Singer-songwriter Odette Quesada has penned some of the most heart-wrenching original Pilipino music (OPM) hits, including "A Friend of Mine," "Farewell," "A Long, Long Time Ago," "Till I Met You," "Don't Know What To Do," "Love Me Again" (Verni Varga), "Give Me A Chance," and "To Love Again." However, many music fans were unaware of Quesada's humorous side.

"When I was at the salon the other day, habang inaayusan ako, sabi nung kasama ko, she's famous in the Philippines. Sabi ko 'No, I have some notoriety. Sabi niya, 'Are you an actress?' Sabi ko, 'I'm a singer.' She said, 'Are you married?' Sabi ko, 'No, I Iost my husband 11 years ago.' Sabi niya, 'I'm sorry. Are you ready to love again?' Sabi ko, 'You just quoted my lyrics to me,' " said Quesada during an interview at Forbes Park in Makati City recently.

Quesada was married to fellow singer-songwriter Bodjie Dasig, lead vocals for the OPM band Bodjie's Law of Gravity, who passed away in 2012. Over the years, she marked his death anniversary with one bracelet every year.

"In one of the interviews, napansin nila ang dami kong bracelet. Through the years, dumarami ang bracelets ko. I was marking every year with Bodji's being gone with one bracelet. Umabot ako ng eight bracelets. Then I decided I needed to let go just because he was gone. I don't need to show that he's gone. He's always in my mind and my heart. Mahirap na baka umabot yung bracelet (sa taas)," she said.

Quesada added: "We expected you to be serious, but you're funny naman pala. I have to be because my songs are sad. I have to be a little funny with my spiels."

On Sept. 1, Quesada will hold the "Odette Quesada: All Hits - The 40th Anniversary Celebration" concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at 8 p.m. "These songs are my legacy; hopefully, they will be around for another 40 years. As a singer, this is my 41st year, but as a singer, this is my 40th."

"You know, when I was writing them, I didn't have any inkling if anyone would like them. All of a sudden, they were re-recorded, and they became hits at that time. So, inisip ko will probably have a shelf life of 10 years. And then get revisited, hopefully by the next generation. But for my songs to continuously be played because of videoke, karaoke, and YouTube, I can't be any happier knowing it will live.

"At this point, my songs have been re-recorded and covered. Sometimes, I get tagged on social media about my songs, like at weddings or lounges. They became soundtracks of people's lives," said Quesada when asked how she felt about her songs still being played on the radio and streaming platforms.

When asked about criticism of her songs, she responded: "I think any artists would say na hindi sila nasasaktan. To me, my songs are my children. Alam kong pangit ang anak pero huwag mo na lang sabihin sa akin na pangit yung anak ko. Anak ko pa rin yun eh. Alam ko ng pangit pero wag mo ng sabihin sa akin. Masasaktan siyempre lahat ng creators kapag na-criticize mo. Sometimes they're saying stuff just to be cruel. You have to back up what you say. If you say pangit, bakit pangit? They criticize without any explanation. I go for the audience's reactions."

(I think any artist would say that they are not hurt. To me, my songs are my children. I know my child is ugly, but don't tell me my child is ugly. That's still my child. I know it isn't lovely but don't tell me. Of course, all creators will be hurt when you criticize them. Sometimes, they're saying stuff just to be cruel. You have to back up what you say. If you say ugly, why ugly? They criticize without any explanation. I go for the audience's reactions.)

'Till I Met You'

Quesada recalled how she offered the love song "Till I Met You" to Kuh Ledesma, whose rendition became the grand prize winner at the professional division of the 1983 Metro Manila Popular Music Festival.

"Kuh Ledesma already said no several times. I gave Kuh 'Till I Met You' and 'A Long, Long Time Ago.'  I submitted the demo (for the Metro Pop Music Festival). Then, I was told by the committee people that it came out number one in the finals during the screening. So kahit sinong interpreter mo, magta-top 3 'yung 'Till I Met You.' This is from the Vicor people. Worst-case scenario, we'll come in third place. 

"Sabi ni Kuh, 'I don't wanna come in third place. I don't do contests. I get so nervous, and it's not something I want to do. Sabi ko, 'but this is a songwriter's contest, and it's not about the singer.' Then she said, 'Yes, but the singer is also judged.' And that's true. So I went home, and I felt devastated. I don't know who will sing my song because Kuh is the only one I want to sing.  

"Sabi ng lola ko, 'I'll talk to her.' Sabi ko, 'No, there's no point talking to her.' Then Kuh had a break in recording at nag-antay kami sa labas. Nakatayo lang ako sa may pinto. And then she said, 'Okay, lola, I'll do it for you.' It turned out to be one of her anthem songs. Hindi raw talaga siya maka-hindi sa matanda."

Quesada also revealed that she was disappointed when her song "Growing Up" (theme from "Bagets") won the best disco song at the Cecil Awards in 1985. She thanked the awards committee on stage but explained in her acceptance speech that the song was not a disco.

"I'm very poor at keeping things. I think it's in my cousin's house. I didn't bring any of our awards to the US. My cousin ended up buying our house in Laguna. Pati yung mga Awit awards namin ni Bodjie," she said when asked where she kept the trophies.

Living in the US

Despite a successful career in the OPM scene, Quesada said that she and Bodjie left for the US. She has been staying abroad for almost 23 years now.

"I had a baby, and we were starting a family. Bodjie decided we should move to the States. His sister had a company, and he wanted to help his sister out. It's mostly my husband. You had to ask him, but unfortunately, he's not available. I did have regrets. I felt we should not have gone, but it was my husband's decision. I need to give him time to figure things out. The only recourse naman is to come back. I was already resigned to being a mom. I would have been out of the limelight. So it didn't matter. And we wrote songs there," she said.

One unforgettable song that her husband wrote was "Habang Panahon."

"It was a Valentine's gift for me by Bodjie. I love the song, but I never sang it. He didn't write it for me to sing. He wrote it, and he sang it for me. He writes songs talaga for me. Sabi ko babagay kay Nora (Aunor) ang song na ito. I produced the vocals for the song and sabi ko we will do this. I'll let you do as many tracks as you want. And we can choose. She did it very well. And when we were recording, what I liked about her was the emotion she put into her song. She's a great storyteller as a singer."

Odette also wrote memorable songs for the late Ric Segreto, who popularized "Give Me A Chance" and "Don't Know What To Do."

Asked if Segreto pursued her, Quesada answered: "Huwag na natin pagusapan yan. Wala na yung tao. Baka mamaya sabihin nila lahat ng nagmahal sa akin namatay. It would be harder to love again."

Quesada described herself as a crooner, a singer-songwriter. "I never really thought of myself as a singer's singer. I'm a singer-songwriter. There's an exception to singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell. Joni Mitchell ang taas ng boses. Ngayon na pinakinggan mo sya, lower ang voice niya. But I prefer the lower voice. The feeling and storytelling are something else. It's more captivating. Carole King is also a singer-songwriter. They're not the best singers in terms of range, but because they are singer-songwriters, they are more sincere. If I want to be honest, I felt that I over-sang 'I Need You Back.' I do it differently now."

She also talked about how she maintains the quality of her singing voice.

"I'm not a smoker, and I rarely drink. Maybe that. I never had any regimen for my voice. I don't even vocalize. My songs naman are not that hard to sing."

Publishing deal

One of Quesada's pieces of advice to young composers out there is to familiarize themselves with publishing. 

"They tried to make me sign a publishing deal in one instance. Sabi ko, 'I don't think so. Then they said the song could not be part of another artist's album. Na-record na kasi nila eh. They tried to get me to sign the contract, but I didn't want to. Sila ang may lose pero ako wala. Sabi ko, in the future, if you're going to ask me to write songs, I'm not going to sign any publishing deals."

(They tried to make me sign a publishing deal in one instance. I said, 'I don't think so. Then they said the song could not be part of another artist's album. They had already recorded it. They tried to get me to sign the contract, but I didn't want to. They are the ones to lose, but I am not. I said, in the future, if you ask me to write songs, I won't sign any publishing deals.)

Priorities in life

Quesada admitted that she's less active in writing songs than before.

"Ang dami kong iniintindi sa buhay ngayon. Life is getting in my way right now. My mom is my priority now. Right now, she's in Canada temporarily while I'm here. My mom and I are close, but we were physically apart all my growing-up years. She's a traveling musician. She's a jazz singer. Ang genre niya sila Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald. She made a living as a pianist and a singer overseas a lot of the time. Kaibigan ng mom ko yung mother ni Korina Sanchez. Magkasabayan sila. Finally, we're going to live together. She just turned 87," she said.

Quesada has a son who is interested in dancing. "He has an ear for music. As a high schooler, he became a hip-hop dancer. But he loves to write. He has watched a few of our shows. I want to spare him from the agony."

She hopes to continue her journey in music by coming up with her first Christmas album soon. "Matatapos ko rin yun." (I'll finish that too.)

"I want to hear my songs, not the hits, but the ones I like to be interpreted by the new kids. I'm still getting familiar with the new artists by name," Quesada added.