Besides her striking beauty, Katrina Razon has people falling under the spell of her music. Stepping out of the shadow of her father, billionaire businessman Enrique Razon, she has emerged as a full-fledged musician—first as a disc jockey working on the turntable, and later as a remixer of music and a composer.
Lifestyle Asia recently tapped the 22-year-old Razon to make a guest appearance as DJ at its Royal Gala at the Makati Shangri-La.
Razon has graced the cover of Lifestyle Asia twice. Her debut cover focused on her venturing into the alternative culture of the disc jockey. Her second outing was about her work organizing the Manila Music Festival 2012.
On her performance at the Lifestyle Asia’s Royal Gala, she said: “I like to study the audience rather than plan my set. I work on the flow on what the listeners are feeling. I wanted timeless music. At the gala, I noticed that people came from different ages. Since they were wearing gowns and tuxedos, I didn’t want to play music that was harsh and too fast.”
For 90 minutes, Razon played such ’80s music as New Order and Depeche Mode, contemporary underground and house music.
“It was a great accomplishment to see people of different demographics dancing all together. I can make people in their 20s and people in their 60s dance to the same kind of music. The presence of the Queen of Bhutan (Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck) made it special, too.”
Beat counting
Razon was introduced to alternative culture on a trip to Vancouver, Canada, with her mother and family friends. While at Caprice Bar, she befriended two DJs named The Bloody Beetroots, who advised her on how to get started.
“I studied beat counting, looked into the history of music, like house music which started in Chicago, and techno music which had its roots in Detroit, Michigan,” she said.
Her first gig was playing at a birthday party in Siama bar along Jupiter Street. Then she started posting her mixes online, which got foreign promoters interested. “I owe my success to the Internet,” she said.
At 18, Razon got her first international gig in Hong Kong for a Saturday night event in Amber Ultra Lounge in Wan Chai. In the past five years, she has worked with foreign artists and has done recordings in Boston and New York. One of Razon’s most memorable performances was playing in Autobrennt, a music collective and artist’s agency at a party in Soho. She used her personal collection of vinyl records of such artists as Curtis Mayfield, New Order and Depeche Mode.
Breakthrough
Last year, she made a breakthrough as a producer when Israeli-born electronic DJ/producer and musician Guy Gerber, her mentor, encouraged her to produce music using computer programs. She collaborated with him on an album for which she recorded three songs.
“He wanted the album to sound like 70-minute-long composition of various emotions. It was a journey. The producer had broken up with his fiancée. He wanted to channel what he was going through. It was beneficial for him.”
Gerber also encouraged her to improvise a song simply by expressing what was on her mind. “He layered my voice over the beats,” said Razon. In the songs “Lady Falkor” and “Moon Blur,” she is credited as “Lady Falkor,” a moniker which started out as a private joke between her and Gerber.
The album, “Fabric 54: Guy Gerber,” made it to No. 9 in the top 100 albums of 2012 in DJ Magazine, a British publication specializing in electronic music.
“As a musician, I create atmospheric music. I don’t follow the popular side of music, which is commercial and formulaic. I stick to the music that people make out of their own emotions,” said Razon.
This fall, she is booked for gigs in Boston and New York. She will also scour for music to be included in her sets.