LESHA understands the human person with “Sun Moon Rising”

LESHA is all-around when it comes to creating her own music.

She puts on the role of singer, songwriter, producer, director, editor, and marketing strategist for every song.

For her, a jill-of-trades in the Filipino music industry is not normal when you are a rising female artist.

“As a budding artist back then, I knew I had to find a way to also know how to shoot and edit my own music videos to help me promote my music in the future – everything was very much DIY even up to this day, my artistry thrives on being resourceful and finding ways to do things myself without the help of anyone,”

Through these roles, LESHA got to appreciate a diverse range of musical genres by experimenting with unique original sounds.

“As I continued learning more about my own style and where I wanted to take my music, I fell in love with the idea of not having to stick to one genre and just produce what sounds good to my ears or whichever musical style fits the track’s vibe. I also make use of ASMR techniques to convey different emotions, and it tickles my listeners’ ears when they actually listen to every element in the tracks I produce. For one, I love to use left & right panning, whispering vocals, breaking glass, coin drops sounds from fire, and literally just any interesting sound that would work within the track to add an edge.”

A passion at a young age

LESHA learned she had a knack for singing through her parents who saw her perform at the age of 3.

Since discovering how singing brings out the best in her, LESHA’s parents enrolled her in voice classes.

“I was in kindergarten when I had my first solo recital in front of the whole school. I’ve always loved the thrill of performing and I’m very grateful that my parents saw my potential and supported my passion for music at an early age,”

By third grade, LESHA started to amp it up when it comes to her musical passion by learning guitar.

“In third grade, I joined guitar classes after watching School Of Rock. Learning the guitar helped me in adding my own flair to the songs I covered,”

By high school, the budding singer started to have low points in her life thanks to the bullying she received.

With people making fun of her weight and overall physical appearance, she turned to songwriting as an escape.

“During these hard times, songwriting became my escape. I formed a couple of bands throughout my high school years and this exposed me to the battle of the band competitions in different schools.”

Joining such competitions helped LESHA and her band get noticed.

From passion to career

During her senior year, a fashion brand gave her and her band their first paid gig, prompting her to reflect on her passion.

“It got me thinking that maybe I can turn this passion of mine into a profession. True enough, here I am 5 years later doing what I love as a professional career!”

By 2020, LESHA’s music career would unexpectedly skyrocket, thanks to a snippet of her song “Ciao, Bella.”

“Prior to the pandemic, I uploaded a snippet of me singing ‘Ciao, Bella’ to TikTok and it surprisingly blew up! Because of the massive support the song got from my fans from TikTok and YouTube, when we dropped the song on all digital music streaming platforms it immediately got support from the platforms themselves by giving ‘Ciao, Bella’ its own homepage banner and was playlisted across Asia.”

It felt surreal for her that 1 single TikTok post would give her opportunities from big companies like Netflix.

“In September 2020, I was given the opportunity to collaborate on a track for the Netflix Film Project Power alongside other amazing artists from all around the world! I got to compose, arrange, and partially produce my parts on the track as well. ‘Ciao, Bella’ really opened a lot of great opportunities for me during the peak of the pandemic.”

Understanding people in different aspects

Now, she serenades listeners with a new song called “Sun Moon Rising” which is the leading track of her new album.

Driven by her curiosity and drive to understand every aspect of a person, LESHA produced this groundbreaking single.

“To explain, everyone has 3 main zodiac signs – the Sun, Moon, and Rising sign. The strengths and weaknesses of a person’s sun, moon, and rising sign give fuel to a specific alter ego and this affects the different ways they express themselves. The song revolves around my curiosity and desire to understand all aspects of a person and why they are who they are,”

In addition, the track pays tribute to LESHA’s first EP Two Faced which launched her singing career.

“That EP kickstarted my career and helped me develop my sound, which became a huge part of my growth and success as an artist today.”

Knowing how to mold her own sound, LESHA takes inspiration from some artists who do the same.

International inspirations

She cites Lorde, Kimbra, Billie Eilish, and LAUV in the international scene as her inspirations.

As for local singers, she looks up to KZ Tandingan and Moira Dela Torre, whom she collaborated with through a track called “Heal.”

“They opened up doors to Filipino artists in the more alternative genres like me, because we all know that for the longest time the ‘biriteras’ of OPM are always the successful ones so I’m really glad Filipinos are starting to appreciate a wider spectrum of music.”

Lastly, when asked if she has any advice for aspiring artists, LESHA believes,

“Artists that have that grit and passion for what they do will definitely make it farther, so be prepared for the struggles you’ll have to face cause this industry is tougher than it looks. I myself started out DIYing everything as an artist (which I still do to this day) so I believe anyone could do the same as long as there is a willingness to learn and there is a clear
goal. There will always be people who will have opinions about you or your work which is something I learned the hard way. You have to know how to segregate the hate from constructive criticism. Keeping this in mind really helped me grow and give myself a reality check from time to time. Sometimes all you need are people who truly believe in you and your capabilities in order to succeed.”

And we believe in you, LESHA. Keep it up!