Getting the Juice with Orange Juice Asia
In the world of open formats and the rise of Boiler Room-style collective parties everywhere, it’s easy to get lost in the music and the crowd with the diverse genres and styles on rotation. The guys at Orange Juice Asia are definitely no strangers to this, building bridges from Manila to the world with every event they mount, and in every city they play at.
As one of the rising Filipino music collectives in Asia’s electronic music scene, Orange Juice Asia, consisting of close friends and founders: Marco Pedro, Shingen, and Ryle (ManilaJunkie), remain consistent in what they want to achieve in the scene. Whether on SoundCloud or on the stage, their love for collaboration and experimenting with different sub-genres and sounds are what helps them develop their craft as producers and DJs, and establish spaces where they can enjoy and play their sets on their terms.
Gearing up for their upcoming European Tour this month, The Third World team got the chance to meet up with the eclectic and creative trio, who spilled the juice on their beginnings and core memories in the nightlife scene, and their plans and love for music as a collective.
TW: What makes Orange Juice Asia who they are? Tell us more about the collective and how it was formed in the first place.
MARCO: So, Orange Juice Asia was born out of the pandemic, although the direction we planned to take was a lot different before the pandemic hit. Orange Juice Asia was supposed to be an event concept, where we could play whatever we wanted to. Basically, the music we couldn’t play at our normal gigs.
As we were in the process of conceptualizing everything, COVID hit, and suddenly we were in lockdown and stuck at home. Nobody had any gigs, so we shifted our focus to music/online content in order to stay active. So this was, I guess, our way of still “making noise” by channeling our energy into something that we’re passionate about.
By consistently putting out content during the lockdown, we gradually built a community over the course of the pandemic. Once everything started to open up again, we had a head start and were finally able to pursue our original goal of organizing our own events where we could play our own music. That’s what inspired us to create the collective—to have a platform where we can be ourselves and focus on growing as artists.
TW: As a collective full of diverse genres, what genres have you guys been diving into lately, and are there any that you would like to explore more of?
SHINGEN: One of the genres we've actively been exploring is a sub-genre of baile funk called Volt Mix. This is from Brazil, and it’s a mix of traditional baile funk and electronic drums and elements. We like to play it because the energy it brings is different for the crowd, and it’s something new and refreshing.
MARCO: While we heavily focus on Afro-diasporic sounds and Latin music, there’s this genre outside of that called Kawina. It’s from Suriname—it’s very percussive, fast-paced, and not very in your face. It’s not too heavy; it’s really something we’ve been diving into lately.
RYLE: If there are any genres we would like to explore in the future, I think it would be more genres from the Philippines, like we would like to do more fusion. For example, sounds from Kalinga.
MARCO: Yeah, I think the Philippines has more to offer than just budots. I mean, we play budots, but I think there’s definitely other sub-genres and cultures we haven’t tapped into yet, so we’re very interested in looking into that.
TW: Do you guys have any core memories and favorite venues as a collective, or as individuals?
RYLE: I think one core memory was during the Europe tour when we played at Feels Right. Being in a lineup with DJs who we look up to in person was very mind-blowing to us, because we wouldn’t even have thought that we would reach that level.
SHINGEN: For me, it would have to be our event at Apollo, Milan, because the energy was just crazy all night, and we were surprised seeing more Filipinos than Europeans in the crowd, and it just felt like we were playing in Poblacion, but you could really tell that Filipinos were really proud of us being there. The support was just insane, and they really came to party with us and show us how great Filipinos could be abroad.
MARCO: I think the best part about the tour last year in Europe was that each city was “the best” in its own right, like each had very different experiences, and just to be able to play for different cultures and see how open they are to what we play was a core memory in itself. I agree with both of them that those two memories and venues are actually one of the really big milestones we accomplished last year.
TW: Being exposed to the nightlife scene both locally and in different parts of the world, how would you describe the scene in Manila to other places you’ve toured in?
MARCO: Before we started playing abroad, we had this misconception amongst ourselves that only European crowds can be open-minded when it comes to the music we play because they’re very exposed to different music all the time, compared to Manila. Our goal from the start was to build that open-mindedness in Manila, but after touring different countries, we’ve realized that there’s just a different energy in Manila that you can’t really find anywhere else in the world.
There’s just something about playing at home, and I think the scene in Manila now is very healthy, especially after the pandemic. More people are open-minded to the music, and there are a lot of collectives paving the way to new sounds. Where the scene is now is very healthy, and honestly, I think it’s one of the best in Asia right now.
SHINGEN: Yeah, we’ve been around the world, and we could see the growth of the Philippines in terms of music, and how the people are progressing with their taste, and you could tell that the clubs are really trying their best to show these new genres to the people, to the crowd and have them get used to it.
MARCO: It’s very different from before the pandemic, where clubs would focus on specific formats every night. I think clubs are now focused on giving collectives and communities the freedom to run the programming, the sound, the concept, everything.
RYLE: I’d say Manila still feels like home. It may be open in other countries, but Manila’s being more progressive.
MARCO: I think, over the last few years, Manila has become one of the go-to places for international DJs when they come to Asia because of how fast the scene is progressing. I think we’re in a good place now, and it’s one of our responsibilities to continue to keep [the scene] healthy for it to continue being a hotspot for global talent.
TW: If you had to explore other cities, whether as individuals or as a collective, where would you go and why?
MARCO: I think, as an individual, I would really love to visit South Africa because we play a lot of South African music. Those were one of the first few genres that we explored on this journey as Orange Juice Asia, so it would really be a full circle moment for us to visit South Africa.
RYLE: I think one would be Brazil, cities in Brazil, for sure, because it would be crazy to do shows there, since we [play] a lot of baile funk as well.
MARCO: Yeah, the past year, we’ve been playing a lot of Brazilian music, so it would be nice to visit the cities of Brazil.
SHINGEN: I feel like we should do a South American tour. Not just Brazil, but the whole continent. That would be crazy, because there would be so many countries that we would love to visit, and we play a lot of music from them, so why not give them a visit, and see how they really are, and witness their culture?
MARCO: I think in our scene, not just the Philippines, but the Soundcloud scene, people always tour Europe, Asia, Australia, the US, but not a lot of people go to South America and the countries there. So I think South Africa and South America are good places for us to visit for sure.
TW: What’s your vision for OJA and your plans as a collective moving forward?
RYLE: Giving back to the community that has been supporting us. Doing workshops and much more community-driven stuff.
MARCO: Yeah, because the past 2-3 years, we’ve been very fast-paced. Not that we’re gonna stop the momentum, but I think aside from touring and growth as artists, our focus is gonna be more towards giving back to the communities in the Philippines, because we owe all the blessings and success to the people who have supported us from the start. Aside from that, we also have a lot of new music, we have a lot of collaborations with the DJs we’ve been working with around the world, and of course, we’ll be continuing to do events—bringing international talent to the Philippines. We’re also going to be mounting events outside of the Philippines, hopefully, within the Southeast Asian region.
SHINGEN: Just stay tuned for more music, more releases coming out soon. This is also one of our ways of giving back to people. This [Orange Juice Asia] all started through music, and we’re just gonna keep giving back from here, and we hope you stay tuned for what we have to offer.
