In a seascape of musicians and artists, we rarely see the spotlight on DJs and DJ enthusiasts—the ones who deliver electronic beats weaved together into nostalgic, pop, or alternative songs to the ones on the dance floor, where the spotlight usually is.
The Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! Event by Don’t Tell Nanay! at Anima Art Space shatters stigma, misconceptions, and barriers between this side of the audio platform and its audience. By organizing a workshop for beginners with absolutely zero knowledge and background of how to DJ to audiophiles who want to delve deeper into the scene, Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako!
To further immerse these newbies into the DJ experience, the Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! organizers arranged a mini DJ Party as a recital—playing side by side with established DJs in the scene like dot.jaime, FIERCEANGEL, TEYALOGOS, A.Priva_A, and chain messages.
Behind the Disc Jockey Scenes
For those who are not familiar with the term Disc Jockey, you might have guessed that it’s what DJ stands for. As a newbie myself, I was quite amazed with this new information, too. And as a music enthusiast myself, I wanted to learn more about the technicals behind music. I thought, what better way can I start than to join the Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! Workshop?
From my perspective (plus the other participants and DJs), we shared this common experience that as first-timers, fiddling with the colorful buttons, black & white levers, and the two discs on the mixer is a bit overwhelming. But eventually you get the hang of it if you practice and play around with it multiple times.
Definitely, I learned a lot from our instructors DJ dot.jaime and DJ FIERCEANGEL: beatmatching, cueing, equalizing, transitioning, putting into effects, and even exporting tracks. Their dynamics as instructors also mix and balance out well—one that focuses on the technical production side; one that shares the spontaneity and playfulness of DJing.
A Mash-up of Mixed Genres & Tastes
Here’s one thing I noticed as a participant of the workshop and as part of the audience at the party—what you DJ most of the time is an extension of your personality, your taste, your individuality. What you DJ is an extension of yourself.
FIERCEANGEL and dot.jaime told us that a good way to start DJing is simply crafting your own playlists. Soon enough, you’ll be able to turn those playlists into DJ sets by mixing or “equalizing” them how you want to. Kung paano mo sila titimplahin—so to speak.
The line-up of playlists from different participants at the DJ Party undoubtedly made the whole party a multicolored rollercoaster of genres.
As a listener, you would really admire how distinct the sounds of each beginner who DJed at the event: from feminine pop, Filipino hits/karaoke-core, to electropop, and metal rock. Truly a delightful palette for everyone at Anima Art Space.
A Community and Safe Space for DJs
The Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! Event at Anima Art Space was a great way to jumpstart and create an instant subcommunity of DJ wannabees/music enthusiasts that connects with the ones in the DJ scene already.
It’s absolutely wonderful to see a community of beginners and music lovers interacting as genuine friends who just met on the day itself. Those who share commonalities with each other, whether it’s the adoration for music, cultural backgrounds, or even the feeling of being immersed into a workshop like Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! at Anima Art Space.
One audience member even mentioned “Hindi nga alam ng Nanay ko na nandito ako,” which adds humor to the whole saturnalia, but also sprinkles a little bit of truth to the misconceptions of DJing everywhere.
The art of DJing is truly a melodious and zany experience—it’s not just dancing behind the Disc Jockey (although this is also part of the fun); it’s a harmonious blend of music genres, individualities, and a bit of DJ history in the making.
Wanna visit the space that made Don’t Tell Nanay, DJ Ako! possible? Check out Anima Art Space on Facebook and Instagram—follow them to stay updated to art and music events in Quezon City.
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