grentperez

When grentperez received the 2024 APRA Award for Emerging Songwriter of the Year in his native Australia, the honor reflected the full arc of his musical efforts up to that point. Prior to issuing his debut single “Cherry Wine” in 2021, the artist had already built an audience among peers through an assortment of covers posted online; once the single appeared, he demonstrated a comparable knack for writing and performing original material aimed at the same listeners.

Grant Perez entered the world in 2001 in Sydney as the youngest of three siblings whose parents originated from The Philippines. Early recollections of hearing his father’s preferred classic rock recordings by The Beatles and Queen, combined with an aptitude for captivating relatives during karaoke gatherings, sparked a desire to move beyond vocals over pre-recorded tracks. At age twelve he judged his guitar skills sufficient to begin sharing home videos of covers, a practice that accelerated in visibility before and throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns, ultimately generating millions of views and surpassing half a million subscribers.

Perez entered into an agreement with the Australian label Fast Friends in 2021 and began releasing his initial original compositions, among them “Confusing Girl” from the EP Demos About Love as well as the standalone tracks “Cherry Wine” and “Clementine.” The latter song, nodding to Kate Winslet’s character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, encapsulated his prevailing songwriting approach: a fondness for evocative memories and the sonic markers of his formative years, ranging from the ’90s and ’00s film soundtracks that first captivated him to subtle infusions of bossa nova and Philly soul. Additional material surfaced in 2022 via the EPs Conversations with the Moon, which included “Cherry Wine,” “Clementine,” and the affecting title track, and Trail Mix Tape, spotlighting “Wishful Thinking” and “Don’t Grow Up Too Fast.” The 2023 EP When We Were Younger attracted sufficient attention for distribution by AWAL beyond Australia, while the 2024 single “Room for You,” a collaboration with Filipino-American singer Lyn Lapid, marked Perez’s first entry on the New Zealand charts.