Japan Invades Manila for the Tokyo EDM Invasion: Plus an Exclusive Interview with DJ Dantz!
The party was unstoppable during the visit of Japan’s most wanted DJs here in the Philippines for the Tokyo EDM Invasion! Fans of Electronic Dance Music swarmed the SMX Convention Center to dance from dusk til dawn. The upbeat and loud music kept everyone on their toes as the spinners played the sets that they prepared especially for the wild crowd.
The night was filled with so much swaying and jumping and wiggling with spins from our very own DJs Curse + Bless, Deuce Manila and Ace Ramos, and, of course, from Japanese DJs Daijiro, Ayumi with Tsubee and DJ Dantz.
Curse + Bless
Deuce Manila
Ace Ramos
Daijiro
Ayumi back to back with Tsubee
Dantz
I was lucky enough to interview the king of the night, DJ Dantz! Though there was the obvious language barrier (we had a translator), we had a fun talk about the DJ himself, his views on the party music scene and a few other things you may be surprised to know about.
During our interview
Going back to his roots…
Starting out as a club-goer, he continued on his music venture as a spinner to his most frequented clubs. He was instantly drawn to this kind of music because he loves to play the saxophone (no wonder his mixes are kind of sexy).
His signature style…
For that night, he prepared originals and mash-ups that all sound manly and aggressive – something he is known for. He also shares that his spins kind of tell a story because Japanese people are naturally inclined to tell a story in everything that they do.
His musical inspirations…
He may be on top of his game, but he still looks up to other DJs like Alesso and the Swedish House Mafia. He admits that these music heroes greatly contributed to his style. His originality still stood out during his set, though.
A first for him…
It is the first time to collaborate in a Filipino-Japanese DJ concert, and he willingly took it as a challenge to show off what he’s got and as an opportunity to showcase their different styles. But this humble man highly regards the Filipino DJs, saying that we have really good ones that cannot only make the crowd dance, but can also liven up the whole venue.
His secret dream…
Surprisingly, this DJ Dantz never really planned to make spinning his actual profession. He wants to be.. Can you guess? A patisserie! He loves to bake pastries and even promised me that when he gets a license in Japan, he will make a cake for the Philippines (Awwww! How sweet!). What made him more awesome, I think, is his goal to be a good role model to the younger set of spinners. Instead of a long-term stay in this industry, what he wants to achieve the most is to influence those who are just starting out and leave a mark of his own that way.
With DJ Dantz after our chat
