YESTERDAY, September 2nd, republicasia launched the latest face of the Future Forward magazine.

Who’s on the cover this time? None other than the “Book King of Philippine Movies,” musician, actor, and entrepreneur James Reid. 

To celebrate this momentous occasion, James invited the people nearest and dearest to him for a private dinner, held at republicasia’s office at the ECJ Building in Intramuros. 

Delicious food and drinks were going around all night, prepared by Chef Jessie Restaurants. Despite the weather, many of James’s close friends came to show their support for his successes.

Among the attendees present were James’s girlfriend, Issa Pressman, his fashion director and stylist, John Lozano, and close friends like Sam Santamaria, Rocio Escano, Cess Tan, Arianna Norton, Job Bernedo. and many more. 

The evening started with a delightful dinner prepared by Chef Jessie, before republicasia unveiled both its video tribute for James Reid and finally, the latest cover of Future Forward Magazine, which he revealed alongside republicasia’s CEO, Sir Bran Reluao. 

The event ended with James Reid saying a few words of thanks to his team, Mr. Reluao, and the republicasia family, teasing everyone with more projects and collaborations to be expected in the future.

The celebration didn’t end there, though. Another surprise James had in store for his friends was an exclusive launch party for his latest single, “Sandal,” which was released only three days ago. Happy faces filled the room as they listened to the artist’s soothing voice, dancing along to the beat.

The rest of the night, of course, was spent partying away, a long overdue celebration given all that James has been able to accomplish thus far.

Up close and personal with James

Toward the end of the night, republicasia was able to talk with James regarding his feelings about everything that had happened at the launch, his latest single “Sandal,” and what’s next in store for him in the future to come. 

How does it feel being on the cover of Future Forward, seeing it for the first time, [and] having your friends see it for the first time?

James: I really love the full red carpet welcome from republicasia for Future Forward; I’m very honored to be selected to be on the cover, and I loved every part of it. We shot the whole cover while we were in Paris for Fashion Week wearing all local designers, and I’m very honored to be able to push local designers of Filipino fashion on the global stage at fashion week.

Aside from seeing the cover for the first time today, we were also able to hear “Sandal.” Hearing it with your friends and being around all these people that support you, how did it feel [to be surrounded by that] tonight?

I’m so grateful, and I feel very very lucky. I get to celebrate so many things in one night: The people [who] have supported me, republicasia supporting me, celebrating fashion, all of our efforts in in Europe, and also the music that me and the the Careless team put a lot of heart and effort into. So I feel very lucky.

What were the highlights of tonight [for you]?

I’m not gonna lie, the food was great from Chef Jesse, [and] the reveal of the cover, it looked amazing.

I just want to thank the whole team that was behind everything: John Lozano, my stylist, Issa, my girlfriend [and] creative director. Justin also, who’s our photographer, and Bran of course, and the republicasia team for making all of it happen, making all of it possible, [and] for supporting us in all our ventures out in Paris and Milan.

“Sandal” was released about three days ago. Was this the first time your friends were hearing it?

Oh no, they’ve heard this song all before, but yeah, it just came out a couple of days ago.

it’s the first Tagalog song that I’ve ever written and it’s definitely the first Tagalog song I’ve released in… I don’t know how many years. 

I wrote it for Issa, my girlfriend, and it was meant to be something to comfort you when you’re going through a tough time. The song is very special to me, [and] I’m so glad that’s out. I think it’s one of my favorite songs so far.

Since you’ve been so used to using English when it comes to your songs, how did it feel going back to Tagalog when writing these lyrics?

I was able to work with different artists, actually I worked with Luke April, Two, and he really helped with the Tagalog and making it make sense and helping me find the right words to really say whatever it is you’re going through.

“You can always lean on me,” that was really the message. 

I think I made my name and my career with Tagalog music, that’s how I started. So this is me trying to combine my past with my present to try and go somewhere new in the future.

A lot of your fans, a lot of people have been able to hear it. What can you say about their response so far? How does it feel to finally be able to share this piece of art that you’ve been working on for so long?

I’m overwhelmed with the support for the song so far. I can really feel I was able to connect with people with this song in a way that I don’t think I have before and that means a lot to me.

I think as an artist, that’s what I want to achieve more than anything. The song really helps connect to people, and they can relate to the music in some way, and it means something for them, so I’ve just been overwhelmed with the support.

Aside from the fact that you were using Tagalog, were there any other things that you did that you’re not used to or were stepping out of your comfort zone?

Actually, we did. If you listen to the song and you compare it to the songs I’ve done the past few years, we kind of blended classic OPM with more modern sounds.

We really tried to take OPM and something that I was very known for and then gave it a bit of an edge, push it a little bit, so that was interesting.

I actually worked with the producer and artist Timothy Marquez; he’s an amazing producer – he also helped me produce “Hurt Me Too” – and he just really hit that right balance of classic OPM, but then giving it a more modern flavor a more modern touch and direction.

How do you think your sound, if it’s going to change, how do you think it’s gonna change or evolve in the releases to come, or even in the projects you’re gonna do moving forward?

Honestly, I never know; I never know what’s going to happen with my music because it’s always whatever I feel at the time, it’s always what I’ve been going through, it’s always what I’ve been inspired by, and it’s always based off my experiences and my influences.

And I kind of like that about music, especially with my music. I can’t really say where it’s going to go, but I can say that I love where it’s at right now.

Can we ask what message or impression you hope people take away after seeing not just the cover, but the article and its contents, the message you are trying to show the world?

[That] there’s really no limits. If there’s anything I want to get across with my music and everything I do, it’s that I always keep the Philippines very close to me in everything that I do.

It’s part of who I am, and I’m very proud of who I am and where I came from. I’m very proud of the Philippines and our culture, and it’s something I want to share with the world.

What do you think is next for James Reid?

More awesome music, actually also some TV projects as well coming up soon.

I always imagined myself going back to acting, that was always part of the plan. So yeah, more music and more interesting projects coming up soon.

Do you have any dream roles you want to play?

I want to do projects where it’s related to music. I think that would be my dream role where I get to play a musician, you know, bring everything I did in music into film.