People Asia Magazine, July  2003 Issue

As Pinoy as buko pie

(by: Carol H. Pajaron)

Larry Marshall likes "Ako'y Hinahanap Din" for a lot of reasons.  It's the last ballad you'll hear on the American pop artist's CD of Tagalog tracks, Ikaw Ang Dahilan.  Sparsely accompanied by a piano, Marshall's lilting voice on the record evokes the romantic longing conveyed by the song.  "It's just one of those songs when you're reminiscing about the times that things went wrong in your relationship before," he shares.  When asked if he speaks from experience, he replies with a smile, "Oh, sure! Sino ba'ng hindi?"

Perhaps Marshall is much like his favorite song: simple and sentimental.  After all, even if his physical appearance is typically American, he claims to have a Filipino's heart.  Invited by Filipino friends whom he met through the United States Marine Corps station in Okinawa, Japan, he visited the Philippines when he was in his early twenties.  "The first time I came here I fell in love with the country, the people and the culture.  I just kept coming back, but usually it was for only one week or two weeks vacation," Marshall recalls.  "Now I'm based here because that was one of my dreams before, that one day I'd actually live here."  Aside from singing, he has taken steps towards an acting career with guest appearances on local television shows.

Despite his musical background as a child, Marshall's recent foray in the entertainment industry is a departure from his previous life.  After his stint with the marines, Marshall moved to Los Angeles and then Chicago as the national sales and marketing manager for the special products division of a karaoke company.  Armed with degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration and later an MBA, he was less enamored by the money from the lucrative job than the Tagalog music he heard.  The first song he learned was Freddie Aguilar's "Anak."  Soon, he was singing enough that he began performing regularly for Filipino communities in the United States.  He was also a regular at his manager Ging Capio's Barrio Fiesta in Chicago, as well as the front act for visiting Filipino artists Hajji Alejandro, Freddie Aguilar, Carol Banawa and Jose Mari Chan.  Marshall decided that it was time to do what he loved for a living and he left Chicago for Manila.

Given his fondness for the Philippines, his move was hardly a risk.  After all, Marshall had the determination to learn Tagalog by himself without a tutor.  Most of this friends are Filipino and he didn't like being left out of conversations.  "Nakakainis minsan," he admits.  "If you really want to learn something, you have to put your heart into it.  Kailangan may tiyaga ka.  So that's the reason why I studied so hard for five hours a day, seven days a week, for three months."

Marshall now invests the same passion in his music career in the Philippines.  "What distinguishes me is more my heart behind it rather than the music or my voice itself," he says.  "Obviously, I made a lot more money in the States than what I'm making here.  But I'm doing what I want, so I'm putting my heart into what I do."

Marshall's appeal isn't just the novelty, but the charming irony it embodies.  He remembers how interesting is was for audience's that a local composer like Chan did English songs, while the white guy sang in Tagalog.  At clubs in Manila, showbands would invite Viva Records' latest talent to jam, but they never had enough Tagalog songs in the set for Marshall.  While many Filipino professionals seek greener pastures abroad, Marshall is "home" - his reference to the Philippines - in pursuit of a dream.  "Once they learn more about me and how much I love the Philippines and the Filipino people, it goes beyond the novelty part," he says.

From the stereotypical "Hey, Joe" greeting from strangers to recent e-mails from fans who tell Marshall that he makes them proud to be Filipinos, the Philippines is truly becoming home.  "I think for a normal American who happens to sing Tagalog songs but doesn't understand the whole concept of the Filipino lifestyle, I think it would be different," he explains.  "But for me, I don't see it that way."  Marshall compares the progression to the slogan he himself thought of.  "'Katawang Kano,' ganun 'yung dating initially.  Then after that, they move on to the 'Pusong Pinoy' part," he adds with a smile.  "I'm just another tall Filipino, with blonde hair and blue eyes."