&FRIENDS Can’t Come Soon Enough
&FRIENDS: Music and Pop Culture Festival is coming to Manila, and we only hope it can come sooner.
Providing more clarity, for one, Zedd is returning this May 30-31, 2025, joined by an Avengers-esque roster of local and international artists and content creators under Okada Manila’s spotlight. By now, the country isn’t a stranger to foreign acts washing up on its shores, but a local convention-festival experience? Now that’s something else.
In recent years, music and pop culture have grown synonymous, and by converging these tenets, &FRIENDS establishes an inclusive destination for kindred spirits, friends, and connection. In recent years, music and pop culture have grown synonymous, and by converging these tenets, &FRIENDS establishes an inclusive destination for kindred spirits and connection. The brainchildren of Clout Kitchen, a consumer AI startup focused on building interactive creator-powered experiences in gaming and pop culture, spearhead its foundation, which is centered on expanding their horizons.
Stripped to its core, its founders attempt to bridge the gap between East and West, injecting their passions and experiences into an ever-so-vibrant nation that appears to welcome them with open arms.
Bubbling with anticipation, ALL-STAR Magazine sat down with &FRIENDS’ Chief Operating Officer, Adriel Yong, and Marketing Lead, Edward “Eko” Cheang, to discuss the festival’s ethos, their upbringings in the space, and the daunting (but fulfilling) leap of enacting their passions.
(Got nowhere to be this May 30th and 31st? Check out the mechanics below to win a pair of two-day General Admission tickets, in partnership with &FRIENDS.)
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Hi, can you please introduce yourselves?
Eko: I’m Eko, the Marketing Lead for &FRIENDS.
Adriel: I’m Adriel, the Chief Operating Officer for Clout Kitchen and &FRIENDS.
&FRIENDS is coming to the Philippines for the first time. Can you give us some background about it?
Adriel: Let’s start with the name (&FRIENDS). We wanted the festival to be where you and your friends can come and hang out and where there’s something for everyone—whether you are a gamer, a music fan, or very into cosplay and anime. We really just want to bring that one-stop shop and destination for everything and anything, and have all your friends in one place.
Given the festival’s name, were you guys friends before this, or did this relationship develop through business or work?
Eko: We met at Horizon Halloween last year, and at that time, I wasn’t working with the team yet. I was the label liaison for Monstercat, and we met there since we had a stage at the festival.
Adriel: One of the more unique things about our team is that most of our team members were asked to join the team at a music festival. I was in Los Angeles (LA), and I think we were at a rave when I was asked to join the team there, and I was like: “You know this is pretty fun.” I would love to create something like this in Asia for others to enjoy. You hear the same story probably at least 10 more times, across the team. We are a team that lives and breathes like music. We go to different music festivals together during the weekends, whether in LA or Asia, to really understand and care about what we are trying to build here in Asia.
So, if anyone wants to apply, they must find you at a music festival?
Adriel: That’s the easiest way to find us and get a chance to pitch why you want to be a part of the team.
Eko: We’re not that hard to find at a music festival. If you find a bunch of us, we’re usually the craziest in the lot. Just join the conga line, and then you should be able to join the team.
How long did this entire process of putting up &FRIENDS take?
Adriel: We started in November, so it’s been a good six months since we started planning. It’s a relatively short time for the festival’s scale and the international talent we’re bringing to the Philippines. We are tremendously thankful for the strong support of partners like the Okada Hotel and numerous other commercial and brand sponsors who have jumped on board and agreed to support us quickly.
What makes the Philippines an ideal destination for this experience?
Adriel: There’s a personal reason for it. Two of the founders of Cloud Kitchen and &FRIENDS are Filipino, and they have been running numerous events and conventions in the Philippines in the gaming space previously. They have a massive heart for young people and the pop culture scene here, so naturally, when thinking about where we do our first large-scale festival, the Philippines, being their home, came to mind. We still have half the team based here and the other half based in the United States, so this gives us a lot of synergies in organizing and tapping our local team to support the operations and the organization of this festival.
Also, having several of our team members grow up here opened the doors. They have friends, some of whom are creators, and others are working in some large companies that might sponsor the event. That’s really why we think of the Philippines as a great place. Also, we found a hotel that’s 10 minutes away from the airport.
It’s crazy to think that it only took you how many months to create this experience. May we ask if you want to share anything about &FRIENDS in the coming year, or the next few years?
Adriel: Fundamentally, we want to be that bridge between East and West. We have brought a lot of large US and international-based artists and some of the best regional talent to Manila. Organizing a reverse flow and bringing many of them to the US, or we do it again in other parts of Asia, remains to be seen. Still, the reception and the partnership opportunities that have come to us over the last few months have been tremendous. We’re very thankful for the community’s strong support, and we hope that people joining us on May 30th and 31st will have a phenomenal experience.
Do you have a background in the space?
Eko: Before this, I was the marketing manager for Asia Pacific for a music label from Canada called Monster Cat, and right now, I’m marketing for the festival. I’ve been a DJ and producer for about nine years.
What pushed you to drop everything and devote yourselves wholly to your passions?
Eko: All of us are very passion-driven and purpose-driven. Even if you gave us all the money in the world to do things that we hate, we’d just stop doing them. However, for something like that, like the event itself, the kind of experience we can give to the attendees and their friends, and seeing the completion of something so huge done is a lot of satisfaction, and that’s exactly what we go for.
Do you have any final words you’d like to say to your community, hopefully in the Philippines?
Adriel: If you won’t be with us on May 30th and 31st, where else will you be?
&FRIENDS And ALL-STAR Magazine Are Giving Away Three Pairs of Tickets to Three Lucky Winners
https://instagram.fmnl25-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/495669878_17904125301156271_7999163529228630975_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6IkNBUk9VU0VMX0lURU0uaW1hZ2VfdXJsZ2VuLjEwODV4MTM1Ny5zZHIuZjc1NzYxLmRlZmF1bHRfaW1hZ2UifQ&_nc_ht=instagram.fmnl25-4.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QG8qwJnuAj4n_PU7x8IKQoGB1CQz4_Xsy3RYV-3WM_j9pJWrxV3bK00TuUo27Dz9Tc&_nc_ohc=NuIb27yaezcQ7kNvwHhJ_3s&_nc_gid=xxFoF31_DuynCm31uqUOFw&edm=AP4sbd4BAAAA&ccb=7-5&ig_cache_key=MzYyNjQwMDE2NDUxODI4MzYwMA%3D%3D.3-ccb7-5&oh=00_AfIEK60LYTKS0wcSfZNOQs7UOBLRe7d-3hoG23nUCPmOnA&oe=681F9900&_nc_sid=7a9f4bIn collaboration with &FRIENDS, ALL-STAR Magazine is giving away six (6) General Admission two-day passes to three (3) lucky winners and their friends. To join the sweepstakes, participants must complete the following:
1. Follow @andfriends.fest and @allstar.magazine on Instagram.
2. Tag a friend (make sure they also follow @andfriends.fest and @allstar.magazine) on the comments section of the poster.
3. Share this post on your story and a video of you explaining why you and your friend deserve the tickets.
4. Tag @andfriends.fest and @allstar.magazine on your stories.
The giveaway winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
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