SCENEZONED: Curtismith And Leila Alcasid On How The Right Love Found Them Together

Love is in the air and we all know that this coming Valentine’s everyone will be professing their love for their special ones but what is love really like behind the scenes? Not all stories are filled with sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies.

Let’s face it, we humans experience real emotions, real trauma, and sometimes even baggage but how do we know we are ready for love?

Mito, an established rapper of his generation, perfectly fine on his own with a thriving career meets Leila, a successful singer who left home to try things out in a jungle she was unfamiliar with.

How, if any of us might ask, did these two souls stumble upon each other out of the millions of people out there? We had a quick rendezvous with the two to finally find out how the spark lit up this fire they call love.

With one meeting, we wonder, how has their love evolved, and how has it changed them.

People perceive love as something that brings us light and fireworks but very few really understand that real love is work and is always a choice.

Here we have two individuals who second-guessed the timing of love the first time they met but soon realized that the ups and downs of life are better experienced when shared with someone special.

There are many chances for us to meet people but we all have to take into consideration if we should take each of those. How do we really know who our person is? How can two people be bonded but still become independent?

The Interview

For Scenezoned’s February Issue, we want to touch on the big fat topic of Love but not the perfect one we have all aspired to have. We’re diving deep into what real raw love is. Find out and read more below!

/ESCAPE: What’s with the fascination about the word “spring”?

Leila: It comes from the EP that I recorded last year. The first song I wrote and recorded, I wrote for him and it’s called Spring. The reason I called it spring was because when we met I was going through a really tough time. I didn’t know what I was doing and when we started hanging out it was like he helped me shift into a new season of my life.

Mito: I chose spring because she is the embodiment of the season. She makes me feel like the flowers have just bloomed in a beautiful park with a scent of freshness everywhere.

/ESCAPE: Tell us about how you met and started liking each other.

Leila: The first time we met, I was at his gig and it was one of those things when you know when you see someone and you kinda just like have this really strong pull or attraction to them, and that’s how I felt.

Mito: I was really sabog that night, I was worried, and I was so tired.

Leila: I was really the one who liked him first and we didn’t really get along. It felt like the time was too short, I barely knew him, and we had like one conversation and I was thinking to myself, he probably thinks I’m crazy.

Then we randomly bumped into each other at church. I was there with my family and was doing a lot better that time.

It was a time when I started going every week, and started to focus on myself and that was the time when I stopped caring about guys or being single. It was literally out of my mind and as soon as it was out of my mind that’s when he was like there.

Then after that, we kind of just started hanging out after church most of the time.

Mito: It was nice because for me it takes a lot of character from a person to check themselves and realize this isn’t who I wanna be and I’m not strong enough to do it by myself. That’s what I saw in her when I saw her in church.

We were both doing our part in trying to make our individual lives better and I thought you know it’s good to have a companion in the journey of recovery and becoming who we want to become.

/ESCAPE: How is love like for a couple who is in the industry like you guys are?

Leila: It’s actually okay because when we started no one really knew about it other than our friends. We never posted about it and one day I just decided to post that we have been together for a while and people received it really warmly.

I think it’s because we are very laid-back people who are not trying to be anything. This relationship is really for us, not for anyone else. People didn’t feel the need to pry because we are just being our genuine selves.

Mito: And we’re not loud!

Leila: It’s a very genuine relationship that’s why it works being in the industry that we are in and for me. Prior to being with him, I still felt there were still a lot of things that stressed me out about being in the industry. I’m actually a shy person and having someone who could understand me and give me an alternate perspective makes him my safe space. It’s definitely a lot more positive than negative

/ESCAPE: What is your favourite thing to do together?

Leila: We love to eat! I’m a huge foodie. I love finding restaurants when I travel. The first thing I do is the restaurant itinerary. I remember when we first hung out we wouldn’t really bother to make an effort with food and stuff like that then somehow we really bonded over food.

Mito: Its great! I think the perspective shift that I had was that I started seeing food as an art, and when I started to really see it from that perspective rather than just nourishment. I was like this is a whole new world. Then I wanted to also cook for her.

Leila: Yeah he took a culinary course!

Mito: I did I did. I dont cook for her often but I try.

Leila: Yeah he cooked for me in Australia, the last thing he cooked was lamb chops and I love lamb chops so that was really nice and he even washed the dishes after so that was great.

Mito: The one and only time I did it.

Leila: But the thing we like to cook together is usually steak!

Mito: We make these killer potatoes, smashed potatoes.

/ESCAPE: What other activities do you bond over?

Mito: We work out together, we were getting too chubs!

Leila: We started taking Lagree classes together. It was supporting each other, trying to improve and being healthy. As much as we love food, we were also trying to take care of each other.

/ESCAPE: Your Biggest Compromise - is there anything you have given up for the relationship to work?

Mito: Yeah I mean just for me it was the liberty of instant gratification, when I was single, when I wanted to do something boom I could do it, if I wanted to have a trip, I would leave the next day. Whereas now, I don’t feel that she puts the pressure on me, but I just have the responsibility of including her in all of my plans and all of these things. For me the things that I gave up which I needed to was really just the selfishness that I had and the need to scratch the itch all the time.

Leila: For me it was like more of an emotional thing because being in a relationship is kind of forcing me to be vulnerable and naturally as a person I don’t like talking about my problems and how I’m feeling. Now he can tell if I’m lying about how I feel or if I’m upset about something. He won’t drop it. He makes me talk about it and in the end I’m glad because once I talk about it I feel better. That was something I had to embrace.

In terms of physical things, i’m a very family oriented person so prior to this relationship he kinda just fit into everything well so I didn’t really have to worry about much

/ESCAPE: What is something that you gained in the relationship?

Mito: A lot! I think the first thing that comes to my mind is love. I think that I was so closed off to being emotional and loving someone else because of my past and how I grew up. I was able to gain the best friend that you could confide in about everything. Before, when I saw my friends in a long-term relationship I used to not get it, after dating for 8 years or so how can you still be in love with someone but then with Leila, I finally got why.

Leila: Also a lot, it’s like, the stage of life when I met him was really just I was trying to figure out who I was but I didn’t have the confidence and inner strength to go out of my comfort zone. One thing he does is to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone in whatever area it is. He encouraged me to go back to school and even with my music. He knows how to make me see it from a different perspective and make me feel confident. Also, having that constant companion you never get sick of. I’m always excited to see him. I enjoy having person to talk to about the most mundane things or interesting things. Everything is memorable.

This is my first real love experience, I mean I have had boyfriends before but this is my first serious one. He does a lot for me. I’m really happy that this is the kind of love I’m experiencing. It’s a patient and forgiving kind of love. I’m so happy that he fits into my life so well and I’ve also gained new friends and family just by meeting the people close to him.

/ESCAPE: Where is your Valentine’s escape?

Mito: La Union! We are still thinking about it.

Leila: He has a restaurant there, Sabong Chicken.

/ESCAPE: If you end up staying here in Manila, come and have dinner at Yes Please! We’ll treat you to a romantic dinner.

Mito: Pwede!

About The Authors

Emilia Styles- Known for her excellent tailored style and exquisite taste in fashion, Emilia Styles is easily one of the coolest women on the internet and she’s always divulging her skincare and wellness secrets, making us return to her page time and time again. She writes about the season’s key trends, designers, and pieces across global editorials and homepages. Emilia has previously worked for Selfridges as a writer after graduating from Southampton Solent University with a degree in Fashion Journalism. As fearless with her words as she is with her fashion, Emilia Styles is known for her unapologetic frankness on paper and her staunchly individual personal style.