Vibin’ With Jarren

Jarren Garcia: A rising voice in Philippine music

The origin story of Jarren Garcia’s career doesn’t begin with a debut single or a first live show. It begins before his birth, in the stillness of his mother’s womb, where she would press a speaker to her belly and let music play into the quiet. It’s a detail Jarren shares without ceremony, though it lingers in the mind. The idea that before he had words, before he could see, he was already listening.

Today, Jarren is one of the rising young voices in the Philippine music scene, an artist who has moved quickly from a teenager with a dream to a performer fulfilling one that’s been decades in the making. When asked if his career now feels like the life his mother imagined for him, he doesn’t hesitate.

It’s a trajectory that, in other circumstances, might have felt too fast. But Jarren’s ascent has been less about sudden virality and more about a steady layering of moments: local gigs, small festival stages, and fan meet-ups where the connections feel personal.

He has learned, even early on, that building an audience is as much about trust as it is about talent. In his case, the people listening are streaming his songs and following a story they feel part of. That story now extends into the world of fashion. His appearances at concerts, magazine shoots, and brand events have become as much about visual identity as musical expression. In Gucci, he reflects the same balance he pursues in his music: modern but grounded, bold yet understated.

READ MORE: Gucci’s Post-Sabato Era Begins and It Looks Straight Out of Emerald City

Authenticity as his signature

He refuses to build a persona separate from who he is in private. While many artists his age curate for impact, he remains disarmingly consistent. Whether in rehearsal clothes or Gucci tailoring, he speaks to journalists as he does to friends, and talks about family as he does about the future. In an industry fueled by reinvention, that consistency feels almost radical.

Jarren may be new to the industry, but he has always moved at his own pace. At seventeen and eighteen, he balanced youth with responsibility, and at nineteen he hopes to hold on to what made those years feel full: spontaneity, playfulness, and lightness. His idea of success is simple, seeing himself and the people he loves in a lovely place, a nice place, a vision that feels disarmingly unguarded in a field often defined by numbers and awards.

Still, the work carries its pressures. At times, Jarren feels overwhelmed by the demands of music and public life. In those moments, he turns to his father, his model for staying grounded. “My dad’s actually here right now,” he says with a smile. The advice is always the same: stay focused, keep grounded, and remember that you may not always be in the best place, but you will be in a better one.

The playful side of Jarren

His artistry is not solely rooted in introspection and discipline. He is quick to note a lighter, more surprising side, pointing to Hits Different from his debut album as the track he would play for someone meeting him for the first time. Jolly and upbeat, it reveals a version of himself that he admits few would expect, yet it mirrors the playful spirit Gucci has often emphasized in him during appearances.

For Jarren, the contrast between the serious and the playful, the grounded and the spontaneous, is the point. His story is about building a life where music, family, and joy coexist. In that sense, the song his mother played for him before he was born has not ended. It has simply found new verses, and Jarren Garcia, sometimes in Gucci loafers and sometimes barefoot in rehearsal, is still listening.

As seen in the pages of VMAN SEA 04, available in print and by e-subscription.

Photography Gabriel Villareal

Art direction Summer Untalan

Fashion Rex Atienza and Corven Uy

Grooming Aimee Grey

Hair Chino Maniquiz

Photography assistant Albert Calaguas

Special thanks Andee Que and Captain Luz Bagalacsa