by m.

Art & Illustration by: Ella Girl

I’m a firm believer that songs have certain experiences. People that write, produce, and perform a song have a certain experience and encounter in mind that they want to portray. In some instances, people don’t get it. When they do, they appreciate the song more and might even play it again and dive into it.

But for a person to get a couple of songs, put it in a playlist, play it live and jam out with the different intricacies of a lot of things in mind, all the while making a new experience out of the songs altogether, it’s something I would like to call insanely special.

These insanely special people are what we call Disc Jockeys (DJs), and their kind have made sure that the people lurking in bars and clubs in the late, late night would have a good, good time.

In this volume of Manila Vibe, we’re featuring three DJs that I think would make your night better.

NOTE: We’ll be featuring mixes and the tracks they’ve produced. If you want to see their mettle mesh during their sets, though, we’ll be leaving social media accounts for you to be updated in their next sets.

Maxiimo

He may be a newcomer, but don’t let the lack of limelight fool you. He’s one of the few people that I acknowledge just because he knows how to set, control, and maximize the mood his records make. Also known as Kit Viola, Maxiimo is an “average” college student with a more-than-average kind of dream. He pays attention to detail, has a huge library of listening material, and always hungry to learn. Needless to say, he’s finesse incarnate when it comes to cutting his mixes close live.

Fortunately, I was able to talk to him and ask him a few questions about him, his music, and where he wants to go. “I started out as a fan of rave music,” he recounts. “My prime influences were Daft Punk & Tiesto, then I eventually got to the big labels then, like Spinnin’ Records and Monstercat.

“Fast forward to my high school years, my friends and I had a school event. One of my upperclassmen, DJ Trick, was on the same event my friends and I were handling. I remember telling myself that ‘if he could do it, I could do it, too.’” This was when he was a third year student in high school. Later on his sophomore college years, he got into music production.

When I asked about where his music wants to go, he replied: “Well, I don’t know yet.” He laughs. “I really think that tastes develop as time goes on. So I can’t really say where my music would go from chillpop.”

He often guests at DBTK events, so drop by if you want to hear him live! Meanwhile, here are tracks you gotta listen to that are up on Soundcloud.

The Setlist:

1. One of his most recent release is titled ‘Throttle’, if you want to gauge his growth as a producer: (https://soundcloud.com/mxiimo/throttle)

2. He actually collaborated with some of our interns on a project related to DBTKJPN Vol. 2’s release. It’s called ‘Wilderness’: (https://soundcloud.com/mxiimo/wilderness-dbtk)

3. One of the tracks I personally like is called ‘Forecast’ just because I appreciate its production value: (https://soundcloud.com/mxiimo/forecast)

Kidthrones

Oh, man. This is a personal favorite of mine. I’ve seen him once on a magazine, and have gotten to know him since Curtismith’s ‘Snow Obsidian’ (He produced the track.) You might have heard of Kidthrones at music circles. Eric Trono is a man with conviction to be after “his own sound.” A member of the famed Logiclub (which holds artists with the likes of CRWN, Jess Connelly, and more), he has been developing the sound he once had since his first exposure with DPC, a trio formed of Eric, Brian Moya, and Matthew Azada.

Shortly after they split, he’s joined Logiclub. Shortly after that, he’s released an EP called “Moods.” Here, we hear how Kidthrones matured as a producer. The rest, as they say, is history.

I can’t say much, except that he has progressed so much ever since. Keeping the sophisticated, cool personality that he has as a person, I believe he’s carried it over to his sound. Has he found the sound that would represent him forever? I can’t say. But what I can share with you is that he’s just getting started.

Here’s some bops that I think would get you through the week.

The Setlist:

1. You’ve heard of ‘Snow Obsidian’ from Curtismith’s ‘Soully Yours.’ What other people don’t know is that Kidthrones produced a second track under the same EP; named ‘Free My Mind’: (https://soundcloud.com/curtismith/soully-yours)

2. He has two EPs. Namely, ‘moods ep.’ and a recent release of ‘NO.GOOD.REASON.’: https://soundcloud.com/thrones_music/sets/moods-ep + https://soundcloud.com/thrones_music/sets/nogoodreason_ep

3. He’s still a DJ, after all. Ergo, he has live sets! And with live sets, come recorded mixes. Here’s one that he released in BASTARD MIXTAPES: (https://soundcloud.com/basedbastard/bastard-mixtape-vol-34-thrones)

Cyro

Remember that little visit from the Fil-Canadian duo, Manila Grey? Well, DBTK and the interns present at the time have caught a glimpse of their live performance at the one and only Black Market on their self-titled show. But Neeko and Soliven weren’t the only ones to visit the Philippines, save azel north.

Enter Cyro, a DJ belonging to the 1z Collective. I’m guessing he’s the in-house DJ whenever MG would go out and play. I’ve no way of telling what he’s like, given the fact that I didn’t see him in person. (Remember the ‘interns present’ part? Sadly, I was not part of that.) However, I’ve been watching out whenever he’s releasing his mixes out here in the internet.

I gotta say, he’s got finesse. I’m getting goosebumps imagining how his sets play out live.

If you’re from Canada, turn up! They’re most likely to have shows over there, and he’s more than likely to tag along. If you’re into the mixes, though, I’ll leave two links down below and let you rate his finesse yourselves.

The Setlist:

CRESCENDO1 GUEST MIX: https://soundcloud.com/crescendo_one/c1-mix-dj-cyro-manila-grey

BARKADA MIX: https://soundcloud.com/djcyro/barkada-mix

And I would like to include a recent favorite of mine. Maybe we’ll call it an ‘Honorable Mention’:

BEDSPACER

– A brainchild of Mich Cervantes, BEDSPACER is an alien from outer space that happens to translate its thoughts into cute, intellectual bops. When I first encountered this artist, I couldn’t help myself but skim through its tracks. Two things: one, from top to the most bottom one; and two, it’s that good.

Go give BEDSPACER a listen: https://soundcloud.com/bed-spacer

And that’s it from me. I hope you enjoyed this article, and I expect you to bob your heads in sync with one of these artists. I can vouch that it’s good. Maybe share an artist or two with your friends. Share this. Comment on this! Did we miss an artist that you expected to be featured? Tag them!

And as always, we’ll see you in the next volume.