This month, we caught up with Paolo Rodríguez from Summer Palette Media, who you’ve probably seen working at the Blue Zone. We find out more about his love for Asian Pop Music, how he unwinds after a long day, and which pantry he feels has the better coffee.
Hi Paolo – let’s start off with an introduction of yourself!
Hey there! You may have bumped into me during one of your coffee breaks (hint, the one at the back with the beans has better coffee ?) or simply seen me around, so, let me introduce myself. I’m Paolo, the Digital Designer for Summer Palette Media, and for our luxury publication a+. If you want to see some of my works, just head over to readaplus.com – I designed the whole site! In collaboration with our Graphic Designer, Ed Harland, and our Editor-in-chief, Farhan Shah, we came up with a classic and elegant companion to our monthly print issues. This was definitely one of the biggest projects that I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to develop; and one of my proudest works.
We heard you’re a KPOP fan, could you share your favourite artist and song at the moment?
DID SOMEBODY SAY KPOP? ?? Apparently, I “don’t seem the type” (maybe people peg me more as a Swiftie? ?), but a lot are surprised to hear that a big hobby of mine is listening to and following almost exclusively Asian Pop Music. So that also includes some Jpop, and more recently, artists from the up-and-coming Thai (Tpop) and Pinoy (Ppop) scenes as well. My pivot to Asian pop, especially Kpop, started a good decade ago after watching one fateful music video (shoutout to EXO’s Growl), and just like that, I was a fan. “How have I never paid attention to this before?!” I asked myself. And it’s been a really fun journey uncovering a treasure trove of hidden gems hiding right in our backyard. Plus, it’s actually a very good mood-lifter, so it’s been really helpful for my stress management (and my sanity ?) over the years – a happy pill, so to speak. 10/10 recommend ?
Now, I am what they call a “multi-stan” so asking me to pick favorites is almost impossible with my decade long history of songs, so I will just let my phone show which songs from each genre are on repeat: Kpop: ‘Bite Me’ – Enhypen | Jpop: ‘Come Over’ – DXTEEN | Tpop: ‘Is It You?’ – Silvy | Ppop: ‘Aswang’ – Alamat
Do you look forward to sweet or savoury Mid-Week Treats more?
First of all, shout out to the SPECTRUM team for these treats, and especially for remembering to give me options as a vegetarian. It makes working here just that much more special ?
As for sweet or savory, it depends on my mood that day, but usually I prefer savory snacks. Although, some of my favorites have been the sweet treats ?
What do you usually do to unwind after a long day at work?
Well, as I mentioned, I do love a good music session, just watching a playlist of music videos on YouTube. And if it’s not my asian music sesh, the nerd in me enjoys autoplaying educational content, as well, like videos on linguistics, geography, biology, politics, etc. So, I would say YouTube is a big part of my content consumption. I also started running and hitting the gym a lot more consistently this year.
On weekends, I’ve recently been convinced by friends to start dabbling into this subculture called D&D (Dungeons and Dragons, btw, not Dinner and Dance). It’s a lot of fun but also very daunting for us newbies as the game is steeped in lore that takes time to familiarise.
Thanks Paolo for sharing – it’s great getting to know you a little more!
Feel free to hit up Paolo on Swish for some Asian Pop recommendations or say hi the next time you see him at the at the Blue Zone or getting coffee at the back.