Authentic and carefree is how anyone would describe Grant—with stage name grentperez—the Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter behind the hit single “Cherry Wine.” One look at his many covers on YouTube and immediately his charm and apparent talent would shine through, captivating previous onlookers to become die-hard fans.
While it generally isn’t as easy to carry over the same energy onscreen to the stage, it hasn’t been a problem so far for the rising star as he had his first-ever live performance in Asia at the Eastwood Central Plaza on Jun. 16. He’s a natural on the stage, surely charming anyone who was lucky enough to witness him—especially with his latest tracks.
Photo by Jude Ng
“When We Were Younger,” his latest EP dropped on Jun. 2, features tracks such as “Stuck On You,” “When The Day Is Done,” and “Old With You.” According to him, this project “is a collection of music each relating to figures of the past, whether it be in love, loss, families and friendship.”
grentperez has recently made waves all over the world thanks to his soulful sound and the relatable themes his songs discuss. He is best known for the tracks “Cherry Wine,” “Absence of You,” and “Clementine.” If you want to know more about this multimedia artist, singer-songwriter, and producer, here are 10 fun facts about grentperez.
He’s part of the youngest sibling club
Born and raised in Australia in a Filipino family, Grant grew up as the youngest among three siblings—and enjoyed the privilege it came with (E.g., It allowed him to get away with many things).
The very first video on his YouTube channel is quite interesting
Titled “JAMnominated Video” and posted back in 2014, we see a young grentperez perform his own brief acapella rendition of Lianne La Havas’ “Lost & Found.” He would then go on to populate his feed with more covers, leading up to him eventually posting original releases. A record book of sorts, his channel documents his growth not just as an artist but as a person as well.
In songwriting, he draws inspiration from his own life and the stories he’s heard
He isn’t as heartbroken as some of his songs suggest. And believe me, some of his lyrics hit insanely hard. For one, “Us Without Me” from his latest EP talks about holding onto a relationship that has run its course. Left wanting, he is constantly picturing his beloved with another.
“Now here we are / It’s him that you need / Looks just like us / Us without me”
But according to him, the track plays out a hypothetical scenario borne out of the various stories of heartbreak he has heard from his family and friends.
His debut single “Cherry Wine” just recently hit 100,000,000 plays on Spotify
He has amassed well past 200 million streams on the platform. He also has over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with 70,000 coming from Quezon City, Philippines (are you one of them?).
He grew up surrounded by the sound of The Eagles, The Beatles, Queen, Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, The Bee Gees, and many more
He also learned how to play Jeremy Passion’s “Lemonade” on the guitar as soon as he received his first nylon string acoustic.
“When We Were Younger” is about “looking back into the past, but staying hopeful for the future”
The EP came about after the COVID pandemic, at a time when he thought that things were just going to keep on changing, particularly concerning his career. The project serves as his way to connect to his past as he braces himself for what’s to come.
“Connecting with what I remember as a really lovely childhood grounds me in the real world and keeps me thinking of the important friends and family in my life—it keeps me from getting ahead of myself,” he shares.
His recent concert at the Eastwood Central Plaza in June was his first live performance in Asia
He did, however, hold a surprise hangout at Gardens By The Bay in Singapore prior to this.
“Clementine” is his favorite song to perform
His favorite from “When We Were Younger” however is “Silver Lining.”
“When The Day Is Done” talks about a specific memory from his childhood that he holds dear
In particular, the very first line of the song. Grant remembers his family frequently staying at the table to talk during gatherings.
“Sitting ’round the table
Reminiscing ’bout the same old stories that we had
(All the time)
Used to cry until my mama had no choice
And I used to be so good at that (So good, so good)
Yeah, it took a while for me to see
What I had in front of me was love
And I’m living in it”
Photo by Nadine Silvestre
He once ended up shirtless during a live performance
“I don’t know how this happened, but it happened. And my girlfriend might be very angry, but that’s okay,” he said.
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Art by Kealan Paul C. Cortez
Press photos by Ryan Scott Graham
Event photos by Jude Ng and Nadine Silvestre