Justin Vasquez is a native Caviteno, he grew up in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city. He finished secondary school there and is now back in Manila, where he is starting a new phase of his music career with Republic Records Philippines. He has built a strong following online before joining the label, with more than a million YouTube subscribers waiting to hear from him. With the kind of attention he pays to online developments, he is able to craft music that keeps him in the conversation.
Justin grew up wanting to try everything. He has tried multiple sports, including basketball, boxing, mixed martial arts, and golf. He has also learned how to play several musical instruments (even without formal training, he notes). His curiosity about trying new things is not a sign of overachievement, he says, but rather a passion for whatever he wants to do.
This passionate commitment to doing something helped Justin in a big way when he started to get into music. He grew up seeing his mother with her brothers in a band that rehearsed every week at their place. Eventually, he got to learn the piano and, when hearing one of his mother’s original songs, the seed of a dream was planted. He wanted to write his own stuff.
Justin won a singing competition, first in Melbourne for a Filipino TV network, and then placed first runner-up in another competition bringing together participants from all over the Filipino diaspora. It was there that he met Tiny Corpuz, who is now the A&R of Republic Records Philippines. He also started building a presence online, with his YouTube channel as a platform to showcase his musical skills.
In the middle of 2022, Justin took the next big step in his career when he signed up with UMG Philippines and joined the Republic family.
Justin is a man of many skills and talents (including successfully solving a Rubik’s Cube), and learning all these comes from a consuming passion. As he grows in his craft as a performer, his listeners old and new will discover how this passion becomes a musical inspiration through their ears.