Jhames Joe, the man behind the songs “Isabella”, “Sa’yo”, and “Kalahati”, is a Singapore-based Filipino singer-songwriter who works as a certified architect while pursuing his solo career owing to his passion for art and music. Growing up in a musically inclined family, he credits his love for music to his father and brother who both piqued his interest in music early in his life.
“No’ng 90’s kase, yung erpat ko, mahilig kasi yu’n sa mga Tom Jones ganu’n, bumili siya ng karaoke na may mga minus one na tape tapos pinapakanta niya sa akin.”
Apart from being a vocalist, Jhames tried to discover more about his talent in music, and learnt to play the drums with the help of his brother. Which, according to him, was what he truly wanted to do at the time.
Later on, his brother asked him to join the band Lotus Klan during his undergraduate days. His current song, “Revive,” is from this band.
A friend recruited him as a vocalist for Cozmic Euphoria after he graduated from college. The band performed several shows around Baguio City, and competed in the Globe Kantabataan in 2007 and was one of the finalists.
He then moved to Singapore in 2010 to seek a profession as a licensed architect and now works as an architectural visualizer.
“Hanggang ngayon, eto pa rin yu’ng ginagawa ko kasi nag-eenjoy ako eh. Kumbaga dito nailalabas yung artistic side ko.”
Jhames Joe did not make music until the pandemic when he released his single “Sa’yo” in 2020. Since then, he has returned to songwriting and rekindled his interest in music. He is also one of the proprietors of the Handpicked record label, which assists young musicians in recording songs on their own.
When asked about his songwriting formula, he said that he does not follow any when creating his tunes and only writes based on how he feels at the moment of his sessions.
“Ayaw ko kasi sana gumawa ng love song na eh. Pero ang nangyayari kasi, yung music kasi mismo ang magsasabi sa’yo kung ano yu’n eh. Kung love song ba yun, tungkol sa lugar, o kung saan man.”
Until today, Jhames has continued to release his songs as a solo artist; his most recent single, “Hanggang Panaginip,” was released in February 2022.
“Ang advice ko lang siguro sa mga bagong musicians is ‘do not quit your day job’ kasi yun yung magiging pang-tustos mo sa kung ano yung gusto niyong gawin which is yung pag-gawa ng music.”
