On August 27, Sony Music’s General Manager PH and Vice President Business Development Asia, Roslyn Pineda, revealed that the pandemic postponed Ben&Ben’s debut in the international music scene.
During the media conference for Ben&Ben’s sophomore album release, Pineda recalled the group’s plans in 2020 before the pandemic hit.
“Last year, we were all ready to fly to the US for what was Ben&Ben’s big debut on the world stage, South By Southwest. International bigwigs were set to be blown away by the electrifying live performance of the talented 9-piece of the Philippines.
“Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, we had to figure out how the band will make music while apart.”
To adapt, the nine members of Ben&Ben chose to move in together and continue to produce music during the pandemic.
As a result, Ben&Ben produced thirteen songs which they compiled into their sophomore album, Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno. The 13-track album includes songs and stories of the group, and it features collaborations with iconic OPM artists such as SB19, KZ Tandingan, Moira dela Torre, Chito Miranda, Zild, and Juan Karlos, and Munimuni.
Ben&Ben member Miguel Benjamin explained that their songs chose the artists they would collaborate with within their sophomore album.
“Hindi kami ‘yung pumili ng artists, ‘yung song ang pumili ng artist. Kasi we always want to serve the song above all else.
“The songs were really the ones who chose the artist collaborators. The songs came first before naisip namin na gusto namin ka-collab si ganito. ‘Yung song naman ang nangyari.”
Andrew de Pano, Ben&Ben’s percussionist, admitted that they had hesitations in compiling songs with different genres in their sophomore album.
“There was a solid slight hesitation once we started working on the songs at the same time.
“Little by little, as the months progressed, kasi what made it so cohesive was the fact that they are all so different.”
A testament to Ben&Ben’s success in collaborating with Pinoy artists, their music video for ‘Upuan‘ featuring Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano currently has 2.1 Million Views on YouTube, two days after its release on August 29.
Ben&Ben’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno, is available via Sony Music on all digital streaming platforms, including Spotify.
