My DJ guesting for Hi-FM’s Friday radio show ended 2 weeks ago. Had a blast playing live, and the experience I had with fellow DJs from the region, and the interaction with listeners clarified one thing I already know.. MUSIC, in any form, touches the soul indeed.

For 4 consecutive Fridays, I handled the decks at the station, playing music that was relatively new to readers’ ears - EDM (Electronic Dance Music). At bakit new? Eh matagal na kayang naririnig sa radio ang EDM? Uhmmm.. Nasa Oman po kase ako. Huli ang mga tao dito. If not for Hi-FM’s dedication to bring fresh music and introduce people to alternatives, puro Arabic songs lang at cheesy top 40 songs ang maririnig mo dito. Not to mention the baduy hiphop/RNB songs of the late 90s.

Buti na lang, sinuwerte ang Oman dahil hindi nila inaakalang sa lumang bansa pala nila mapapadpad ang isa sa pinakamagaling na DJ sa buong mundo, AKO! Nyahahahahaha!

But seriously, those 4 weeks became an eye-opener for me. I never thought EDM and the genre I soooo love would get positive response. Medyo alangan nga ako noong unang gabi. Hindi ko alam kung anong kanta ang ipapasok ko next, baka pagtinginan ako ng local management. I never had problems with Darren and Emma (the 2 British radio jocks), ang kinakaba ko yung mga Omanis na hindi sanay makarinig ng music na ganito. Baka magulat, ma-heart attack, at ako pa sisihin.

That’s why I opted to play more mainstream and ear-friendly music. Hindi ko sila binigyan ng Techno, Minimal, Dub Step, Tribal, Progressive at Electro. Baka magtawagan ang mga callers asking “WTF is that music??!”. Dinahan dahan ko lang sila. Kumbaga sa seks, hindi ko pinuwersa. Dinila-dilaan ko muna, sinalat-salat, pinakiramdaman, at nung handa ng tanggapin ang aking pagkalalaki, tsaka ko pinasok ng swabe, dahan dahan, at labas-masok ako habang pinapakiramdaman ang igaganting reaksyon. Mabuti naman maganda ang reaksyon at sinalubong ang aking bawa’t ulos, kaya ayun, itinodo ko na! Banaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! Attaaack!!! Cum with me beybehhhhhhh!

My only gripe about this whole experience was, I wasn’t allowed to talk live that much hahahaha! Gusto ko pa naman dumaldal ampft! Expected ko kasi, since guest nila ako, I would be interviewed and asked the usual questions like; “How did you start DJing?”, “Who do you consider as your influences?”, “What kind of music do you play?”, “What was your shining moment?”, at kung anu-ano pa. Tinanong lang ako kung taga saan ako, eh one week before the first airing, announced na kaya na isang DJ from pinas would be guesting. At tama ba namang pagsalitain ako ng ‘Arabic’ at bumati daw sa listeners? Hindi kaya ako marunong! The radio-jocks did more of the talking, pero ok lang naman din dahil kausap ko naman sila off-air. Puro kami tawananan, kainan at syempre picture taking (I’ll post some pics later when I get my hands on them)

The best part of the conversation with them was when Emma said to me; “Robin, you’re good! Really! You should DJ again. Tell me if you’re interested, coz there’s a new club in town set to open mid-year, and I’d love to see you as a resident DJ there. People will pay good money just to see you play!”. I only gave her a smile. She smiled back and gave me a wink, sabay dila. Ahahahay! Ehem.. Type ata ako ng seksing radio-jock hehe.

Anyhow, tapos na ang 4 weeks na stint ko sa Hi-FM at humahaba na naman ‘tong intro. This entry is not about how I rocked, or how I stole the show, or how I made the radio jocks fall in love with my skills.. It’s about the positive vibe that I helped spread all over The Sultanate thru my music and my mixes.

This will be the first part of the Hi-FM Radio guesting series and it’s only proper that I share the music that I played that night. At tulad nga ng sinabi ko, hindi ako masyado nakaporma noong unang gabi dahil mawiwindang ang Oman kapag pinatugtugan ko sila ng tunay na genre ni DJ ROBIN MENDOZA.

To further immerse you to what transpired that night, I have made an UNMIXED SINGLES album of the songs that were included in the mix. Ito yung mga short or single versions ng mga kanta, na araw araw naming naririnig dito sa radio. Commercial ito, Top 40 material. Hindi ko lang alam kung naririnig na sa pinas, o baka naman sa atin eh luma na ito. Just the same, the original versions of these songs, won’t find their way to real clubs I’m sure. Talagang pang-radyo lang talaga. But you will be amazed on how one lowly, unappreciated and unrewarded has-been DJ, transformed them into one helluva mix! I also took the liberty of sorting the unmixed single, in the same sequence as the MIXED format for comparative purposes.

Kaya’t mga kapatid sa pananampalataya, eto na! Kapit bisig tayong lahat at sabay-sabay na sumigaw…. AZRAEL!! IBAGSAK MO NAAAAAAAAAAA!

Download this one first:

MAINSTREAM - The UNMIXED Singles

19 tracks @ 73.62 mb in zipped file format

And here’s the MIXED ALBUM

MAINSTREAM ONE mixed by DJ ROBIN MENDOZA

19 tracks @ 82.66 mb (128kbps) total running time: 90:16 mins

TRACK LISTING:

1. Every Car You Chase (DJ Robin Mendoza Altered Mash) - Snow Patrol vs. The Police
2. Let’s Get Dirty - Dirty Funker
3. Insane - Jill Criscuolo
4. How Far We’ve Come - Matchbox Twenty
5. Into The Night - Santana feat. Chad Kroeger
6. Just Fine - Mary J. Blige
7. Until The End Of Time - Justin Timberlake
8. Gorgeous - Idina Menzel
9. What Hurts Most - Cascada
10. Baby Love - Nicole Scherzinger feat. Will.I.Am
11. Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know - Jipsta
12. Shut Up & Drive - Rihanna
13. Somebody’s Me - Enrique Iglesias
14. Wherever You Are - Linda O
15. All About The Groove - Madison Park
16. Love Like This - Natasha Bedingfield feat. Sean Kingston
17. Give It All You Got - Ultra Nate feat. Chris Willis
18. Misunderstanding - Cerrone vs. Sweet Connection
19. Handle Me - Robyn
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