DJ Katsy Lee Exclusive Interview for EDMDroid Asia

1. Please tell us and our readers more about the nightlife in the Philippines right now and most specifically in your hometown in times of Covid

Hello, EDMDROID, and thank you for having me in your feature!:3 In the Philippines, (I’m from Manila), nightlife as we know it hasn’t returned but it’s being kept alive by a passionate community. Certain establishments have opened to serve food and some drinks all under strict precautions, artists have friendly and willing virtual platforms on which to perform thanks to supportive netizens. The events industry has been wonderful at making the most of the situation — you see everything from Facebook music festivals to Zoom private parties and weddings. I believe in some parts of the country physical events involving small crowds and strict protocol are allowed. I wouldn’t be surprised if things carried on in a healthy new mélange of our past and present realities, after this pandemic. However, everyone is missing the physical aspect of it all — the thrill of a crowd and the adventures of the night. Financially also, we hope the industry can weather this through.

---

2. How long have you been DJing/Producing and what can we expect next from DJ Katsy?

My first gig was ten years ago (while in school!:o) and I’ve been working on music production for about eight years now. Right now, I’m working on learning to integrate more hardware into DJ sets, and making music and hopefully releasing more music that expresses who I am...and a coherent vision that I pray I could share one day.

---

3. What has been your best and your worst gig experience so far. Be honest please.

Every gig is a blessing, but the best I can think of right now is a pretty recent one — just this past New Year’s Eve at Sailing Club, in Nha Trang, Vietnam. It was a whole melting pot of cultures, the crowd then, and it was the most beautiful feeling to get to play songs from some other cities I’d just played at prior to the gig, and to watch little groups of that gorgeous crowd light up whenever they heard a song from their home country. These were songs I’d either researched before those mini-tours, or were shared with me by kind DJ friends from different parts of the world while I was in their city, so it was a humbling and amazing reminder of how unitedly moved we truly are by music. I get goosebumps and happy tears thinking about it. And of course, the people there were hugely kind. Thank you so much to Team Sailing Club and to Cable and Lawrence!:3

The worst was because of my performance — in my earlier days of DJing, laptop software conked out in the middle of a big festival and I was onstage playing on backup USBs while stubbornly trying to get the software back on, while fighting off tears and wanting to sink into the ground. Haha. :(

4. If you had to choose, which profession would you be going with? DJ or something else?

I’m really happy and thankful to be in music now, as I always dreamed of learning to make songs and score films. Playing music is the wild cherry on top, like that was beyond my childhood dreams. If I weren’t a DJ I would most definitely want to be a journalist, which I was (a news writer) before going full-time into music.