ON COVER: John Odin

Jas Rico
Oct 2
3 min read

Manila, Philippines — To John Odin, music has always been about defiance. Not defiance for spectacle’s sake, but for authenticity. A trance DJ turned techno staple, Odin has weathered scenes, trends, and industry resets without giving in to the easy path of adapting for commercial appeal.

“The reason I refused to change wasn’t out of rebellion or trying to prove a point,” he clarifies. “I just didn’t enjoy anything outside what I was playing.”

Holding the Underground Line

When Odin first started, the underground was a lonely grind. “It was really hard to push on a bigger scale,” he recalls. “Superclubs could fill 500, 800 people every weekend with commercial hits. But for us? Just fitting 300 in a room was already a battle. Sometimes bar sales didn’t even meet the minimum, and when that happened, they’d cut you off and get someone else.”

Yet he chose to stay. “I grew up listening to these records and I wanted people to experience what it was like enjoying this kind of music,” he says. Techno, to him, was never about numbers; it was about values. “With trance, it’s about openness and being vulnerable. With techno, it’s more of a safe space. Community. Sometimes people call it gatekeeping, but to me it’s protecting the scene. Because for so many years, people fought hard to keep it clean and safe for everyone.”

Today, he sees hope in how younger DJs build their own ecosystems. “These kids, if they don’t get booked, they make a collective. They create their profile, pitch to venues, start with their friends. Even if they don’t have names yet, the collective name comes first. And then slowly, people start to know the DJs. That’s how the cycle grows.”

From Fan to the Big Stage

Leaving a comfortable BGC corporate job, with his parents thinking he was throwing away a life that was already set, Odin proved them differently. The passion that keeps him in the underground is the same passion that once made him a fan. Back in college, Odin would scrape allowance just to attend Big Fish events — nights that shaped his dream. “I used to tell my friends, one day I’m going to study how to DJ and play on that stage,” he remembers. Years later, that dream came full circle.

From being a college kid saving allowance to attend their shows, to finally being invited to play their stage years later — it was a full-circle moment. “Cheesy as it sounds, iba when you actually chase a dream and it happens. There’s no feeling like it.”

Even abroad, at the prestigious Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), Odin says he remains humbled. “You realize there are a thousand people so much better than you, just as hungry, from Japan, US, Thailand… And you all share the same space. But when we sit down, have coffee, everyone levels down. Even the big names. It’s not about standing out. It’s about, this is what I’m bringing to the table.”

Chasing the Rabbit

Almost two decades in, John Odin still refuses to settle. He admits he had to swallow his pride and learn how to navigate short-form content and social media in order to book more shows, but at the core, his artistry has never shifted. What drives him isn’t the algorithm, but what he calls the chase.

“I don’t want to stop trying to be the best in my head at what I do. If I start becoming lazy, then there’s no point. I’m never content. That’s a problem I need to address also — when to be satisfied. But unfortunately, I never am. So I keep going.”

For Odin, growth isn’t about changing genres or chasing trends. It’s about pushing trance and techno through eras, building safe spaces, and never stopping the pursuit of something more. As he says himself — always chasing the rabbit.