Daily Inspiration: Meet Rodrigo Tolentino

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrigo Tolentino.

Hi Rodrigo, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Rodrigo Tolentino, and I go by the name of Rollintino. I am a music producer and DJ from San Diego, CA – shout out to NOVA SD by the way.

My musical journey began in K-12 school around age 8-9. In my freshman year of high school, one of my school band classmates showed me the Tomorrowland 2012 Aftermovie on his iPod touch. I was blown away by the energy in the crowds. Shortly thereafter, I bought a ticket to see Steve Aoki at Soma in San Diego. Best night ever. After looking more into the scene, I began to spend less time with friends and more time learning music production and flipping stuff to save money to buy dj gear.

Fast forward to today, I’ve played for thousands of people in clubs all over Southern California and released songs played by DJs all around the world. Thankful is an understatement.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think we’re our own worst enemies. In hindsight, everything that I’ve experienced has been a smooth road, but some challenges – in the moment – seem to be the end of the world. One of the biggest struggles that I had in my journey was following my heart in the direction of my career.

I fell in love with EDM and that whole universe but then started to DJ open-format events in college. When I first started out playing in college, my biggest struggle was playing songs for the crowd. I think it’s really important for a DJ to vibe in his/her head and share that party with the world. It took me a while to realize that I had to “play music for me” and not what I thought the crowd wanted to hear. My favorite sets are the sets when I am free to drop anything I want – and the majority of the time, what I wanna play is some house music or like some Kool & the Gang.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well, I am a music producer, DJ, and multimedia creative. My favorite hobby in music right now is remixing. I have released about ten remixes this year with all very different approaches.

I am currently working on developing a fresh new sound and learning so much about the technicalities of music production. So excited to release new music next year. Currently taking a break from live shows to develop my artist brand and discography. You can hear my live sessions on my bi-weekly mix series called Rollintino Radio, which is posted on Soundcloud every second and fourth week of the month.

Something I am the most proud of in my music journey is having my Fast Forward remix go #4 in Hypeddit’s K-Pop charts. I am proud of it because that remix probably took me about 15 hours to make and it did great. Jeon Somi is an amazing artist and I was so inspired by her song I had to add my extra sauce!!

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
The advice that I would give to an upcoming producer is to develop a habit of finishing music. I have hundreds of unfinished songs in my laptop, and some of them will never see the light of day. Maybe some, but I always like to create new ideas. Always feed yourself creatively with real-life moments.

Secondly, I would advise you to build your personal credit- it will come in handy for financing expensive equipment. This will help you tremendously with cash flow. I have so much advice that I could give; I think after I retire from music in my 70’s or 80’s, I would love to be a Pastor or Professor.

Anyway, the last piece of advice that I would share is to remember that if you want to pursue this music career for life, then it is for life… there is no need to rush anything. Create time to take your time with your creative process, but be aggressively quick in business.

Oh and don’t be afraid to ask questions but make sure to first take initiative.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rollintino.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rollintino
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rollintino
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@rollintino
• SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/rollintino