Rooted in underground scenes, Xi shares how instinct, energy, and experience guide every set she plays.

PHOTOGRAPHY Rojan Maguyon
STYLING Paolo Chua

How did you first get into DJing, and what made you stay?
I&rsquo;ve been involved in the NYC nightlife before I was even legal. So many of my close friends in NYC were DJs and promoters, and underground music had always been a big part of my life. I would be requested to play a lot of my own personal playlists at house parties and, at one point, I realized that maybe, I did have a knack for selection. After moving to the Philippines, nightlife legends Anna and Eric Ong gave me the privilege to mess around with equipment at Black Market before the club hours opened to learn the technicals. It was all a natural progression from there.
How would you describe your sound to someone who&rsquo;s never heard you play?
It&rsquo;s funny because a few of my DJ friends and I literally asked ourselves this question and tried to describe one another&rsquo;s sound within two adjectives. Ultimately, mine came to primal and sultry.

Do you remember your first set that actually felt right &mdash; when you knew this was it?
That&rsquo;s a tricky question because every time I&rsquo;m playing feels natural and fun and right, but it might have been when I played at Savage in Hanoi which just happens to be one of my favorite clubs on the planet and one of my first international gigs. It meant a lot, and the music and artists I&rsquo;ve heard there have really influenced me, so it felt really special to play there and have the crowd be receptive to my true sound.
How has your personal style evolved alongside your sound?
Like anyone, not just in music, my taste and palette have changed over time. It&rsquo;s a natural process for any culture or path of personal growth or discovery. I&rsquo;ve come from underground NYC warehouse parties and the hard electro scene of venues like Webster Hall, three EDCs in Vegas and three Burning Mans. Now, my preference has shifted and evolved toward more boutique clubs and experiences and festivals like Rainbow Disco Club, Wonderfruit or homegrown underground parties like UNKNWN. But music is absolutely subjective. I still learn to love and appreciate it all, and consider my style pretty eclectic.

&ldquo;My hope is that people feel the energy and enjoyment I do from the music I enjoy playing.&rdquo;

What kind of energy do you want your audience to feel when you&rsquo;re behind the decks?
It will always depend on the party or environment, but ultimately, I still always play for me, and songs I would want to hear in whatever said situation. My hope is that people feel the energy and enjoyment I do from the music I enjoy playing.
Outside of DJing, you do so many things. How do you keep it all in balance?
I actually ask myself the same thing, and honestly, it&rsquo;s difficult to keep the balance. I do sometimes burn out which is why I always try to allow myself time in between to reset, whether at the beach or slow self-care days, as simple as ordering pizza in bed. But I do still try my best and I absolutely love what I do. I always remain so grateful. One of my mottos in life is &lsquo;Work hard, play harder&rsquo;, and I wouldn&rsquo;t trade what I have or what I do for anything.

How has the Manila scene shaped you &mdash; not just musically, but creatively?
I wouldn&rsquo;t have decided to completely shift my life from NYC to Manila if I didn&rsquo;t feel absolutely inspired once settling into the city and noticed there was something very special and exciting progressing in Manila&rsquo;s creative scene, from music to gastronomy and fashion. It felt like everyone had a little fire under their bellies to collectively put Manila on the map. I&rsquo;ve had the pretty amazing privilege to be surrounded by and befriend some of the most talented creatives I know, and I&rsquo;ve always been so proud of what&rsquo;s coming out of the Philippines and wanting to share it with the world. I feel the world has yet to see the full scope of what we have to offer. There are a lot of eyes on Asia at the moment, so it&rsquo;s a really exciting time for us.
When people look back on this era of nightlife and sound, what do you hope your name stands for?
I honestly don&rsquo;t know how to answer this question. I think with any scene, it&rsquo;s not about any individual, but it&rsquo;s more about the whole community and collective coming together to continue the momentum and share inspiration together. To stay supportive and keep pushing things forward and evolving, and to keep the feeling alive&hellip; of why we all love this in the first place: music, dancing, freedom, community, connection and the special innate feeling that comes with it.

FASHION ASSOCIATE Frances Laman
MAKEUP Luis Bu&ntilde;ag
HAIR&nbsp;Patty Cristobal
PHOTOGRAPHER&rsquo;S ASSISTANT Lou Fajardo
SHOT ON LOCATION No Entry Cocktail Club
SPECIAL THANKS TO Marco Baluyut

Stylish Beats: Xi

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