H3Rizon Are Taking Australian Pop To The American Masses: ‘There’s No Girl Group Doing It Like These Girls’

It’s a surefire thing that undeniable talent and relentless hard work should one day be recognised. Of course, behind that hard work and talent is an equally hardworking and talented team, as is the case of pop group H3Rizon. Today, the Filipino-Australian outfit, who hail from Sydney’s western suburbs, announced their signing to Epic Records and RZ3. It’s an almost unheard of move in the industry, not only because the group’s staggering popularity thus far has been fuelled by social media, but the partnership pull H3Rizon onto a global platform while reshaping how Australian music is seen on that front.

H3Rizon –made up of Tiara, Gabby, and Bernie – have enjoyed rapid success following the release of such singles as Coordinate, F Your Flowers, and latest release You Don’t Know Nothin’. They are the first-ever Australian girl group to sign to the monolithic American label, an achievement that is a connection of cultural diversity and meets the vision by their manager, Philippe-Marc Anqueti, of greater globalisation and globalised opportunities for Australian acts. “A record label in Australia can give the funds but isn’t enough to support the kind of group I’m managing,” he says. “When we were independent, we used our social media numbers to get brand sponsorships to make our videos. You use what you’ve got, your assets, to work the things that are important for [H3Rizon] as artists in the global look.”

First and foremost, Phil notes, H3Rizon are about their “huge” vocals and harmonies, something Epic Records spearhead Sylvia Rhone noted when she brought her incredible experience with R&B girl groups to the table. “They bring the experience, the know-how, and a huge thing, the American market.”

Removing the business framework from H3Rizon, there is of course an underlying and great talent to the trio, one Phil certainly finds enchanting, and one that he feels signing to Epic Records will draw out in such a way that listeners will also recognise H3Rizon’s unique charisma and specialness and love. As a singer-songwriter and producer himself, Phil recognised the group’s vocal ability – he knows vocals. “When I brought [H3Rizon] to the States, I knew they had to be the best in order to make a mark over there. Everything they did had to be vocally driven.

“Having that development, when they were in their first US session with Tricky Stewart, the guy freaked out – ‘There’s no girl group in America that are doing it like you girls.’ Being amazing vocally and amazing at arrangements, that made them the ideal candidate for an amazing producer [Tricky] to come in and say, ‘I don’t have to do much work’; this is the key and was the key when I met them.”

H3Rizon’s time in the US saw them become more creative with their harmonies, and Epic in particular, with a tight connection to Tricky Stewart and his family company, “freaked out” about H3Rizon and their capabilities. “Epic were the perfect people to go to,” Phil notes, adding that other labels, Warner Music and Def Jam, were also interested in signing the girls. But it was because of Sylvia Rhone, who wanted to put her stamp on something new, Epic were the perfect machine. “It has such good history,” Phil enthuses, highlighting big names inside and outside of H3Rizon’s genre; Black Eyed Peas, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson and more.

When you combine the superstar power of being signed to Epic Records with being managed by someone with the accolades that Phil possesses, plus the very raw and very real talent of H3Rizon themselves, the greatest challenge then becomes how to package all of that and present it in an authentic way to an audience, without them assuming it’s another cookie cutter girl group. “That was the hardest bit,” Phil stresses. “Not only do people just assume that – because girl groups haven’t been around for ages, it has phases – people aren’t into it at the moment. I had to make sure that the something they had was extraordinary.

“Management cap on, development cap on; every artist has to have something extraordinary! I’m talking something that is totally unlike anyone else. Then you’ve got to work with that to make people see that. [H3Rizon’s] extraordinary is their ability to harmonise together, which hasn’t been around for a long, long time. The fact is, people, like all their fans, have been gagging for it! For two years [due to COVID-19], they were honing their art, which is just extraordinary!”

H3Rizon’s adeptness at harmony certainly gives their music textural interest, nuances people are certainly picking up on these days after becoming stale with the same old themes and structures. Not only did H3Rizon have two years to hone their craft, but that time allowed everybody behind the scenes – a team effort made up of not only Phil but his management partner Kelvin Avon, his sister and the group’s social media wizard Corinne, as well as a plethora of teams in photography, videography, hair and make-up – work on the marketing and execution of boom! H3Rizon. “Social media is a funny beast; it’s part luck, execution, and consistency,” says Phil.

As their success grows, so does their social circle, H3Rizon often rubbing shoulders Questlove (who Phil says adores the girls), Chrissy Teagan and BabyFace. Some of the things happening to H3Rizon now have the girls pinching themselves. “They’re homegirls, they don’t go out all the time,” Phil admits. “I’ve been working with them since Gabby was 17 [years old] – she’s 22 now!” Phil certainly feels a sense of pride, not just as an industry figure and mentor, but as a big brother. “A three-part girl group has a place in history – TLC, Destiny’s Child, Mystique,” says Phil. “I wanted to go global and have an effect on everyone. This was my passion project.”

Under Phil’s expert tutelage and the contributions and support of their wider team, H3Rizon have plenty on the cards in future, and Phil has certain things he hopes for them. “What I saw for H3Rizon at the very beginning is still what I see now,” he begins. “I see them doing the stadium shows. You can’t say that with every act, every act isn’t a stadium show but H3Rizon are, because they have the triple threat; they can dance, they can sing, they can act. I knew that from the moment I met them.

“I do want each of the girls to have their own careers also – I do want them to be the group and to have that space for them to carve out a modern but hat-tipping girl group. I don’t want them to be completely separate from [traditional] girl groups, we want that history in them, but we also want them to be saying, ‘What’s next?’”