At only 15, this young boy has already been praised by Nicki Minaj, Ashton Kutcher and American Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino when videos of him went viral. Even though he is the runner up at The Voice Kids Philippines, he has received a lot of attention.

Darren Espanto flew all the way from Canada to Philippines to try out for The Voice Kids Philippines in the hopes to to gain some experience as well as to sing for the people in Philippines. Darren was recently in Singapore to promote his second album, Be With Me. The Fifth Parlour got the opportunity to meet this young performer who can sing, act and play the piano and alto saxophone.

Darren who is the youngest performer to perform at the Philippines’ Mall of Asia Arena has already sold out concerts, toured around the world and performed for The Pope and has already 32 awards under his belt. His new album, Be With Me, is dedicated to his fans to thank them for their support. This album was released just in time to coincide with his birthday.

Knowing that his birthday has just passed, The Fifth Parlour surprised him with a mini cake. At the point of time, you were able to see how hyper and happy he was. Without hesitation, he started to Snapchat the moment and even took time to taste the cake! Darren admitted that this is his true personality and added that he is very weird and wacky. However, people usually think that is reserved when he is on television or interview. We are glad that he is able to be himself during the interview.

Darren explained that his new album sounds more matured compared to his first album as it is more personalised. The reason behind the album’s name – Be With Me as he hopes and wants everyone to be with him in his journey in music. Darren recommended everyone to listen to 7 Minutes and Starlight from the album. “7 Minutes has a nice beat to it and it is a song that only has seven minutes to show how much a person means to you before they go away,” shared Darren. For Starlight, it is a fun song to dance to as it is EDM and he believes that a lot of people will like it. He added that Starlight  was written by a Singaporean composer, Amir Masoh. Both singles topped the iTunes Philippines on its first day of release.

Other than busy promoting his new album, Darren is currently busy preparing for his concert in Philippines on Saturday, June 25. Thankfully, his trip to Singapore serves as a short break from the hectic schedule. Being in Singapore for the third time, he revealed that he is a fan of rides hence a visit to the Universal Studios Singapore is a must! Also, a seat at the back of the Mummy Ride is his favourite spot.

What is a visit to Singapore without enjoying the food right? 

Darren loves spicy food hence anything spicy is delicious to him. He got to taste the Sambal Stingray and he gives it a thumbs up. Speaking of food, we asked Darren what Filipino dish best represents him.

This questions seems too easy for him since he was able to answer it right away. Clueless to what is Adobo, Darren explained it to me. He shared that Adobo is a signature Filipino dish and there are different ways to to cook it. The dish can either be a chicken or pork. He highlighted that it is a really nice dish and hence it is no wonder it is his favourite. As to why Adobo is similar to Darren, he said, “you can do a lot of experimenting (with the dish) and that is what I like to do. I like to experiment with my music.” Versatility is another factor that I would associate him to the dish!

Darren is a star in the making. At such a young age, he knows what he wants for himself and the direction of his music. When we ask if he could sing us a chorus of Secret Love Song, he sang it beautifully and I was just blown away by his voice!

As of now, he plans to stick to singing and shall wait for a better time to go into acting even though there have been offers. His hectic schedule has prevented him to accept the offers but I believed one day, we will get to see him go into the acting industry. I was curious and asked him what kind of role he see himself doing, “I just want to be like a fun, chill guy.”

Stay connected to Darren by following him on his Instagram and Twitter!

The Fifth Parlour would like to thank Darren Espanto for the interview and Universal Music Singapore for coordinating the interview.