Wednesday, February 16, 2011

X-Clusive Interview with DJ Brian Cua

This month exclusive interview with DJ Brian Cua...
Brian is an award winning producer, arranger, jingle composer, remixer and DJ from the Philippines. Brian is a founding partner of Hit Productions, Inc, the largest jingle house and audio-post production. He is one of the resident DJs of BED, the largest gay dance club in Manila.

Check out my exclusive interview with him, below.
ExMen: Hi Brian.. can you tell us a bit about the remix work you do?

Brian: Most of the time, i do bootleg remixes, meaning i don't have any acapella or stems from the actual recording to work on, it's something i do to enhance my DJ playlist and offer them to my fans as well.
Sometimes i do get paid for remixing work - still working on that to become a regular thing LOL. For remixing software, i usually work with Ableton Live and/or Logic Studio 9. A lot of people tell me even though
i don't have the acapella my remixes sound better than the ones out there - thank you very much!


ExMen: You are also the the founding partner of Hit Productions, Inc, the largest jingle house and audio-post production house in Manila. Can you tell us more about the projects you are involved in?

Brian: We do around 60% of the local tv ads being shown in
manila, and a bit for regional ads. We provide music, jingles, SFX, and voice dubbing - just any kind of audio requirement you need, we can get it done for you. Our clients include, Coca-Cola, Unilever and P&G
products, etc.



ExMen: How is like spinning for BED, the largest gay night club in Manila?

Brian: With the recent renovations, spinning for BED is like giving a performance - the DJ booth is bigger and elevated - it feels like a stage! And it's very inspiring because you can feel immediately the energy of the crowd and how you want to give it back to them!


ExMen: How would you compare the club scene there to other countries you've been to?

Brian: Manila has actually a limited club scene - a lot of small bars and a small handful of big clubs. People here are
also very discerning when it comes to music. Filipinos are typically shy to dance but when properly given some social lubrication - they are quite the rowdy bunch. They also like their vocal anthems. Other cities like New York - are more appreciative and would dance to anything that is beat related.


ExMen: What can one expect when visiting Manila for the first time?

Brian: Well, the weather is for the most part humid. Our people are very warm and hospitable. Food is relatively cheap and varied. Beaches are heavenly and it's usually a few hours trip away!


ExMen: You are also the remixing partner of Drew G (NY), collaborating on remixes for Solange, Dangerous Muse, Jason Derulo and Cyon Flare. How did that came about and how is it going now?

Brian: I met Drew from twitter/facebook and working with him has been very fulfilling because we challenge each other constantly - we have different musical influences and that's what gives us our unique 'dirty pop' sound. Right now we are waiting for spec approvals from record companies and promoters - market for remixing is very competitive - it is our hope our 'dirty pop' sound would get their attention.


ExMen: You've also collaborated with DJ Stonedog on the Volume album. How was the collaboration like?

Brian: Evan is a very prolific composer- the songs we worked on are simply amazing and covers a lot of topics... it was very easy to fashion a dance anthem sound for his songs.


ExMen: Your bootleg mixes of Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera and especially Glee songs have inspired quite a cult following of fans. Why the interest in remixing Glee songs?

Brian: The idea of making Glee remixes actually came from a very good DJ friend (and biz partner of BED Manila) DJ Jay Santos. it was he who collaborated with me in remixi
ng 'Don't Stop Believin' - and after that - many requested me for other Glee songs to be remixed - mind you, not all of them were 'remixable' - But i guess i stumbled on a niche market, nobody not even the recording company saw the potential. They also make my DJ playlist special - the Glee songs are the hit with the clubbers! For non-glee stuff -i choose carefully other songs to remix - sometimes i don't touch a song when it's suffering from remix fatigue. It's either i have to come up with that remix very early in the game or not at all. Sometimes i pluck 'unremixable' songs like from 'Burlesque' out of nowhere and make them into dance tracks.

Check out Brian's It's My Life/Confessions Video


ExMen: Who are are your favourite DJs/remixers? Who would you like to remix for if given a chance?

Brian: My favorite DJs/remixers are Kaskade, Dave Aude, Richard Grey, Erick Morillo, Edson Pride, Tony Moran, Ralphi Rosario, Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Laidback Luke, Sebjack, Chew Fu and many many more!
I would love to remix any of the divas - Madonna, Kylie, Beyonce, Rihanna, etc.


ExMen: If you have a genie to grant you anything you want in the world except world peace, what would you wish for?

Brian: I wish people would be kinder to everyone- that's like world peace too, right? :)

ExMen: What are you working on now, musically? What are your future plans?

Brian: Plans for a 2011 summer US DJ tour (NYC, SFO, LA) , work on a scoring movie, and of course many more advertising work and bootleg remixes (and hopefully get paid for them)