mga litrato ni terencio: Suzy Unas — Making it in music lounge circuits

Many would think that singing in music lounges is an easy task. And this is why newcomers take their music lounge stint as their stepping stones in building their musical careers. Well, in a way, performing in a music lounge is quite easy, but newcomers shouldn’t take it so comfortably or easily that they neglect to dwell on the thought that the first step to anything is the most important, the most vital.

For Suzy Unas, beginnings are of prime importance. That is why she always endeavors to do her best in anything she does, especially when she embarked on her singing career two years ago, in 2004. "I never thought I’d seriously consider singing to be my career," Suzy said over dinner at Dulcinea Morato. But of course she knew she had a fine singing voice.

This 20-something fair-complexioned charmer took up Hotel and Restaurant Management at UP but when she was in high school, she had started taking up voice lessons. "Then, I would sing in school affairs. But singing took the backseat when I became sort of an athlete. I played volleyball in school." Something that could have put her in great shape. (To maintain her good physique, Suzy goes to the gym, the same gym I go to everyday and where my wife Cathy and I met Suzy.)

In 2004, someone urged Suzy to try out to be a lounge singer at the Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas. She liked the experience, and learned to love singing enough for her to resume taking up voice lessons and in 2005, she went full-blast in her singing career.

These days, Suzy fills up her calendar with a five-day a week stint in various music lounges. Mondays, she sings at the Intercon; Wednesdays at Calesa Bar in Hyatt Regency Manila; Thursdays at the Celebrity Lounge of Broadway Centrum; Fridays at the Lobby Lounge of Hyatt Hotel & Casino; and Saturdays at Boulvar Music Lounge of Manila Pavilion Hotel. Tuesdays and Sundays are Suzy’s days-off.

She may have a fulltime singing stint these days but Suzy said she keeps on learning, not only new songs, but on how to deal with different people and cope with situations that may arise anytime.

"Different lounges have different characters because of the people who go there," Suzy explained. "For instance, Boulvar Music Lounge is to me the most challenging. Because people go there not necessarily to hear someone sing. They go there to talk business most of the time, to have a drink in a quiet atmosphere and if they have their way, they’d rather you stop singing and go home. So it’s a big challenge to make people notice you and listen to your music."

It’s a totally different experience at the Calesa Bar, Suzy shared. "Because working at the Calesa Bar is more demanding, knowing that people go there to listen to good music because it’s a place known for good music."

She has learned a lot eversince she started her solo singing career two years ago, but she’s still learning, Suzy stressed.

In two years’ time she thinks she has achieved something just by making her presence felt in the music lounges she performs in. But she dreams of bigger things, like being able to record an album someday. "I’d like to prove my mettle in recording. But at the moment, I’m not expecting too much. Kasi I might fail and that would be painful. So I just do my best everytime I perform."

How about showbiz? "Well, why not if the opportunity knocks? If it comes, it comes. I’ll cross the bridge when I get to it."

Well said from a pretty music lounge singer ON THE RISE!