It’s the ninth of November.

Olympia, Manila-based singer-songwriter-producer also known as Anica Feliciano, is celebrating the launch of her debut album, “Feel The Same Way,” just five days after her 30th birthday.

When she steps onstage for the first time, she is draped in a black veil embellished with sparkling pearls, like a bride about to give herself away. Olympia’s groom is the audience she sings to, softly belting lyrics in her signature melancholy manner. 

But this calm, cool, and collected artist persona that Feliciano has spent the past near decade building takes only a couple songs or so to come undone, back into her natural state. She removes her veil and starts shouting, hyping up the crowd; cracking jokes here and there to lighten the mood and make the audience laugh.

“I promised myself I’d go all out—full-on ‘Olympia mode.’ But when I heard the crowd singing along, I broke character. I let go and simply showed them me: the Anica who is crazy, quirky, and kalog,” Feliciano recalls from that night.

Feliciano constantly refers to Olympia as a separate entity, her pop star alter ego whom she’s created an entire universe for, while Feliciano sees herself as Olympia’s “crazy operator.”

“Right now, it’s more clear to me that Olympia is equal to the best version of Anica, but Anica is not necessarily always equal to Olympia, and that’s okay. I learned that it’s good to separate the artist in me, just so I can keep Anica sane and grounded with her quirks and flaws. I realized that Olympia is effortlessly cool and confident, but I can’t be her 24/7. Through this, I’ve learned the importance of self-love—a deeper, more lasting foundation than self-confidence, which can often feel fleeting in my case.”

Before Feliciano began her solo project, music was something that followed her throughout her childhood. She started off playing piano at her grandparents’ home, before picking up guitar in grade school, with the first piece she learned being “Same Ground” by Kitchie Nadal. Feliciano eventually joined her high school choir and realized she had a knack for singing, pushing her to write her own songs and even shoot music videos from the comfort of her room. 

However, it wasn’t until her university years when she released her first proper track as Olympia called “On My Mind,” something she worked on upon meeting schoolmate King Puentespina, now more popularly known as artist Crwn. Puentespina would soon become her frequent musical collaborator and mentor as well as one of the major producers of “Feel The Same Way.”

Feliciano muses, “Back then, I thought that it was impossible to reach my dreams. I lacked skill and enough knowledge. Since I never had bandmates, I couldn’t rely on anyone else but myself. So I took the little that I had—fragments of what I learned from piano, guitar, and choir—and poured it into my demos. I never stopped drafting and creating music in my own bedroom until I finally achieved 10 of my dream tracks.”

Maturing as an artist in the cutthroat Manila music scene wasn’t easy for Feliciano, especially in an industry dominated by men. Being surrounded by so many up-and-coming male artists and producers, Feliciano grew self-conscious and uncomfortable with sharing her music, so this drove her to rely on herself and learn how to produce her own beats. While she feels like she missed out on gaining valuable female perspectives and building deeper artist connections with women, this doesn’t stop her from inspiring others to create. 

“You should never feel stuck in the box that society made wherein girls are just for singing or writing. Until now, people are surprised when I say I [produce and write my own songs], and I know it’s because of their preconceived notions about female artists. So my job is not done yet,” says Feliciano. “I need to speak more about it and encourage more women to not only create but also be proud of what they make. I’m sure there are a lot waiting to be heard.”

Feliciano released “Feel The Same Way” on the day she turned 30—a culmination of her experiences in her 20s, as both a woman coming of an age and an artist finally finding her own musical identity. Consisting of 10 tracks, the album includes songs as old as six or seven years. Feliciano’s sound remains as consistent as what she’s put out in the past—moody yet lush R&B and ambient tunes—except more polished and refined in “Feel The Same Way.”

She puts her most vulnerable self on display on the album, with a more somber, yearning Olympia in its first half, and a hopeful one (“happy songs,” as Feliciano herself calls it during her album launch) in its final leg. The overall rawness and honesty of her songwriting and production has established Feliciano as a dark horse in the Filipino R&B scene, a worthy peer and contender to other similar female artists such as August Wahh, Denise Julia, Jess Connelly, Kiana V, and more.

“I became more aware and intentional with my lyrics. I know how much these can affect my listeners. My guiding principle was, ‘Are these the words I want my future daughter to hear?’” elaborates Feliciano about the growth of her songwriting in “Feel The Same Way.”

“I’ve noticed a significant shift in my mindset—from simply wanting to be heard to wanting to empower women. That change has shaped not only my music but also my purpose as an artist.”

Creating and promoting “Feel the Same Way” was no easy feat for Feliciano, an independent artist. Thankfully, she was surrounded by a number of creatives in the process, including her best friend and stylist, Ada Laud, creative director Mike Parker, and her musical collaborators, Crwn and Aries—the latter being Ram Alonzo, Feliciano’s partner. Friends and family were always the fuel to keeping Feliciano going as an artist, the heart and soul of her album. 

After the release of her debut record, Feliciano is currently on the hunt for new collaborators to work with for her sophomore album, including more female vocalists, a female producer, and a male vocalist she’d like to produce a track for. No longer a confused twentysomething, Feliciano is taking the full artistic journey head-on. 

***

The name Olympia is not meant for the meek. It refers to the famous mountain where the Greek gods reside as well as the ancient city where the first Olympic games were held—in short, a name meant for greatness. While Feliciano first insinuates that this artist name she chose was by chance (“just a random word that showed itself when I needed it,” she says, seeing it on a pink guitar pick when she was thinking of a SoundCloud alter ego), she muses by the end of the interview that perhaps nothing is ever random, manifesting that her first big hit is just around the corner. 

Only time will tell, of course, but both Feliciano and her ambitious, confident pop star persona Olympia are off to a promising start. 

In a statement on Thursday, the BSP said that as of Oct. 11, 2024, the total coin collection has already reached P1.008 billion.

“Decades worth of baby steps led me here: a place where I am sure that I am an artist,” she says. “A world where Olympia chose me, to sing her songs and to tell her stories.”