FILIPINOS’ love for music has always been there, no matter the choice of music genre. It has been apparent and has been passed on from generation to generation. It’s something most Filipinos share.
But to Jeefu Valdez, a budding DJ in Davao City, his love for music started to thrive when he was in high school as a bass guitarist. Their high school band then used to play alternative music mostly OPM originally by Bamboo and Rivermaya.
It was in 2012 when he was first exposed to Electronic Dance Music (EDM) having had listened to and watched videos of artists performing EDM. It was right then that Valdez had fallen in love with the genre and decided to further educate himself about it.
From there, he continued watching YouTube videos about EDM and downloaded mixed tapes of famous DJs which he listened to again and again.
These, among many others, contributed to his interest to EDM Music. Wanting so much to penetrate and be learnt of this genre, he then downloaded the Virtual DJ software where he started practicing on.
In 2015, he was able to get himself a controller which pretty much made his practicing even more accurate. He was able to perform in a school event followed by an invite performance during a fundraising event of another university in Davao City.
However, it was the year following that that his DJ performance came to a low light. There were lesser opportunities for him to perform and to further practice. He was discouraged and for a while paused although his love for EDM and for music in general remains.
With Manic Nightnings Production announcing a competition for DJs in Davao City early this year, Valdez was encouraged by friends to try and compete. The competition, tagged as Arcadia DJ Battle 2018, was organized in four different legs. He competed last February 10 for the first leg of the competition and was very excited when he was declared the winner together with another DJ. A month after, he was already preparing for the finals battle, where he was to compete with the winners of the last three legs.
“I was tasked to perform the Trap music style during the finals. At first I was really nervous. But I later realized that when people see that you are enjoying while performing, they will enjoy with you as well,” he said.
Valdez said he doesn’t believe that EDM is an exclusive or an elitist genre. It is all the more very accessible to a lot of people and appeals to a younger crowd but very much available in different music sources and medium. After winning the competition, he has since performed in Beeraucracy in Obrero, Davao City. He has also been performing in events co-organized by Kat Dalisay, founder of Manic Nightnings Production.
Winning in the competition has been pivotal for Valdez. For him, it is a fulfilling part of his life because performing music is one of the things he genuinely loves to do.
“As long as I can share my music and express myself through music, I am okay. Music is a very universal language. You can understand a person through music. There is unity in music,” said Valdez.
This summer, Manic Nightnings Production will be organizing a Manic Summer DJ workshop where the participants will be taught by the best DJs in Davao City. For more details, those who are interested can message Manic Nightnings Production page.