ennio
Those early environments, from online forums to improvised stu- dios, functioned as both play- ground and testing ground. They allowed for a kind of freedom that becomes harder to maintain once expectations begin to form. Yet that same unpredictability conti- nues to define his approach, even as the scale has shifted.
“As a teenager, I got a PlayStation for my birthday and played a lot of Metal Gear Solid, Tekken, and these kinds of things, but I also got this ‘music production’ game, I can’t remember the name of, but that’s how I started making beats. My friends started rapping on them, and at some point, I moved to Logic and got more advanced. I became a huge Neptunes and Timbaland fan and ended up on this closed Neptunes fan forum, where a lot of people exchanged music, even people working in the studio with the Neptunes someti- mes leaked exclusives, etc. It was a wild and fun place. There were other now big artists like Tyler, The Creator on it, chatting with each other, exchanging beats, tracks, whatever. We did beat battles, and I actually won some, even against Tyler, haha. After finishing school, I moved to Tokyo via the Working Holiday Program for a year. I alre- ady had some music online and produced more towards electro- nic music. Then, some ‘random’ person wrote me because I chan- ged my location to Tokyo, we hung out and one time he asked why I don’t DJ. That person became a friend and basically threw me into my first gig after one week of learning on his controller. That’s basically how I started DJing. Not planned. But that randomness is a big part of how everything de- veloped. And I think the mindset stayed the same until now. Still very instinct-driven, experimen- ting and not fully ‘controlled’.”
Not everything moved at the same pace. Alongside that instinctive development sat a hesitation that shaped the trajectory in quieter ways. Opportunities appeared early, but were not always taken. Visibility, rather than being some- thing pursued, became something resisted, complicated by a lack of confidence that often contradic- ted the external validation he was receiving.
That period now reads less as a setback and more as a phase of observation. Distance created space to understand the envi- ronment without being fully ab- sorbed by it. But it also required a shift, a moment where hesitation could no longer be sustained wi- thout consequence.
“It definitely slowed things down. There were moments where I could have pushed more, shared more, taken great opportunities, but I didn’t. At the same time, I think it shaped how I see things now. Being more withdrawn for- ced me to observe a lot. There was also a big loss in my family that really reset things and made me rethink a lot. For a long time, I had this contradiction where I knew I was good and liked my music, but at the same time, didn’t feel good enough. I got opportunities ear- ly on because people believed in me, but I often ghosted them after the approach or missed deadlines simply because I felt too insecure or not good enough. Even though they gave me those chances be- cause they thought I was good. I just didn’t see it. But the last few years, since I opened myself up because of good friends pus- hing me more and more, giving me more confidence and people I respect and look up to showed a lot of love for my music too. At some point it clicked. I love music too much, I wanna be able to live from it, but mostly just live in it. Being part of TILT and now having started BUTO BAYANG played a big role in that shift too.”
The shift did not happen in isola- tion. It unfolded through commu- nity, through environments that replaced individual pressure with shared momentum. Projects like TILT and BUTO BAYANG did not simply provide platforms. They redefined the conditions under which the work could exist, trans- forming something solitary into something collective.
That transition altered more than visibility. It reshaped confidence, authorship, and the way identi- ty could be expressed within a broader framework. The individual voice remained, but it was no lon- ger isolated from its context.
“Both TILT and BUTO BAYANG changed things a lot because they made everything less iso- lated for me. Before that, it was more about me in my own world, in my room, doing things alone. Not opening up enough. Through this community, it became something I started to share. With TILT, it was also the first time I really felt part of something that had a clear identity and intention beyond in- dividual careers. It gave me con- fidence because it wasn’t just me putting myself out there; it was us building something together, su- pporting each other. With BUTO BAYANG even more, because it also connects to my identity and background in a more direct way. It gave me a framework to explo- re things I probably wouldn’t have fully addressed on my own. What you can’t build alone is that sense of reflection. Other people mirror things back to you, challenge you, and open new directions. That’s what really changes your pers- pective.”
That sense of openness carries directly into the way he approa- ches the dancefloor. There is no attempt to impose authority or construct a narrative of control. The role is deliberately reduced, repositioned as a conduit rather than a center. What matters is not precision, but presence, the ability to respond rather than dic- tate.
“For me, it’s simple, I love music. I don’t see myself as this figure wanting to be in the spotlight, tr- ying to prove something, but just being a vessel for what I love. I’m not trying to impress with techni- cal skills or show off. I just want to create and share emotions. See- ing people dance, connect, and lose themselves gives me way more than anything else. That moment where the whole room moves together in symbiosis, in- side the music. That’s what gets me high. A set doesn’t have to be perfect. Imperfections often make it better. So I love improvising on the spot, with whatever seems ri- ght at the moment. As long as it makes you move, I’m happy.”
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