Faith Zapata, Regina Pimentel, and Wesley Preis have come together to produce a work of art in the form of their latest single titled “Miles I Can’t Afford.” This poignant piece is characterized by a hauntingly beautiful melody that is coupled with a deeply moving set of lyrics. Through their music, the trio powerfully explores themes of existentialism and uncertainty. The lyrics are so gripping that they leave a lasting impression on the listener, evoking feelings of introspection and contemplation.
The trio, each in their own respect, are singer-songwriters focusing on creating impactful lyrical pieces. Regina initiated the creative process of “miles I can’t afford” and soon joined forces with Wesley and Faith to combine their unique skills and work together on the project. With a shared Filipino heritage and a deep admiration for the music of boygenius formed a group and named themselves “Pinoy Genius”.
During our conversation, we had the opportunity to discuss the recent release and future projects of three talented artists. It was enlightening to hear about their creative processes and the inspiration behind their work. Read our conversation below:
Laura:
Hope you are all well! I am very excited for the release of your collaboration track miles I can’t afford. I am curious to learn about the background story of the track and the collaboration. Who initiated it and how did it come about?
Regina:
I started writing this song in my head while I was on a drive after a long shift at work last year. I used to work at a Raising Cane’s and it was always super fast paced and everyone was always yelling. That’s just part of the job, but I started getting so overwhelmed and I remember crying in my car when I finally clocked out. There was already so much going on in my life at the time and I started to feel numb so I decided to drive around in a neighborhood I’ve never been in just to try and feel something. I just felt so shitty about where I was in my life, especially when I realized I couldn’t even afford the gas to be driving around like that. So I parked and started writing in my notes app with the first line being “Driving on miles I can’t afford.” I wrote a verse and a chorus and for some reason I just couldn’t find the right words to finish the song. Later that year, I started getting closer to Faith and texted her the song, asking if she wanted to work on it with me. She sent me a demo of her ideas so quickly and I just fell in love with it. As I started producing the song, I still felt like something was missing and then I realized that Faith, Wesley, and I have always talked about collaborating and we’d joke about being Asian Boygenius. Faith and I reached out to Wesley asking if she wanted to add a part to end the song and she sent an incredible demo. It all worked out perfectly and it finally felt complete.
Faith:
Ginny, Wesley, and I had all been mutuals for a while, but it was sometime last year when Ginny and I began getting closer, just as friends, not collaborators. We started sharing stories about our personal lives and realizing we had a lot in common in terms of what we struggle(d) with, which is always an sure-fire way to create and strengthen a friendship. We always knew we wanted to work together musically, though. We began sending each other voice memos of unfleshed out ideas and half-written songs, saying “Hey, if you have any ideas for a chorus or a bridge or whatever, send them my way” or something to that extent. One of those first songs was Miles, and I immediately resonated with the lyrics Ginny had already written, and all the ideas just started spilling out of me. It was so easy to start writing when she had set such a steady foundation for the song with her first verse and chorus. And then later on, we added Wesley into the mix because we’d both started getting closer to her, too, and we always hinted at collaborating. So, we just made it a reality. In hindsight, I am so glad we ended up making Miles a triple feature because I can’t imagine the song without Wesley in it. She bookended the song in such a beautiful way that leaves the song ending on a poignant note that is so essential to the song as a whole.
Wesley:
I was so touched when Faith and Ginny reached out to me to write that final chorus; I had been wanting to work with both of them for a while and this ended up being maybe the most wonderful way of that coming to fruition. It’s just something that makes a lot of sense.
Laura:
To promote the track I noticed you created a group name based off of the band “boygenius” and spun off to create “pinoygenius”. How did you come up with the name and what does it mean to you?
Wesley:
“Pinoygenius” just felt like a very natural conclusion to come to. We’re all Filipina and the three of us have been compared to the three members of boygenius independently on the internet and that was something we could sort of acknowledge with this nickname. We actually learned that we share the same MBTI types as the members of boygenius, so we felt the title was especially apt. This isn’t our official name, of course, and I think with any sort of comparison you run the risk of pigeonholing yourself as a copycat version of something else, and I think that this song and our individual writing styles are so unique. But it’s funny and pretty tongue-in-cheek and, more than anything, it’s a nod to our shared heritage and something fun for our Filipino listeners to pick up on.
Laura:
When writing this song was it written collaboratively in person or remotely? Additionally, I’m interested in learning about the inspiration behind the song’s storyline.
Regina:
Since we live pretty far from each other, we wrote it remotely. My inspiration was basically what I explained with how I felt after a shift at work and the strange feeling of being disconnected from everything. Feeling like you’re constantly in a dream can be scary, and I just wanted to ground myself by writing about it.
Faith:
We wrote the song in our respective locations, just because of distance. But from the second I heard the first line Ginny wrote, I immediately knew I wanted to write something for it. I was, like, instantly inspired to add my own part and hopefully, my own flair to the song. I just tried to continue the theme of feeling insignificant and like you’re losing your mind. At the time of writing my verse and chorus, I was in a spot where I, unfortunately, could relate to what Ginny had already written, so it was easier than it probably should’ve been for me to channel that mindset. I think it was after I heard Wesley’s part for the first time that I realized that we had taken a despairing and lonely feeling and transformed it into something that represented us holding each other up.
Wesley:
When Regina sent me the project, she and Faith had already recorded their verses, and I was tasked with writing the third chorus. It was a really unique experience and I found it to be very inspiring; Faith and Ginny are such talented writers and I found myself particularly motivated to contribute something that meshed with the story that they’d established while adding elements that are specific to myself and my style.
Laura:
What does this song mean to you? Separately, what is the impact that you feel you made on this song?
Faith:
Miles is pretty much a therapy session between the three of us in musical form. None of us have a verse or chorus where we sing alone. One of us is always in the background, singing harmony at some point during our individual parts, and I feel like that alone represents the song’s essence perfectly. It’s empathy and understanding; it’s friendship at its very core. Also, we have the one and only JakeMusic playing accent guitar on this track, as well as literally every other song I make, but what I think is even more symbolic, or maybe just a sweet Easter egg of sorts, is that he comes in right when my verse begins. I think he and his skill are a great addition to the song, even if he is just in the background. But, at the root of it all, this song represents support and friendship — because sometimes, when you’re struggling and in a headspace like that, you don’t necessarily need an immediate solution. All you need, in that moment, is someone to cry and complain along with you. And I feel like this song provides this sort of experience, or at least the essence of it, for anyone who listens to it when they are feeling that way.
Wesley:
To me, this song is, more than anything, about friendship. If the reception of the song has been any indication, there are so many people who share the feelings of isolation that we express in the song and I think it’s very beautiful that it’s brought about a sort of connection between people about that. I think that’s very needed.
Regina:
Personally, this song is a reminder that my friends will always be there for me and that I will always be there for them. Something that sticks out to me about this song is the fact that despite it being super depressing and being about spiraling and feeling completely lost, it makes me feel like I’m not alone. We all wrote our parts separately and on our own and yet I feel like every single lyric is something that I have felt or experienced. The fact that none of us sing a chorus alone is like a metaphor of supporting each other through tough times and heavy feelings. It sounds super cheesy but it’s comforting to realize.
Laura:
Overall, feel free to share any news or upcoming projects each of you are working on.
Faith:
My most recent release besides this one, is just crash on the couch, which has been out since March, so if you’re already a listener of mine you have probably already heard the song. But if you’re just discovering me now, definitely check that out. I don’t have any releases officially planned for the rest of this year, but I do have some things up my sleeve that I am working on, so keep an eye out on my socials for any announcements I might make in the future.
Wesley:
My song, “Crush”, is out now as part of Mandatory Book Club, Vol. 1; a collection of songs by some very talented artists. Additionally, I’m featured on the incredible chrysalis’s new song, “crazy”, which is out now, too!
Regina:
Thank you so much for having us! I currently have an album in the works, along with a music video for one of the songs on the album! “Miles I Can’t Afford” will be on it, too! Besides the album, I have a bunch of other unfinished songs I plan to start working on that I am so excited for as well. Maybe even another Pinoygenius collab, we’ll see! Keep an eye out!
You don’t want to miss out on “Miles I Can’t Afford,” the biggest collaboration in underground indie music. Listen to their incredible new song now!
