How Moy Ortiz evolved from accidental composer to OPM hitmaker

MANILA -- Call him an accidental songwriter, but it is a tag The CompanY lead singer Moy Ortiz certainly will not mind.

He started writing professionally in 1990, after being forced to come up with an original song for The CompanY’s debut album, “‘Yun Na,” under Ivory Records and released in 1991.

The late songwriter, Margot Gallardo, came up to Ortiz and asked him, “Don’t you do back-up vocals when you do vocal arrangements?” Ortiz told ABS-CBN Ndews. “Margot figured, kami ni Babsie Molina, the fact that we do counter melodies in our vocal arrangements, I could also write songs.”

Molina is also a songwriter who co-wrote The CompanY’s hit, “Muntik Na Kitang Minahal,” with Edith Gallardo. Molina is known as the “queen” of back-up singers, along with Sylvia Macaraeg and Kitchie Molina.

“You know, your vocal arrangements, that is a form of composition,” Margot Gallardo told Ortiz. “Why don’t you just give it a go and try your hand at writing songs?”

Ortiz didn’t know yet that he could write songs at that time. He surprised himself when he wrote the lyrics and the melody for “Tell Me Tonight,” the first song that he composed in 1990.

Today, listening to ‘Tell Me Tonight’ after 31 years, Ortiz admits it’s not terrible. “It’s not bad. I started with my initial songs as derivative. But I think for every person who creates something and is inspired by your heroes, whether or not they are musicians, painters, dancers or any artists, you start emulating. It’s not a sin to emulate and get the best bits and parts of the work of your heroes,” he said.

Ortiz’s “heroes” are easily identifiable. He doesn’t care if they are old school. There’s Burt Bacharach, whom he adores at 93 and even maintains an Instagram account.

Ortiz also names Michel Legrand, Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell and Michael Masser, an American who wrote middle-of-the- road songs, pop with a tinge of R&B. “I’m very, very influenced by these people,” he said.

He also mentions Carole King. “These are the people who have shaped my journey as a songwriter,” he said. “I’m unapologetic about that. I don’t want to be chasing trends.

“People will say, ‘That sounds old. That sounds like people from the '70s.’ I am who I am musically and I have to embrace it. I cannot chase trends. I don’t have to sound like Billie Eilish or Charlie Puth. Kanya kanyang pananaw ‘yan.”

“For Generation Z, if it’s a Billie Eilish or kung sino man ang hit ngayon, whether we agree or not, that’s irrelevant. The songs of today are the soundtrack of their youth.

Ortiz is aware that the generation today can easily relate to the modern type of articulation in melody and lyrics. “That’s how they latch on to it,” he said. “The Top 40 now will form the soundtrack of this generation. The soundtrack of their lives.

“Kanya-kanyang panahon lang ‘yan. One is not better than the other. You just feel that one is more special than the other because your memories and your music, they are intertwined.

“We have fond memories of music of our high school and college, when we were more carefree with less responsibilities. Those songs hold a special place in our hearts.”

Three decades after his debut composition was recorded and more than 400 original songs to his music catalog later, Ortiz holds his first “Songwriting from a Songwriter” online workshop, that he painstakingly put together from scratch.

Ortiz labored on the extensive, 10-episode workshop for 11 months. Although he taught music composition in summer workshops under Trumpets and at Mint College at Bonifacio Global City, Ortiz inevitably found himself working as a one-man team producing, filming, writing and editing the songwriting workshop.

“It was the most difficult thing I ever produced in my entire life,” Ortiz recalled. “Many times, I wanted to quit. Filming an episode would sometimes take two nights at four hours each. Kung mali ang grammar mo, magkamali ka, mababa ang energy, I had to retake.”

For somebody who doesn’t play the piano or the guitar, Ortiz has amazingly charted over 400 songs in his catalog. His particular favorite will be the biggest hit that he created for Ice Seguerra, “Pagdating ng Panahon,” which he wrote with Edith Gallardo in 2001.

That song became the bestselling OPM song of the first decade of 2000s. It is a song that will forever be in the heart of Ortiz. He was “shocked” when he finished “Pagdating ng Panahon” in only 30 minutes.

“Ang dali-daling isulat,” Ortiz said of the ballad. ““Never in our minds did we think that ‘Pagdating ng Panahon’ would become a monster hit. That was the last song included in Ice Seguerra’s 2001 album.”

Earlier, Ortiz wrote a song originally for Raymond Lauchengco. However, the producer of Lauchengco’s album rejected “Pakisabi Na Lang,” that was why The CompanY decided to record it in 1994 and the song turned out to be one of the biggest hits for the group.

“The ones I mentioned are story songs, melancholy and bittersweet,” Ortiz pointed out. “I like those kinds of songs. A lot of the OPM artists now are also songwriters themselves, which is the ideal really. If anyone or any artist asks for a song from me, I will write one for him/her.”

Ortiz is now also pre-occupied with a digital musical about the pandemic, with the working title, “Da Pinoy Pandemic Palabas,” with Cayabyab, talent manager/host Noel Ferrer and Maribel Garcia, head of the BGC Arts Center. It will be presented on November 6.

“I was assigned to the humorous side of the musical, with Edith Gallardo,” said Ortiz, who wrote “Disco Plantito, Disco Plantita,” a parody or a caricature who have joined the indoor plant hobby.

“The brand-new musical has very impressive line-up,” Ortiz boasts. “That’s something to look forward to and another topic to talk about.”

Meanwhile, this year, his group The CompanY turns 36.

“It’s unbelievable,” Ortiz beamed. “Thanks to Him and to our audience. Our last lockdown this year, March to June, after our Valentine ‘Roadtrip’ concert, was our longest break. Sapilitan pa ‘yun. It didn’t take a pandemic to stop us.”