DJ Carlo Atendido, the first Filipino and the only Asian representative at this year’s Red Bull Thre3style World DJ Championships, placed third after battling it out with five other finalists in Baku, Azerbaijan last Sept. 6. Completing the top three were DJ Eskei83 of Germany, who emerged as this year’s World Champion, and Irishman DJ Flip.
An Ateneo de Manila University Management graduate, DJ Carlo Atendido scratched and juggled his way to third place with his 15-minute Championship set which he opened with spliced audio from a sneakily recorded judges’ panel in an earlier round and a smooth “Next Episode” body juggle at the Baku Crystal Hall Press Centre.
“I would practice that [‘Next Episode’ body juggle] routine 100 times a day. I actually had to see a doctor because I practiced [it] too much,” he shared.
A self-described “open-format” DJ, one who prefers to give crowds musical and stylistic variety, DJ Carlo Atendido’s historic Thre3style run kicked off as early as June 2014 when he won the Philippine qualifiers against 12 of the best up-and-comers in the local DJ scene. Then he bested other national champions from Chile, Canada, and Norway on the first battles night with his “animated and crowd friendly” performance that highlighted technical scratching, body skills, call and response to secure a place at the Final.
Impressively, DJ Carlo Atendido learned the tricks of the turntable trade – mainly scratching and juggling – online. It was not until he won a scholarship for advanced mixing with DJ Mark Nicosia a mentor at the Looper Beat Academy that he got professional training.
Prior to his Thre3style third-place finish, the young DJ has been a finalist in various DJ-ing competitions and this year’s appearance is sure to be only the first of many.
For DJ Carlo Atendido’s winning Championship mix, visit http://www.mixcloud.com/RedBullThre3style/carlo-atendido-philippines-world-finals-championship-final.
For other performances from Red Bull Thre3style, visit http://www.mixcloud.com/RedBullThre3style.
