By Ian Zane T. Esparaga | News Writer
Vol. XCI No. 15
Jan. 24, 2020
Second-year nursing students Zeph and Zach Buenavista have officially signed a contract with Viva records last January 11, making them part of the recording entertainment.
Zeph and Zach started singing at the age of six: “Our dad is a musician, he taught us how to sing when we were six years old,” Zeph said. They were in the first grade when they started joining singing competitions in school and were also exposed to the provincial stage. They tried their luck in auditions on some national competitions such as the Pilipinas Got Talent and The Voice Teens, but nothing happened.
After the string of events, they experimented and went their separate ways. Zeph traveled to Manila and he was able to discover the music industry. “I traveled and find the music scene there, it was good but there’s no progress.”
Zeph showcased his talent at the noontime show It’s Showtime particularly in the segment Tawag ng Tanghalan, but failed. Three months later, Zach followed his brother in Manila. They got back in singing together at bars and small gigs seeking exposure, but fortune was not on their side. Thus, the brothers decided to go back and focused on their studies.
Cebu based songwriter, record producer, and musical director invited them to perform for the “Medyo Maldito” show in Cebu last 2018. Gitamundoc told them regarding a couple of scouts looking for new talents within the venue. Zach said that they weren’t expecting big, and for them, it goes into casual just like how they did on their previous performances,
Months after, Gitamundoc invited them for the Bisaya Music Festival (BMF) in Cebu. It was a contest organized by Viva called “Kanta Kasingkasing”. They sang “Unta Single Na Ka” by fellow Sillimanian songwriter Raffy Cabristante. Together, they performed with fellow local artists such as Kurt Fake, famous for his song entitled ” HAHAHAHasula”; Jacky Chang, and Raphiel Shannon who also ended-up as a Viva artist. Zeph and Zach finished first runner-up in the event.
A year ago, Zeph released a single entitled “Where we went wrong” and is available on Spotify. Out of nowhere, a manager from Viva called Zeph and asked if they can use the song to be played in their radio stations. Later on, they were told that there’s going to be an audition and Viva bosses will be coming over. Zeph said, “I wasn’t expecting that its gonna be a start of something new for us”. “We were just auditioning without expecting anything”, Zach added. The brothers were surprised that right after the audition they were given the papers for signing.
