“He gives us food and pocket money and even allows us to use the services of his driver, his car, his maids,” he says. “Napakabait niya. We all call him Daddy. Even when he’s in the States, pinatitira pa rin niya kami sa bahay niya.”
Martin says it’s his way of helping them. “Wala kasi silang titirhan here in Manila. And I’m happy to see them having gigs and careers of their own. Ang usapan namin, they can stay with me until December. They’re really a blessing to me as it’s nice to feel that I’m appreciated. They’re all so grateful, obviously brought up well by their own parents. I was an absentee father to my own kids.”
He’s celebrating his 30th year in showbiz with a special anniversary album, “Martin Nievera 3D: Tatlong Dekada”, under PolyEast Records that has been his home since he did “Chasing Time” in 2002.
“I’ve been doing nothing but revivals lately so this time, it’s an album of original songs including the songs I did for teleseryes like ‘Pangako’ from ‘Walang Hanggan’, ‘Times of Your Life’ from ‘Lorenzo’s Time’ and ‘After All’ from ‘A Beautiful Affair’,” he says. ‘The first single is ‘Ipadarama’ by Kiko Salazar, now being heard on radio. Other composers who contributed songs are Ogie Alcasid, Marvin Querido, Joey Benin, Jungee Marcelo and Arnie Mendaros. One song, ‘Far Away’ is from Chris Lopez, a nephew of Gabby Lopez. Another song is from cousin Mark Feist na ire-record sana ni Enrique Iglesias but he gave it to me, ‘Take Off’, this is a dance tune. Most people who hear it ask: who’s that? Because it’s so not me, totally different from anything I’ve done before. Mapapasayaw ka talaga. All in all, there are 15 new songs in the album plus a DVD with the music videos of 15 more songs. So you get a total of 30 songs.”
He just came home from a series of shows in the States for Bantay Bata. At the Hollywood Bowl in Las Vegas, he got to perform with Hollywood-based celebs with Pinoy blood: Lou Diamond Phillips, Apple de Ap, Nicole Scherzinger and Vanessa Hudgens. “First time for Pinoys to singer and 14,000 people came to watch us. The Americans were asking: where did all these people come from?”
He’s hoping his late night talk show will finally push through next year. “Kaya lang, management and I have different concepts and X Factor Season 2 will also come up, so I don’t know.”
