GUDFELLA Was Born in Cebu. In December, He Plays EDC Thailand.
Kyle Domingo grew up in Cebu, built his name in Los Angeles, and just released his first single on Insomniac Records. In December, EDC Thailand brings him back within reach of home.
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Somewhere in the UK earlier this year, Kyle Domingo made himself a rule: write something new, every single day, no exceptions. He'd flown out for what was supposed to be a normal run of pub nights and city breaks with friends. Instead he spent the trip mostly alone with his laptop while everyone else went out. "This was my big push for myself," he told DJ Mag. The push worked. One of the songs that came out of that stretch, 'Ride,' became his first release on Insomniac Records this August. In December, Domingo, who performs as GUDFELLA, brings that music to Southeast Asia, booked for EDC Thailand in Phuket.
From Cebu to Coachella
Domingo was born in Cebu and now lives in Los Angeles, a background DJ Mag describes as his "multi-cultural upbringing." He didn't come up through Southeast Asia's club circuit; he built his name inside American festival culture. A run of collaborations with Disco Lines and Tiësto, a Coachella slot with DoLab that turned into one of the weekend's most talked-about sets, and 'Morning Coffee,' a percussive house track featuring Jitwam on vocals that hit number one on Beatport's indie dance chart. None of that is small. A number-one spot on any Beatport chart, niche or not, means DJs are actually buying the track to play out, not just streaming it at home.
The DJ Mag Nod
That run of momentum is why DJ Mag named GUDFELLA one of six emerging artists to watch worldwide in its August 2026 list, the only Southeast Asia-connected name on a bill that also included artists from Toronto, the Netherlands, London, Bristol and Bogotá. Domingo's own description of his sound doesn't reach for much: "I just like to say 'I make really good house music' and leave it at that," he told the magazine. 'Ride' backs that up. It's a Yamagucci co-production built on a slow-burn build and a Karen Harding vocal, patient rather than explosive, the kind of record that knows exactly when to let the drop actually land.
Coming Back, Sort Of
Cebu isn't really Domingo's scene anymore, not in the way it is for artists who never left. But EDC Thailand, confirmed for December 18 to 20 at Rhythm Park in Laguna, Phuket, puts him a few hours' flight from where he was born, on a bill that also carries Martin Garrix, Charlotte de Witte and Dom Dolla. Loopliner has covered the full EDC Thailand lineup separately. What's worth flagging here is smaller and more personal: a Filipino name on the poster of the region's biggest touring festival brand, at the exact moment his profile in the US is climbing fastest. Southeast Asia's house and techno scene spends a lot of energy trying to get international bookers to notice its own artists, a subject our festival calendar roundup keeps coming back to. Watching one of the region's own build a career the other way, in Los Angeles, and then get booked back in, is a different kind of validation. Worth noting, even if Domingo himself never frames it that way.
Cover photo and figure: courtesy of GUDFELLA / Insomniac Records.
