For Johnrey “JRey” Rivas, who has built his name as a stage and screen actor, this is the moment music takes the lead.
That much was clear at his March 30 press conference ahead of his post-birthday concert that evening, staged a day after his birthday.
Surrounded by family, friends, fellow artists and supporters, JRey spoke about music not as a sudden detour, but as something that had long been part of him, and only now taking center stage.
That shift carries weight because JRey is not entering this chapter from scratch. Through Philstagers Theater Foundation, he has long established himself as a theater actor.
On film, he won the 2022 Famas Best Supporting Actor award for “Katips” and earned a 2026 Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival Best Supporting Actor nomination for “Ang Bangkay.”
This time, however, he wants to be known more fully as JRey Rivas, the singer, lyricist and composer too.
The roots of his musicality go back much earlier than this latest launch, by the way.
“When I was young, I was always writing poems in my notebook,” he shared. “Then I would add musical accompaniment and melodies to them. I just tried going back to them.”
What he found when he revisited his old scribbles was a pattern that felt immediately familiar. All the poems and songs he wrote were about love and everything that comes with it — falling hard, getting hurt, moving on and, eventually, finding the heart to begin again.
That emotional cycle would later shape his EP, “Paulit-ulit,” which includes “Ang Awiting Ito,” “Sabi Mo Sa Akin” and “Umalis Ka Na Sa Puso’t Isip Ko.”
“It’s a love cycle by JRey Rivas,” he said, before explaining, “You fall in love, get hurt and then move on, and then it will happen all over again.
The songs follow that emotional cycle. “Ang Awiting Ito” is about love as it begins to bloom. “Sabi Mo Sa Akin” reflects the point when things turn difficult in a relationship. “Umalis Ka Na Sa Puso’t Isip Ko” moves toward being ready to start again.
JRey also described the tracks as different “eras:” the first set in 1986 with a harana feel, the second in 2006 with a “telenovela-type” ballad mood, and the third in 2026 with what he called a very Gen Z vibe.
For someone whose instincts were formed in musical theater, the move is also a challenge to himself.
“I’m more into ballads since I’m a musical theater actor,” he said. “So, I tried to change my sound this year. I’m testing the waters, so to speak.”
The decision became sharper after he attended the Aurora Music Festival last year and realized how much material he had already been keeping.
“That’s when I realized I should capitalize on my music career. I woke up to the fact that I already had songs saved on my iPhone. So why couldn’t I do this when my songs were always just being used for OSTs?”
That realization pushed him forward, but it also kept him mindful of where he began and of the people who had helped shape him.
JRey is stepping into this space with confidence, crediting the support around him, including music manager Jimuel Cainglet Salterio and Philstagers founder Vince Tañada, whose advice stayed with him: “He told me that wherever my music takes me, he hopes I never forget where I started.”
Asked how he feels at this crossroads, JRey replied, “If you want to know whether I’m nervous, I’m not. I do believe I have my own brand, but it’s up to the people if they will embrace what I’m offering them.”
For his 28th birthday, JRey marked the occasion with a private music festival at Plaza Ibarra, a celebration he helped shape himself. It also gave him a chance to work with some of the people he has long looked up to in music.
“What better way to give myself a birthday gift than to work with my dream idols in the music industry?” he said.
His birthday wish, meanwhile, was both simple and telling. More than anything, JRey wants the songs to reach people. “What else would I wish for but for my songs to become known?” he said. “I worked hard for this — blood and sweat.”
And perhaps that is what gives this turn its real pull. JRey Rivas is not trying to walk away from the work that first made people notice him. He is simply asking that the music, which had long been waiting in the wings, finally be heard too.