5 Filipino Musicians Talk About the Time it Takes to Create a Signature Style

Together with Levi’s®, five musicians reflect on the influences, routines, and years of refinement that shaped the voices audiences recognize today.

It can take years of experimentation, breakthroughs, and countless revisions before an artist finds their voice, melody, or perspective. A signature is what listeners notice; the other is the process that gives it meaning. It takes shape in the discarded drafts, the repeated attempts, and the hours spent refining an idea long before it reaches an audience. That distinction echoes the thinking behind Levi’s® Behind Every Original campaign, which sees originality as something shaped through time, wear, and lived experience.

Before they became artists, they were listeners. For Jess Connelly, Leanne & Naara, Clara Benin, and Maysh Baay, those early influences became the foundation for voices that audiences now appreciate. In Connelly’s story, music began at home. The Filipino-Australian musician remembers family karaoke sessions and spending afternoons listening to Britney Spears and learning every NSYNC choreography she could find. “My mom bought a karaoke system for my dad. And obviously, [it] is such a fun time,” she recalls.

Indie singer-songwriter Benin’s earliest memory wasn’t about performing either. It was about feeling. “I still remember the very first song that made me so emotional, ‘When She Loved Me’ from Toy Story 2. I wanted to be able to do that. I wanted to be able to move people with my music.

For the singer-songwriter duo Leanne & Naara, music was already woven into family life. Jazz records played through the house. Church became an early stage. Voice tapes sent to an overseas father became some of Naara’s earliest performances. Meanwhile, Maysh Baay, vocalist of Moonstar88, found possibility in Filipino music when she first heard of an Eraserheads track. It shifted her understanding of what songwriting could sound like. Seeing women like Color It Red and Sugar Hiccup made that dream also feel tangible. “I wanted to do something like that. So, I picked up the guitar, started playing with friends, and started writing songs,” Baay reminisces.

Influence, however, is only the beginning. When asked about what audiences are familiar with in their music, none of them mentions popularity or commercial success. Instead, they point to details that developed slowly enough to feel almost accidental. Connelly points to the layered vocal production that has become synonymous with her music today. “That took me a little while to develop. There’s a difference between performing and being a recording artist. So, I wasn’t really familiar with how I [wanted] it and how to make the final product what I want in my head.” 

Working in international studios exposed her to new recording techniques, but it was during the pandemic, when she began recording herself, that those lessons became instinctive. Layer by layer, she built the vocal texture listeners now immediately associate with her music.

Leanne & Naara found theirs in something less technical and more intuitive. Asked what makes their track recognizable, Leanne recalls a listener’s unexpected observation. “It sounds busy,” she laughs. “But in a good way. It’s harmoniously busy.” The description stuck because it reflected something they hadn’t consciously tried to create. Years of collaboration, shared influences, and constant experimentation had naturally shaped their music. “Our artistry will also always be rooted in our friendship,” Leanne says. “Our relationship with each other. To know each other, our friendship, and how it fuels our creativity as artists together.”

Benin doesn’t point to production or genre at all. Instead, she believes people have identified with her perspective. “I like to think and hope that I give a unique perspective of whatever it is I’m writing about.” That point of view comes from conversations with friends and family, books, films, and being present and paying attention to everyday life.

Baay, meanwhile, describes recognition in even subtler terms. “There’s a certain DNA to my voice that when people hear it, they already know that it’s me.” Friends have even pointed to the way she breathes between phrases as something uniquely hers, jokingly calling her the “spokesperson [for] the feelings of students.”

Across every conversation, one idea surfaced repeatedly: the best work rarely arrives in a hurry. Rather than chasing trends, Connelly thinks about whether someone, her future children or a teenager discovering her catalogue decades later, will still find meaning in the songs. “Timeless is the goal,” she says.

For Leanne & Naara, longevity begins with honesty. “We don’t pretend,” Naara says. Benin shares a similar belief, explaining that the deeper connection to herself becomes, the stronger her connection with listeners grows. “The more honest I am in my music, the more connected I feel.” Baay offers perhaps the clearest reflection on what authenticity actually requires. “Staying authentic does not mean not making any changes to yourself. Growth, she explains, means allowing yourself to leave your comfort zone, stretch beyond what feels familiar, and carry those lessons back into your work.

There are moments where you get swayed to do things.
Part of the process is you go out of your comfort zone,
stretch, [and] panic. That’s how you grow.

Maysh Baay

Despite decades of experience between them, none of the artists speaks as though they’ve finished becoming who they are. Connelly wants to explore Tagalog songwriting, soul, and house music. Leanne & Naara continue experimenting with new sounds inspired by 90s influences and alternative music. Benin is slowly stepping outside her comfort zone by writing more in Filipino. And Baay continues asking herself one question that has followed her throughout her career: “Would the 14-year-old me be proud of what I’m doing right now?”

by CHRISTINA ZABAT. Featuring LEANNE & NAARA, CLARA BENIN, JESS CONNELLY, and MAYSH BAAY of MOONSTAR88. Photographs by XAVIER MALLARI. Video by ROBYN JOSUE. Art Director JANN PASCUA. Beauty Editor JOYCE OREÑA. Fashion Editor David Milan. Media Channels Editor ANZ HIZON. Styling by NEIL DE GUZMAN. Makeup by NOEL INOCENCIO. Hair by ASH AKIM, assisted by KIM ECHAVIA. Photography assistant HALLVARD CANO. Multimedia artist LARA CASTAÑEDA. Produced by MAVI SULANGI and BIANCA ZARAGOZA. Project implemented by ESAB RAYMUNDO, JUNELEA DALUMPINES, and SHAUN PEREGRINA. Creatives Services Manager IAN URMAZA. Account Manager ANDREA RAMOS.