There was a time when I was just a girl in her bedroom, headphones on, drowning in basslines that nobody else could hear. I’d spend hours mixing tracks, imagining what it would feel like to drop a hard techno set in front of a real crowd. In my head, the lights would cut, the kick would slam, and everyone would lose themselves in the chaos. But honestly, I never thought I’d live that moment — at least not this soon.
Then came the Dawnbreaker Set at ICON Cebu.
DAWNBREAKER: Icon Cebu’s New Era
The Dawnbreaker is ICON’s new after-hours substage, where everything changes at 3AM. The lights dim, the atmosphere shifts, and the DJ takes the center stage for 90 minutes of nonstop techno.
It’s the kind of thing you rarely see in the Philippines’ party scene (or maybe I haven’t been to one yet) — a stage that unapologetically belongs to techno heads. Since July 2025, the Dawnbreaker has already been blessed by some of the country’s finest: HOEST, Yzark from the heart of Manila’s underground scene, Francis Jaxx of Siargao, Jemina of Raw Manila, the multi-genre DJ Francie Gee, TZN, along with some of ICON’s resident DJs, WAR, Ken Howwy, GP Milloria, Chris Jay, Kerwin, Kevin, SaintChris, James Romans, and of course, the beast on the mic, MC Hype.
And now… me.
Standing there in ICON Cebu’s Dawnbreaker center stage, in front of a closed-in crowd, I had this quiet moment where it hit me: I wasn’t just playing for myself anymore. I was out there, blasting the same hard techno I used to keep locked in my bedroom walls, and people were actually dancing to it. That 90-minute set? It felt like the world finally opened up and said, “yes, girrrl this is your space!”.
To be one of the few DJs from Mindanao invited to play the Dawnbreaker stage — and on the same week as my collective, FLOROXO — was humbling beyond words. VAULT has always been about sharing the kind of music we love, and ICON gave us the platform to do just that. I can only manifest the same opportunity for my friends Nerf, Alonzo, Iyenn, and every DJ out there who dreams of pushing this genre further.
Why This Stage Matters
While there are already spaces that celebrate niche sounds in the Philippines — RawManila, Apotheka, THE PLUG, monobyphono, LAST Cebu, and maybe a lot more. But a center stage for hard techno is still rare. ICON Cebu giving the spotlight to this sound is one of the boldest, smartest moves I’ve seen in our local scene.
Because here’s the truth: a lot of us have been waiting for this. For a place where hard bass isn’t a background noise, but one of the main languages of the night.
So, thank you ICON Cebu — for believing in this sound and giving birth to a substage that feels like home for techno lovers like me. Thank you, Ken, for trusting me with this opportunity. And to Saint Chris, the Dawnbreaker Queen herself, thank you mowm for our little techno talk backstage — I can’t wait to share the stage with you in the future.
I walked into ICON with nothing but the same love for hard bass I’ve carried since my bedroom days. I walked out knowing that love can actually move a dancefloor.
And that night, at 3 AM in ICON Cebu, it finally did.
