“At the end of the day it’s your passion”: An interview with a young music artist on school, songwriting and advice for aspiring musicians.
Maryanna Balingit is a new indie pop artist who creates wistful melodies with soft vocals exploring themes of emotional distance and young romance. She has been releasing music since June 2025 but began writing songs in 2024, saying: “I didn't really expect them to go anywhere until I saw my favourite singers writing songs and releasing them, which inspired me to release mine”.
Through her melodic lyrics she conveys many themes and emotions. Her favourite song that she has created is “Unrequited”, a song that may seem like it is about unrequited love but is really about Maryanna's high school experience - what she regrets and what she wishes she could have done. However, her most popular song on Spotify is her debut single, “Drifting”, which had several inspirations. Among these are K-dramas and other TV shows generally, but the work is also inspired by her high school experience – released when she was leaving school, it symbolises her drifting away from that time in her life.
One might ask how she has time to balance her studies, music and personal life to which Maryanna responds “writing songs isn't something I dedicate specific time to, the melodies just come to me - I might write some songs after school or after my homework. I also do weekly music lessons to improve my music skills”. The process of creating music is a long one – Maryanna begins by creating a melody, either by humming a tune or playing a chord progression on her guitar. Then, when she knows the genre and theme of the song, she creates the lyrics with inspiration from other artists. Finally, she discusses with a producer, mixes the songs and releases them. She names Beabadoobee and Filipino music as the main inspirations for her own music, of which her favourite elements are finding the melody and writing the lyrics.
In terms of her future in music, Maryanna states: “I really want to get a university degree, but I think that if one day a song really blows up, I would like to pursue a music focused career”.
Next, I wondered about the industry generally – is social media a crucial way of gaining popularity as a new artist? “I fully think so, because if you don’t really utilise social media, you won’t really get anywhere as nowadays it’s all online”. In terms of new artists trying to make their way in the industry, the biggest problem in Maryanna’s opinion is that it is oversaturated – if a young artist tries to break out amongst all the popular artists already producing music, they may be accused of plagiarising their songs. Her advice for new musicians? “Don’t be embarrassed: it can be really embarrassing especially if you’re like me and you’re in a public school where everyone knows you - focus on what you want to do because at the end of the day, it’s your passion”.
Find her debut single "Drifting" on Spotify and Apple Music.
Thank you to Maryanna Balingit for taking part in the interview
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