At 19, the singer-songwriter is turning a project built in bedrooms and among friends into an official four-piece under Offshore Music
For Ligaya Escueta, becoming a band did not begin with a contract. The band was already there.
Escueta has officially signed with Offshore Music as a four-piece, formalizing a lineup that had already been writing, recording and playing together well before their names appeared on the same paperwork.
The group now consists of Escueta on vocals, bass and guitar; Kristo Mercado on bass and guitar; Diego Cerrudo on guitar; and Ninja Nicolas on drums.
All four signed with Offshore Music alongside Paco Pastor, but the moment was less about forming something new than finally giving an existing creative partnership an official name.
“It was a natural process,” Escueta said. “Because we are all good friends outside of the band. I think that translates into the music — it is really something collaborative, and we all have a big part in it.”
Cerrudo summed it up even more simply, “We were complete from the start.”
Offshore Music A&R Manager Dani Mendoza agreed, saying the paperwork merely formalized what had already been happening.
“Honestly, the paper was for formality, but they have already been operating as a unit,” Mendoza said.
Escueta began writing songs at 13 and released her first single at 15 during the pandemic, when ballet was put on hold and songwriting became another creative outlet. At 16, she released her debut album, Laughing in Milk, followed by her signing with Offshore Music in 2023.
Her second album, Dollweb, arrived in January 2025 and pushed her sound into more layered territory. Later that year, she performed at SXSW Sydney and contributed a punk reworking of the Eraserheads’ “Back2Me” to Offshore Music’s Cutterpillow tribute album.
Now 19, Escueta is entering another phase — one where the music increasingly reflects the chemistry of four musicians rather than a solo artist surrounded by collaborators.
That chemistry could already be heard on “June,” released in March 2026. The hazy love song featured Kristo, Diego and Ninja alongside producer Mikey Amistoso and collaborator izen, giving listeners an early glimpse of the group functioning as a full creative unit.
The biggest shift may happen behind the music. Escueta’s debut Laughing in Milk was largely a bedroom-built record, with Mikey Amistoso producing while Escueta handled much of the creative work. Dollweb expanded that palette with denser arrangements and more polished production.
With a permanent four-piece lineup, songwriting and production can now become more collective.
“We have to split responsibilities more, especially when it comes to songwriting,” Mercado said. “In the off-going future, there will be a big ‘change,’ now that we are all hands on with future projects.”
That next chapter is already underway as Escueta plans to release more singles this year, building toward a full-length album targeted for early 2027.
The difference this time is that the next record will not simply be Ligaya Escueta with a band behind her.
It will be Ligaya Escueta as a band.