In an interview before his turn on the stage, Juan Karlos Labajo, of “The Voice Kids” fame, said that he wanted to be different.

And in our showbiz world where a new John Lloyd Cruz and Ely Buendia are born each day (a once smart ploy to drum up hype), this kind of rebellious attitude is only to be applauded.

He said that he does not want to adhere to the tried-and-tested way to fame, and that he wants to create music he can truly call his own — a genuinely exciting sentiment given that he carved his path in this industry by performing minus-one covers for his coaches’ approval.

Now, he’s marching to the beat of his own drum, and his first outing sees him indulge in his rock star potential, conveying feelings of burning love with shrieks while kneeling on the ground and shredding his guitar.

It's mesmerizing to watch, though his overly enthusiastic approach did lead to an uneven performance, where dead air moments were marred with awkward sponsor shout-outs and nervously-delivered wisecracks.

Their four-song set, performed to a modest Thursday night crowd at 12 Monkeys in Pasig, included “Buwan,” Labajo's newly-released single (you can watch it in the video below). It tells of an intense romance, coated in kundiman and harana-ish styling, simmering with just the right amount of groove and swagger.

He’s surrounded by a legitimate band —a far cry, as he noted in our talk, from the days he would perform alone to music played back— who all believe in his massive potential to effortlessly blend pop and indie influences.

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"Pakinggan mo ang aking sigaw sa dilaw na buwan," Labajo’s original song goes. If he keeps this zeal when writing music and this genuine desire to discover his voice, then surely he would have no problem finding listeners for his romantic musings.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv