This time, the acclaimed singer/songwriter channels his musical genius to create a backdrop of trippy, ambient soundscapes for J Castles, the recently-opened immersive theme park in Tanauan, Batangas co-owned by Daniel Padilla.
Since the amusement park’s soft opening last May 1, curious denizens have surely been mesmerized by the futuristic, awe-inspiring and Instagram-worthy visual effects adorning every room.
These themes — ranging from tropical, cosmic, crystal, and even disco — seem even larger-than-life when experienced simultaneously with a thunderous 3D soundtrack, literally creating a multi-sensory overload.
But just how exactly did Kris get involved in the project?
He recounts, “My participation came about when Jay Durias asked me to sing the theme song of J Castles (“Let There Be Lights”), and when I was also asked to sing another song (“Sky Full of Colors”), which was played during the soft opening’s fireworks display.”
“After, I’ve been holding regular songwriting camps there, where I would go and set up my studio, bring a producer and a team of writers with us, and I think it was during our 2nd or 3rd visit when we were asked to do the music for the rest of the rooms.”
Being commissioned for such a project was something new to Kris and his co-producer, Cursebox. Despite their previous songwriting experiences, creating new instrumental soundscapes for the theme park seemed like a novel challenge that was just too good to pass up.
No stranger to the local music scene, Cursebox (Michael Negapatan) has written his own share of hits, including ‘Chambe’ (Alex Gonzaga), ‘Alamat’ (Dagudong official OST of MMff), ‘Geng Geng’ (Boss Toyo) and ‘Sige Lang’ (Andrea Brillantes).
“It was an honor to be part of the first ‘Disneyland’ of Tanauan, and it was a challenge to haul our equipment from room to room, soaking up the vibe and creating the music on the spot,” Kris reminisces.
On paper, the task seemed pretty simple: create the ambient music that would set the vibe for the theme goers to appreciate each room. Although the bulk of the material was instrumental surrealistic soundscapes, Kris clarifies that they also wrote some songs as well.
Kris elaborates, “For instance, they have this one crystal room, and it’s just a room full of mirrors, crystal and LED, and we had to create this vibe that was like magical, meditative – just a serene and tranquil vibe. So, I brought my handpan and played live handpan music. Cursebox played flute. It was a whole magical vibe.”
All the hard work paid off during the soft opening, when they all walked through the park and heard the music blaring through the speakers.
Kris recalls, “It was a proud ‘goosebumps’ moment when we heard the music for the very first time, together with all the futuristic visuals, especially seeing that people were enjoying the immersive experience.”
“We’re still not done with all the music. There’s bound to be revisions and changes here and there, but overall, we’re happy with the outcome.”
In hindsight, Kris cites the J Castles project as the perfect case of being at the right place at the right time. He muses, “Me and Cursebox were at the Vineyard (just across J Castles) making music, and we were asked to take a stab at making music for the whole park. It was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down.”
After hurdling such an out-of-the-box musical challenge, is Kris ready to take on musical scoring chores for movies, music videos or the like?
He says, “Yes, I would be open to scoring on a more regular basis as long as Cursebox is my partner. We make a good team.”
Kris is looking forward to his US/Canada concert tour, with the ff. itineraries:
May 17 – “Soul Brothers” (with Jay-R and Billy Crawford) at the Hollywood Casino, West Virginia
May 19 – (with Jay-R and Billy Crawford) Asian Festival, Fairfax, Virginia
June 22 – (with Jay-R) Toronto Pavilion, Toronto
June 23 – (with Jay-R) Calgary Chinese Cultural Theater, Calgary
He’s also dropping his new single, produced by Cursebox, in June.
