He usually tags along with his first cousin Cliff and brother Dean as they play on the beach and in the cave with a folk guitar in tow.
There in the cave, loving the reverberating sounds their voices make, the young Walter Manglona finds his voice and a lifelong passion for music.
He remembers learning the song “Somewhere Out There” from his father back then.
Until this day, he recalls with gusto how his father strums his guitar and he and younger brother Dean learn the song as he plays along.
“The three of us — Cliff, Dean and I — grew up together,” says Walter sharing with Variety how they would often visit Grandfather’s Beach with a folk guitar.
He admits the three of them “spent a lot of time in the cave” singing together. His cousin even composed a song that he says he had the privilege to record.
Asked what the song was about, Walter tells Variety that it’s a song about not giving up on the one you love. He says, “The lyrics are so detailed.”
Years later, at 17, he says he won in a singing competition on Guam where his talent was pitted against 60 others at the Two Lovers Point. He tells Variety that he won $5,000 and a recording contract with Stel Star Production.
He says in that first album he had the chance to record original compositions by his brother Dean and cousin Cliff.
“Snoopy,” his first album, contains 10 original compositions: two from Dean, one from Kelvin Atalig, and seven from Walter.
That same album carries the single “I Won’t Let You Go,” a personal favorite of Walter’s.
“It really means a lot to me,” he says. The song, he says, is about trying to hold on to somebody no matter how long it takes.
“Podang,” his second album in limited release, is selling not only in the region but also in Las Vegas, Washington, Guam, Hawaii, and Japan.
He says, “I am surprised!” It is made more popular these days with the advent of internet that allows him to reach other listeners from the other side of the Pacific.
Another song that is gaining the Office on Aging coordinator fame is his rendition of the Richard Marx’s original “Right Here Waiting,” that Walter says he flipped and gave an R&B and hip-hop twist.
He tells Variety he had the pleasure to work with Badu Magofna and John Guerrero.
This version was played, he says, during a Lakers’ game and friends of his sent him a video using a phone.
Elated over the gains he has made in the airwaves, he tells Variety that listeners of Central Valley in California radio station HOTT 104.7 is playing a couple of his songs.
He too has been receiving invites to different areas on the mainland to perform and share his island music.
He intimates to Variety that he may go on a tour by the end of the year to promote island music and his compositions.
His latest album is poised to make an impression among listeners again.
Looking back on the songs they have written over the years, Walter, his brother, and cousin thought of spicing up the compositions with tracks with upbeat tempo.
With nine tracks, his latest album features the songs “Hush” and “Chamorro Superman.”
Some of his songs are now online (www.youtube.com) and people from anywhere can listen to his original composition. He even has a Chamorro version of “Right Here Waiting.”
Those interested to get a copy of his CD’s can find them at Music and, Martha’s and Mobil Kagman.
With the conversations oscillating between his compositions and his dream of reaching out to more listeners, Variety finds out that it took Walter years to overcome his shyness and bullies.
Performing before classmates among other students in school is never like performing in family gatherings.
There, in school, he faced detractors and bullies, he says.
“Whenever I perform, they laugh at me,” he says.
Soon, he tells Variety, he had an epiphany. One day he tells himself to never mind what other people say and continue doing what he loves.
“It starts with you; you should be able to push yourself and never mind what people think about,” says Walter.
He says one has to be able to stand up to his detractors and bullies — face your detractors is what he tells the young generation.
“Don’t let them distract you from what you are going to become. Keep doing what you are doing — sky’s the limit,” advises Walter.
To those who are eager to follow his lead, Walter is proof that anything can be achieved if one puts his mind and heart into it.
The young generation may have found an idol in Walter, a “Chamorro superman” who will spread the ideals and aspirations of the Chamorros through his songs that transcend time and cultural boundaries.
