MANILA, Philippines –YouTube star Tanner Patrick is coming to Manila on December 1 and will perform alongside Tiffany Alvord at Solaire. 

“I am looking forward to meeting the fans there. I have friends who have played in the Philippines and they have nothing but awesome things to say about it, and I’ve seen a lot of love online in the Philippines so I am just excited to meet the people since it’s my first time,” Tanner, 23, said during an online chat with Rappler.

Growing up in Dallas, Tanner said he never thought he would perform and tour the world.

“When I was really younger, I really had a lot of influences musically and I enjoyed listening to music. I was a huge fan of so many artists and bands and I started getting it to myself, and Dallas really has a good music scene here. And I really got into playing a lot of rock music and started touring… and it kind of evolved me to starting a solo career and it all evolved there. I just really love music, playing it, wanting to connect with people and it seem the best way to do it.”

He considers the group Dashboard Confessional and its lead singer Chris Carraba one of his inspirations to pursue music. He also loves Taylor Swift, whose songs he has covered. He is also a big fan of Ed Sheeran. 

The power of YouTube 

Tanner said that he did not expect a lot when he started uploading his videos on YouTube. In fact, he was initially surprised by fans’ reactions.  

“The initial reaction was shocking for me. I didn’t know what to expect. That’s what made it so exciting – no expectations. 

“But when I first started posting music on Youtube, I think the crazy part to me was first the people watching the video because I did not expect that. Secondly, they had such nice things to say about it …I look at other people’s productions and the production were supreme. They sounded great, they look great and I did not know anything about videos and editing and I knew little about recording,” he said.

Tanner explained that he just went for it and up to now, considers it as a learning process. 

As someone who has learned to play various instruments, Tanner said he will always consider the acoustic guitar as his favorite. 

“I played bass guitar but I love playing the acoustic guitar because it feels so natural to me, and I find a lot of joy playing it, and when I first started playing music I always gravitated to the acoustic guitar.”

As for his favorite cover songs, he considers “Pumped Up Kicks,” and “Clarity” as his favorite songs. He said he will be singing both songs during the concert.

Asked how he describes his music, Tanner said: “ I actually said that my album was intentionally diverse and i’m already working on my next EP which is very different from my album. So its not necessarily that I know what it is but I like to keep moving and changing…but I would describe it as pop music.”

Love for the Filipino fans

Aside from his friends’ stories, Tanner said he really feels the love from Filipino fans. 

“They do tweet a lot and I look at the analytics on Facebook and YouTube, where views are coming from, where fans located. And like I said there is so much love from the Philippines. I felt so excited to finally get to meet everyone.”

Tanner said he is also looking forward to seeing the country if given the time.

As for his plans after concert, it will be a definite busy schedule for him.  

“I’m going to visit a few countries in Southeast Asia and I’ll be back in 2015 [to visit] a few more. Christmas is coming up. I’ll probably release a Christmas song which I’m working on now and I have 3 more cover videos coming out end of the year, and one original acoustic original video.

I’m editing all of those now and I’m also preparing for the Philippine performance. And in the new year, I’ll be working on a new EP. I’ll be self-producing the EP and that’s quite a daunting task, but I’m up for the challenge.” – Rappler.com