How Filipina Girl Group One Vo1ce Paved the Way in the ’90s

Butterfly clips and mood rings ruled the late ’90s. And a budding relationship wasn’t official without a solid AOL Instant Messenger away message like: bRb, ~~wHen y0u ThiNk aB0uT mE, dO yu tHiNk ab0uT uS… fAlLiiN iN L0vE… d0 yOu wANnA GeT WiTh mE, wiTh Me~~ <3.

These lyrics came from One Vo1ce’s “When U Think About Me,” a synthy, upbeat R&B track that reached No. 17 on the Billboard charts in 1999. In this era of girl groups like TLC, Destiny’s Child and the Spice Girls, One Vo1ce reached mainstream success while putting the Bay and Filipino American artists on the map.

And they’re still making music together. Currently, the Vallejo-bred trio consists of longtime friends Marie Ceralvo, Mae Ceralvo and Monica Castillo. (Marie and Monica started out as a quintet with Aimee Castillo, Melissa Ruiz and Lindsay Mangoba, later replaced by Mae.)

Singing brought the girls together in middle school, when they would harmonize during recess in the hallways. As things got more serious, their talent and grit pushed their professional music careers forward.

One Vo1ce’s parents — who were also friends — supported the girls’ calling. “I remember my dad calling a meeting with all of our parents sitting around the big table in my living room and saying, ‘Are we doing this?’” Monica recalls. “My dad didn’t really know the caliber really or even understand what we were doing.”

After a San Francisco show where fans lined up for autographs, he began to see that they had a real shot at making it. By 1998, One Vo1ce signed with Kamikaze Records. The next year, their debut album Just the Beginning dropped, with hits “All Day, All Nite” and “Always On My Mind.” The songs sound like young love, like skipping geometry to kick it or staying up until 2 a.m. on the landline, and they still hold up 25 years later.

Filipino American musicians climb the pop charts

One Vo1ce arrived during a surge of Bay Area-raised Filipino American musicians. Freestyle singers Buffy and Jocelyn Enriquez, originally of R&B group Pinay, climbed the Billboard charts, and boybands Innerlude, Kai and Drop n Harmony were getting national traction.

“We did a lot of shows like at [Diablo Valley College], Ohlone College, and that’s where we ran into groups like Kai or Drop n Harmony, and dance groups like Jedi Mind Tricks — all the groups that were around in the late ’90s,” Marie recalls. “That kind of inspired us even more to keep doing it.”

Though they were adolescents, the girls navigated the industry the best they could — and their fan base grew organically.

“Seeing a group of Filipina women in the music scene was so inspiring,” says Nicole Maxali, a filmmaker, podcast host and program manager at the Filipino arts incubator Balay Kreative. “It wasn’t just about the music, but the way they carried themselves and represented the culture. It was like, ‘Yup, we belong here too.’”

She goes on, “The early 2000s were a unique time — there wasn’t as much representation in mainstream media, so having One Vo1ce, Pinay and Drop N Harmony was exciting for us AAPI kids. They showed that you could embrace your roots and still be successful in the industry. It was empowering.”

A whirlwind industry experience

In our interview, Monica, Mae and Marie reminisced about their “oh sh—” moments on their way to success. Two-hour CD signings at Sam Goody or Tower Records; hearing their song on the the radio for the first time in the back of Melissa’s silver Honda Prelude; seeing their music video on repeat on San Francisco’s California Music Channel; and getting stopped at Denny’s for an autograph while on tour in Michigan.

“All we knew is we loved music,” says Marie. “We love to sing. We were having fun, yeah, but other than that, it wasn’t a goal to be on the radio, to get a music video, to travel and meet amazing people. It kind of just happened. It was just like, ‘This is what we do. This is our sound. We have fun doing it.’”

Today, music can be shared with the tap of a screen, but back then, it was all about the footwork. “There was no YouTube back there. There was no iTunes,” says Monica. “If you really liked an artist, you waited until the release date and you waited in line to grab it, and if it were sold out, you’d have to come back and try and get it again. There was, like, excitement in that. Now, you just go on Spotify. It’s an immediate gratification.”

Between the late-night shows, red-eye flights and early-morning press calls, the girls’ high school and college lives were on pause. But without a doubt, when it came to music, One Vo1ce went all in.

“I tell people when they ask me about how it was, I’m like, ‘I’ve never worked so hard in my life,’” says Mae, who was still in high school and juggling teenage life, sports and music. “We definitely had the pressure on us to present our best selves. … And it may not have necessarily been healthy. I think that was very common in the industry back then.”

The record label wanted each member of One Vo1ce to have a unique vibe, perhaps like the Spice Girls. “When we started singing, we all had long, black hair, about the same length. We all kind of looked, you know, the same,” Monica says. “And then when we got signed, it was like, OK, I took blonde. Marie would be the one with the short, spiky, spunky hair. Mae was the one with the red hair. We all had to have a different look about us to differentiate ourselves.”

One Vo1ce’s latest chapter

While representation in the music industry still needs work, there’s steady movement towards more visibility for Filipino American artists. H.E.R. and Saweetie, both raised in the Bay Area, have made major waves in R&B and rap, and pop idol Olivia Rodrigo proudly reps her Pinay roots.

“We’re seeing a whole wave of diversity kind of penetrating and saturating entertainment and arts overall,” Mae said. “We’ve had influences, like for many, many years, just not so much in the spotlight. Now that we’re in a different time, you know, the digital era has enabled a lot of people. … I think it’s definitely helped increase representation, but we can always use more.”

Today, Marie, Mae and Monica are sitting in the driver’s seat of their career. “We are a bit more involved in the creative process,” Marie says. “We wrote the songs. We decided which beat we wanted to use. We had input about the mixing process. Turn that down, turn that up, add more EQ. It’s more hands-on.”

They also manage themselves. “We decide when the album comes out. There’s no deadline,” she continues. “We don’t have to go to the gym every day. There’s no strict schedule. We decide when we do what, you know, we decide our pricing for shows, for anything.”

Since 2019, the group has released a handful of singles, including “Friendster” and “Cherry,” and their latest project, Here to Stay, came out earlier this year. The album showcases the trio’s new sound with slow jams like “Learning You,” perfect for sending to your boo, and feel-good, nostalgic tracks like “Lights” or “Fog City.”

Within the past year, One Vo1ce has hit the stage to perform at various events, including Romance & Breakups alongside Case and Ruff Endz in Orange County and Yaya Music Fest with Nu Flavor in Merced. Locally in Campbell, they performed an intimate acoustic show, inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, at the plant shop Momstera. The trio will return to Momstera in September.

“We’ve been in the industry for 20-plus years, and just to see the evolution is really telling, you know, that music is a part of our lives,” Monica says.

A love for music started it all, but the friendship — a sisterhood — continues One Vo1ce’s journey in harmony.

Follow One Vo1ce on Instagram and Facebook for show announcements and music updates.