VJ Rosales, who goes by the name VRO, rose to fame as one of the five members of The Filharmonic. The all-Filipino-American group formed in 2013 when they came together to compete in season 4 of NBC’s hit a cappella show, The Sing-Off. While the reality competition show initially hoped to showcase a K-pop act, the Filipino group took center stage. Two years later, they appeared in Pitch Perfect 2 and eventually became the a cappella house band regulars on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
“I think musically [The Sing-Off taught me] to keep things simple. Don’t overcomplicate things in terms of arrangement and musicality. Keep it simple, and then it’ll build from there. I think that applies to everything in life,” VRO tells Hollywood First Look.
HFL: “Red Eye” is your first single as a solo artist. This is a huge moment for you on so many levels. First, tell me about creating the track.
VRO: It was created and written in London in 2019 at a songwriting camp I was hired to do. I wrote it with songwriters from Atlanta. Natalie Lauren, producer Jordan Webb [JWebby], and producer Jon Jon Traxx. It was great. We were basically stuck in a house in London for a week, and we wrote music for artists – not anyone in particular – but the songwriters that I wrote with write songs for artists like Chris Brown and Janelle Monáe and put those songs in their laps. But they didn’t take “Red Eye.” So I was like, I’m just going to take this for myself. I remember Natalie, one of the songwriters, was like, ‘If none of these artists take it, you’re going to take this one, VJ. This is your sound.’
HFL: What does this song mean to you now?
VRO: It means a lot. It’s definitely a song that I relate to just traveling the world for so long with The Filharmonic, and it’s a song about travel. But, it’s also a song about getting to where you want to be – your destination. I feel like a lot of that has to do with who I am as a person. Just kind of accepting who I am. A lot of people think it’s a song about meeting someone, but it’s more than that. It has multiple meanings and interpretations.
HFL: What was it like making the music video? What did you want to visually display that matches the power of the song?
VRO: I think as an artist, my main goal is to make people dance. I want people to feel like they want to dance, to forget their troubles, forget everything that’s going on in their life and just have fun. I want to make fun music for people to listen to, so I wanted the music video to reflect that. We shot in Koreatown and at Tanaka Farms in Irvine. It’s the perfect vibe for the summer. I included some of The Filharmonic, so you’ll also see some familiar faces in the video. It’s really cool. At the beginning of this year, I told myself I wanted to make music and create music videos, so I’m doing it.
HFL: How do you hope to inspire people?
VRO: Being an artist, you know, the music video that I produced, I did a lot of it on my own. I had a lot of help, but I still did a lot of it on my own. So, I want to inspire other artists to put in the work and believe in their craft and create the art that they want to create. Back it and be confident about it because there’s no one like you. Whatever you put out into the world is unique, and people will relate to it once you really find that out for yourself. I want to inspire other artists, but I also want to inspire people in general.
HFL: What do you ultimately hope to accomplish as an artist?
VRO: I want to create more music. To be honest, I’m kind of tired of doing covers and other people’s songs. I think a big part of Filipino culture is not that it’s a bad thing, but we take from a lot of pop music, and we don’t make enough original music. So I feel like as an artist, and especially a Filipino-American, I want to represent and I want to create original music that represents us. That’s my goal. And maybe a collaboration with JLo. We’re manifesting that [laughs].
As the LA native premieres his new music video for “Red Eye,” he tells Hollywood First Look to expect more on the horizon like live performances, an acoustic rendition, and even a remix. He plans to recreate the track in different ways. He also intends to release an album in the future and eventually go on tour.
“The goal is to put out more music,” VRO continued. “I’ve had a lot of support from my community. Everyone has been really nice and receptive, and I’m super grateful. I know everyone’s kind of going through it after being stuck inside for two years, and we’re all finally coming out,” he adds. “We’re all trying to find our place. I think whatever it is that makes your heart thrive, you should do it. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m really just following what my heart wants to do, and that’s to make original music. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been a musician for a long time, but I’m really excited for the future. I think people should take hold of what they’re ready to do, what they’re made to do, and go for it.”
