Before I fell in love with sharing my thoughts in writing, music was my passion. I was in a band wherein I composed songs together with my buddies back then. While I still work on words these days, back then, it was lyrical and melodic – and most of all, they’re not about cars.
So when I changed career and went full time into writing and content creation, my passion with music kind of faded into the background. I became a listener rather than a creator; that’s without regrets, mind you, although sometimes I miss making music.
The passion for music and cars aren’t exactly a match made in heaven, and I was hard-pressed to find a connection between the two. That’s until today when Nissan released a video of Barbie Almalbis and Zsaris Mendioron recreating an OPM hit using an X-Trail crossover.
Wait, how? As a singer-songwriter, Barbie is known to have been doing live solo performances with the use of loopers. Using recorded sounds coming from an X-Trail, such as the car doors, seats, turn signals, and the activation sounds of Nissan Intelligent Mobility features, Barbie used a looper to create a beat that became the backbone of the music.
The result? A stripped-down version of the OPM hit “Money for Food.” The song was popularized by Barbie’s Cradle, which was Barbie’s former band before pursuing a solo career. It was nostalgic and dare I say, Barbie seems to have stopped aging since 10 years ago based on what I saw in the video.
You can watch the video here:
The collaboration between Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI), Barbie, and Zsaris isn’t just about showcasing passion and ingenuity. NPI also wants to promote creativity amid the harrowing effects of this pandemic and extended quarantine — maybe enthused positivity as well since getting holed up for a long time can have adverse effects on mental health.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for all of us. But we must remember that even if we’re staying safe at home, we can still exercise our creativity. We are so happy to bring creativity to life at this time and collaborated with such talented artists like Barbie Almalbis and Zsaris, to recreate a famous Filipino song with the Nissan X-Trail,” said Atsushi Najima, Nissan Philippines President and Managing Director.
As for me, maybe I’ll find time to pick up my old guitar and make music again. Maybe make one inside a car? We’ll see.