and whatnot. I guess Filipinos are just attracted to love. It’s in all of the movies, all the series, in all the music… And it just sounds really nice. I mean, to me, when I came back to [the] Philippines, I was really surprised that “Bread” was playing on the radio and, like, “Eagles” was playing on the radio. I think Filipino music is just lovely, is how I would describe the word, yeah.

So, would you say that you’re a romantic in that sense?

I like to be (laughs). I try to be.

Photographed by Mayks Go.

Given that you love Filipino music, who are some Filipino artists you would love to collaborate with?

I guess, [who] I can collaborate with now, it would probably be like, Zack Tabudlo, Juan Karlos… Paolo and I are, like, kind of friends now…

Paolo Sandejas!

Yeah, yeah! So, I guess I’ll be seeing him later on. That’d be a cool hangout and a cool writing thing.

Photographed by Mayks Go.

That’s exciting to hear! Given that, what’s next for you this 2024? Are you releasing any new music sometime soon?

Yeah! “Sometime soon” is a big question. I don’t know. I have a lot of songs that are in my archive. So, maybe 20 or 30-plus songs, I think? But, a lot of them aren’t finished yet. So, I need to finish that this year but, hopefully, second half of the year, I’ll start releasing but, hopefully, an album around the corner as well.

Listen to grentperez’s 2023 album When We Were Younger below: