Interview: DJ Jenil (Philippines)

Published on 8/17/2012

DJ Jenil (Manila, Philippines) is one of the youngest fastest growing superstars in the game today. With only a year in delivering a consistent flow of outstanding re-mixes, mash-ups and edits, and being a top artist on some of the biggest international remix sites and mp3 pools such as Crack4DJs, Club Killers, Remix Deck, Extreme Remixes, Club Edits, The Remix Club, The BeatFreakz and AV8 Records has gained him worldwide notoriety.

He’s been known as Philippine’s OPM Remix Artist with remixes like “Laklak Shots”, “Sumayaw Sumunod September”, “Salamat Reborn” and his new banger track “Next Inuman Episode” that makes him solely one of the most sought-after Club DJ in the nation.

Jenil is also the owner of the popular remix site, RemixDeck.com, a remixing service site designed for use mainly by performance DJs.

In the clubs, Jenil delivers a steady pace of high energy floor shaking music that keeps his audiences begging for more. Highly recognized as a fantastic performer with an energetic stage presence, Jenil will take any party and make it an event.

How did you get into DJing and producing?
Well, I could say I’m a bit of a party animal back then and loved the whole night life scene so I decided to learn dj-ing by myself thru youtube tutorials and just checkin’ what the dj does til the party ends. I used to be in a rock band in my early days and I play 4 instruments, so learning how to match songs and beatmatching is not that quite hard for me in the process.

How would you define your style?
I would say my style is a bit of rock, hip-hop and house. I love putting surprise breaks on my work, and matching old school with the new ones for added flavor.

Who are some of your influences?
Ace Ramos would be my major influence, the time I heard him play in the club, was the time I decided to really pursue DJing. He also helped my get gigs when I stepped up in the clubbing scene. For edits & bootlegs, it would be Anthem Kingz from the Crooklyn Clan. For EDM producing, Laidback Luke and Chuckie are my influences.

Living in the Philippines, what is the music and nightlife scene there?
Kinda hard for DJs here because most of the people here don’t dig EDM, unless you spin in an EDM club that only major cities have. If you wanna travel around the country, you gotta do an open-format set. That would mean a mixture of hip-hop, R&B, house, dance, pop, rock but definitely not dubstep.

What is your current favorite track to play in the club?
“Its My Life by Bon Jovi, every time I drop that track everyone sing their hearts out.

What are some of your favorite TV shows?
Gotta be “How I Met Your Mother”, “Big Bang Theory”, “Sherlock”, “Prison Break” and also Japanese anime stuff like Naruto Shippuuden. I really love to watch and laugh after a wild and tiring night of DJing.

What is your favorite song of all-time?
It would be “Drive” by Incubus, that will definitely make me feel relaxed before a gig.

What is in your DJ bag?
Macbook, Serato, and Headphones. That’s it. I pack light.

What do you like to do when your not DJing or producing?
Just doin’ card flourishes everywhere. I love to eat pizza or chicken wings while watching movies, tv series and news at home. I live a simple life.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Having crazy parties together with the best EDM International DJs out there, in all the major cities around the globe, but still goin’ home to my family and sleeping in my bed here in the Philippines.

Follow DJ Jenil
Website: jenilaspiras.com
Facebook: facebook.com/djjenil
Twitter: @jenilaspiras
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/jenilaspiras
Remix Deck: remixdeck.com