From discovering Tiësto through a mobile rhythm game to building one of Manila’s most inclusive DJ platforms, DJ Better Living’s journey is proof that inspiration can strike in the most unexpected places. Growing up on a steady diet of Lady Gaga, David Guetta and Calvin Harris, his love for Electronic music deepened through obsessive tracklist digging, local gigs and a growing curiosity for sounds beyond the commercial mainstream and closer to home in the Philippines.
That curiosity eventually led to him co-creating Let Them Cook (LTC), a community-driven event series that gives emerging DJs their first taste of the decks, encourages creative risk-taking, and proves that Manila’s underground scene is as vibrant as ever. Recordings from the events live on Manila Community Radio (MCR), a staple of the Filipino underground, giving the DJs of the future some welcome exposure.
We spoke to DJ Better Living about the concept of LTC, finding friends through DJing and the connecting power of radio.
Tell us about your journey with music.
DJ Better Living: My love for Electronic music started through Lady Gaga’s The Fame album. While that is a Pop record, it had Electronic elements that made me dance. I was already aware that Electronic music was a thing with producers like David Guetta and Calvin Harris. But it’s through a rhythm game called Tap Tap Revenge that made me even dig deeper into the genre. There, I discovered even more producers, most notably Tiësto.
Because of the game, I discovered his mixtape Club Life Volume Two: Miami. This is where the journey through the rabbit hole started. It made me discover how DJs release mixes every week through their own podcast or radio show. Mixes or mixtapes made me discover even more producers and DJs as I researched their tracklists.
I started going to local gigs, and then I discovered similarobjects (now known as obese.dogma777). Seeing him for the first time made me realize that there are Electronic music producers in the Philippines who make music that I don’t consider as ‘commercial.’ Something that I was looking for due to fatigue from all the Electronic music I’ve been consuming during these times. From there, I started digging a new rabbit hole, one that starts at home.
After the pandemic hit, live events slowly started coming back. That’s when I attended my first rave. obese.dogma777 is part of the lineup for Elephant, an LGBT+ rave and safe space by queer people, and so I attended. It made my brain just think, ‘Yeah, I’ll be attending more raves from now on.’
By 2023, Don’t Tell Nanay, another local indie event organizer, held a DJ workshop in collaboration with Manila Community Radio and I decided to join as it was a no-brainer at that point. I listen to Electronic music and mixes all the time, I might as well get my ass behind the decks. There, I made a few friends, one being Kyle (aka Kadiliman). A year later, Kyle and I announced Let Them Cook (LTC), an event series we cooked up where we let new DJs get their first gig, or experienced DJs experiment. We held our first event, Amuse-bouche, at the end of the month.
How did you come up with the idea of Let Them Cook?
Through the friends I’ve made through the workshop. I noticed that I’m not the only one from the workshop not getting booked for gigs. The idea of meeting up as friends to play was also hard because no one in my circle can offer their place just to even play and dance a little. We still needed a venue to do so. These two realizations made me think of doing LTC. It’s like hitting two birds in one stone! I get to hang out with friends (and make new ones), play music AND be able to give them the ability to say that they have a gig.
All these led to the name ‘Let Them Cook.’ The name encourages being open to anything, lessening the pressure of the usual gig. We took the line made popular in social media by heart. DJs are fine to make mistakes and encouraged to experiment by playing a different genre that they don’t usually play.
What are some of the guiding principles of the platform?
There is only one thing that we can’t stress enough. Play what you want to play. I personally don’t want any of our DJs adjusting the type of music they want to play to any external factor just to get a gig or to fit a vibe. I want their purest self to be what I hear once they’re on the decks. For independently-organized events, you’ll see a diversity of sounds throughout the whole event. Each event is unique, to the point that each hour also is.
You broadcast the mixes from Let Them Cook on Manila Community Radio. How did that relationship come about and why was radio the avenue for it?
I was commissioned by MCR to do a Jamie xx tribute mix to promote his show here. That was my first broadcast on the platform, then I leveraged that relationship to bring in LTC. Personally, I think there’s a communal aspect to radio that’s the same with various forms of media. I think it’s beautiful being aware that you’re not alone in experiencing something great in that exact same moment with a lot of people. Radio may seem like a solitary experience too. But that’s pretty much up to the audience if they want it to be (and it’s more than okay). You have radio shows inviting people to join the conversation by calling in or posting with a certain hashtag. If they have a live stream, you can also join the chat there.
As a leader of this growing group of DJs, I think it’s also my responsibility to put these new DJs’ names out there. But also, I look up to the people who run MCR and a lot of the people they’ve featured through the years, so I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I help these DJs be kind of considered as ‘one of them’?’ If I were one of the DJs, I’d be so stoked about it.
What would you say was the one turning point for you in your DJ journey?
Definitely starting LTC. It takes a lot of guts to decide to become an organizer in the nightlife scene. That was just a year after I learned how to DJ, so immediately playing another role in the scene is amazing. I don’t see a lot of new DJs immediately think, ‘Yeah, I’m going to make my own event series.’ To be fair, I’ve had experience in making small events, but this one’s on another level.
What is one show from the Let Them Cook archive that really stands out to you?
I think my co-head chef Kyle’s mix for one of our first events stands out to me for various reasons. One, the journey is fun. It starts with House then it gets to the point that Budots is being played. I think that it gives a good glimpse of what one can expect from a LTC event. Two, we were just four months in with LTC and it was my first time seeing a crowd give their full attention to the DJ.
People were dancing and cheering throughout the set. The funny thing is we were a part of a flea market. To be kind of fair, this was the last hour of the flea market. But it’s funny how there is a 99% chance that not one sale for any merchant was made because the merchants were busy dancing too! With what I was witnessing, I just can’t help but think that things are just going to get madder for LTC from here. I think it’s safe to assume that my assumption was right.
What are some of your proudest moments so far?
For LTC, I’m very proud of everything that we’ve made in our first 12 months! We got over 130 DJs signing up to be a part of our talent pool. We’ve booked almost 30 of them for our events. Put on 14 events, some with the help of other event organizers. We’ve also partnered with Young, a British independent record label, for one of our events! Before we announced LTC back in 2024, Kyle and I were assuming that we’d hit less than 20 sign-ups in a span of months and that the lineups for our events will just be a rotating mix of those sign-ups. We also thought that we’d only do an event every other month, but here we are! I’ll also add having the mixes from our events be broadcasted on MCR! I’d like to assume that I fulfilled my dream of being a radio show producer!
As DJ Better Living, I think doing the Jamie xx tribute mix I mentioned earlier is one of them. I just love his work and it’s a huge honor to play even just a small role in the Manila stop of his tour. It’s really cool to say that from being just an attendee of his show, I organized an event for him (even if he wasn’t there!) and I also played for said event.
Another proud moment for me is that I already got to play at my dream venue, Apotheka. The event was a fundraiser for DJ Love (pioneer of the Budots genre) and the lineup was filled with DJs I’ve seen play. I was booked by obese.dogma777! I will be honest, it didn’t feel like an ‘I made it,’ but more of a ‘things can get more legit from here’ kind of feeling. I’m excited to see where the future will take me.
What has excited you most about building the LTC community?
Some of the DJs we’ve booked had their first gig through us, therefore fulfilling the mission of LTC. It’s satisfying that we’re following the mission and we’re able to give that to other people. We also get feedback that the DJs get to know themselves even more through their sets at our events. I don’t know who started it, but I also heard, ‘the rumors are true, a LTC gig IS healing!’ from another DJ. It’s funny to hear, but I don’t doubt the chance of it being a real thing for DJs to feel during our events.
What are some of your golden tips for presenting and putting together a radio show?
Have an objective, mission, or goal. This will pretty much guide you as to how and why you’re going to produce your show. I have an idea for a show that I want to do wherein the goal is to really just push me to crate dig and develop my taste in music. Have some structure and set some boundaries as well. For the idea that I have, my plan is to make it into an event where I play all night long, recording each episode live in front of a crowd. I just think that doing all or a number of episodes in one go is less stressful than having to mix on a regular schedule.
Don’t waste so much of your time perfecting your mix. DJs at events or on the radio are mixing live, bound to make mistakes for people to notice. They don’t have a choice but to shrug it off and learn from their mistakes. I’d rather practice and record once than record multiple times and beat myself up in the process.
Do a few episodes of your concept first before pitching it to a platform. This makes you realize if your concept is really sustainable. If you’re doing a podcast or interview-type of show, are you actually sociable enough to have a conversation with another person? Do you actually have chemistry with the person you’re talking to? If you’re doing a mix series, what sets you apart from another series? From a production standpoint, it also lets you know if how you run your show internally works too.
“I want DJs’ purest selves to be what I hear once they’re on the decks.”
What do you think you’ve learned about yourself through Let Them Cook?
I always say to new friends that I hate people and my resting bitch face can be proof of that. But it’s so ironic that I’m working on a platform to highlight other people. I could’ve just focused on my own DJ journey especially when I still consider myself a new DJ. But that’s not the case!
It’s funny to reflect and see that I do care for people I have yet to meet. I want to know what these DJs’ dreams are, where they want to play. Why they became a DJ or who the people are that they look up to in the scene (whether local or international). I hope that I can help them in making their dreams come true. My journey as a DJ has been great even if I rarely get booked. I already got to play at my dream venue, or for an event that commemorates the producer/DJ I adore, and I hope I can let these DJs experience the same great feeling. So yeah, maybe I don’t hate people after all!
Follow DJ Better Living and Let Them Cook on Mixcloud.