Who Knew? – Clare

Around 10 (gasp!) years ago I went to a Side A gig in Makati and was able to meet and talk to their bass player and songwriter, Joey Benin. At the time I had aspirations of being a songwriter myself so having a discussion with him about my dreams and having his encouragement meant a lot to me.

I remember emailing him later on with some of my work and he encouraged me to keep going. I did for a while, but it didn’t work out though. One good thing that came out of it however was being able to meet this guy and actually getting an e-card from him and his family for Christmas.

Fast forward to a few years and I was surprised to see one of the Benin kids, Jaco, performing on ASAP. Musical talent is obviously in their blood. Now, even more years later, I found another one of the Benin brood entered the music scene: the eldest daughter, Clara.

I was browsing for new music on Spotify when I discovered her songs. I love her voice and her style — different from what most young artists in the country are doing these days. I also learned that she was the singer of the McDonald’s jingle Hooray for Today — who knew when I was listening to that jingle that is was by that little girl on the e-card I got years ago? Blows my mind how much time flies!

To hear what Clara Benin’s music sounds like, here is her music on Spotify: