It’s 89 degrees in Indio, California, and the eight members of girl group BINI are holed up inside a small trailer.
As their team surrounded them, some carrying the Philippine flag, the young women were in a state of nervous excitement. Electropop singer Slayyyter can be heard faintly through the trailer’s non-soundproof walls. Outside, a group of longtime fans and curious music lovers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival wait for the moment the group takes the Mohave stage.
Sporting intricately embroidered turquoise blue outfits, Benny’s troupe begins layering golden, warrior-like dresses over their outfits thanks to the help of their backup dancers, a group of seven men who traveled with the girl group from the Philippines. For a moment, the chaos stopped as they began a group prayer. “This is the first time we’ve done something like this, where [our performance director] He asked us to repeat after him.” Aya, 25, a BINI member, told me that night, hours after her performance ended.
Aiah and the rest of BINI — Colette, Malloy, Gwen, Stacy, Micah, Joanna, and Sheena — look noticeably lighter while speaking with me hours after their Coachella debut, which comes a day after the release of their latest EP. signals.
The young women were translating for me some of their slogans before the performance – “We are not alone, we are together” – and they were the main points of the message. “He made us close our eyes so we could enjoy this moment,” Aya says.
“This is actually our favorite part, when our coach talks to us, because he makes us cry,” 22-year-old Stacey adds. The rapper appears to have perfected the festival look, as her long pastel pink hair sits elegantly beneath a net scarf. The women at Penny seem to be fighting back tears all day, even giving their coach a mild warning. “We told him not to make us cry,” says Malloy, 23.
Although the emotions and tears are understandable. BINI, known in the Philippines as the “Nation’s Girl Group,” made history with this Coachella set, becoming the first musical act from the Southeast Asian country to perform at the festival. “This is very important to us. Not just us, but the whole Philippines,” explains Sheena, the youngest of the group at just 21 years old.
It’s a sentiment that’s been expressed many times since my arrival at BINI’s Basic Coachella Training Camp. “It means a lot to the girls,” Llorente “Laurin” Dewge, president of Star Magic and Entertainment Group, BINI’s talent management agency, told me when we met after BINI’s performance. “It actually means a lot to the whole nation,” he quickly adds.
Feeling the weight of an entire country seems like a nerve-racking prospect, but the women of Beni handle it in stride. “Of course, there is a feeling of pressure and a sense of responsibility, but we consider that a good thing,” Aya says.
The singer points out that responsibility helps them train and train harder. “It’s not just something that happens in a few days, or a few weeks, but something that has been years in the making,” she continues. “We have shown this since day one, when we were still trainees.”
The group – formed through the 2019 Idol Training Series, Star Hunt Academywhere the members of BINI trained for three years – made their official debut in 2021. Their profile has risen over the past six years, becoming one of the biggest artists in the Philippines.
But perhaps BINI’s biggest breakthrough came in the form of their 2023 tropical pop single “Pantropiko,” earning the group a spot as one of the most popular OPM artists — or original music from the Philippines, as the young women explained to me. It also helped cement their global rise.
“Every time I hear ‘Pantropico’, I feel so proud to be Filipino,” says Stacy. “This is our song. I’m part of that song.”
Micah, 22, says they were all on the verge of tears before taking the stage at Coachella because of the love the crowd was already showing them. That’s right – chants of “BINI” could be heard loud and clear as the group and I and their team waited to enter the wings. Once they take the stage, the crowd explodes as the group launches into their 2025 hit “Shagidi.”
BINI ended that editorial by ripping off her gold dresses to reveal the blue beaded ensembles underneath. The sudden costume change was a source of tension during previous rehearsals, but it’s something they eventually mastered. “When we had it [last] In our studio, the bosses cried, Joanna, 22, shared, adding that their team felt like BINI was ready for the world stage.
“We also had a very emotional conversation with the team because you know BINI, we’re not just a girl group. We have this whole family that we’re bringing with us,” says Micah. In addition to the pride and responsibility the group feels to represent the country of the Philippines, they also bear the weight of the entire team and the hard work they put in.
Having spoken with many artists, especially those from large companies with teams numbering in the hundreds, I was pleasantly surprised to hear BINI attribute this moment to the team working with them. “This is what we’ve been waiting for, a Filipino artist going global,” Micah says their coaches told them.
“It all became clear to us, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, this is dangerous,'” she added. The group emphasizes how supportive their team has been during the Coachella process and in general. Seeing BINI interacting with their team – joking, hugging and laughing throughout the stressful day – it’s clear that there is no clear hierarchy, just a group of people who clearly love each other.
The team also provided BINI with its creative direction. “Everything we put out is from us,” says Gwen, 22. “We’ve said it, we’ve already talked about it, and it’s not something that’s spoon-fed to us. It’s something that comes from our creative juices, from our experiences and our vision and our perspectives.”
“You can really feel that everyone on the team wants what’s best for us. They put their heart and soul into everything they do,” says Malloy. “This is not just our dream,” Joanna adds. “It is everyone’s dream.”
BINI also felt the support of other Filipino artists and talents. The young women gushed over internet personality Bretman Rock who was in the audience for their performance and shared that several Filipino artists will be making the trip to Coachella for the second weekend.
While performing at a major festival like Coachella, it’s inevitable that some of the audience will be unfamiliar with the set. But BINI says it has used the opportunity to gain more fans, known collectively as Blooms. However, during filming, it is clear that there are Blooms everywhere in the audience.
“We just came here to perform and show what we have,” says Joanna. “But listening to the audience helped relieve pressure and gain more confidence.” “Seeing them raising our flags, it’s really overwhelming. We didn’t expect this much support.”
Throughout Coachella and beyond, BINI has been able to find success thanks to the connections they have built with each other. It’s essential for putting together the simultaneous performances they give, but it’s also essential for some of the less glamorous parts of shooting for fame as a woman in her 20s.
The rise of social media over the past decade and beyond has meant that fans, even those without the greatest of intentions, have instant access to young male and female stars in the music industry. Penny, like young female musicians around the world, is no stranger to the scrutiny that can come from these social media platforms.
“I think we’ve gotten used to telling a lot of people. We’ve just made an agreement with ourselves that no matter what she says, no matter what she does, there will always be people who will say something bad about her.” [you] “Or twist your words,” Micah admits. “You can’t really please everyone. You can’t control them, but what you can do is control yourself – what you feel, what you do, and what You experience it, and what you do to make yourself happy.
The rest of the group seemed to agree with this view. “At the end of the day, you know yourself best,” says Collette, 24. “It’s all just noise.” “For me personally, it’s just the damn phone,” Malloy adds. “When I reduce my screen time, it’s time to do things I rarely do. I just draw or go outside. It reduces the noise.”
Joanna again credits the team around BINI for helping them stay consistent when it comes to online chatting. “That’s why it’s really important that we surround ourselves with people who are really going to help us, people who are going to guide us,” she says.
BINI also credits each other for their flexibility. “I am very grateful to our brothers because they helped me a lot,” Sheena says. “If I have a problem, I will open the door and they will help me.” Joanna agrees, adding that they have learned what they need to ignore or internalize over the years.
“We’ve grown and changed a lot since we started training,” says Micah, adding that the way they deal with negativity on social media is by letting the members themselves decide if they want to bring it up and stressing to each other that it’s not true.
“Of course people won’t believe social media, of course we’ll believe each other,” Micah continues. “That’s the beauty of being a group of eight, it means we have more people to rely on,” adds Sheena.
BINI continues to lean on each other as they prepare for the second weekend of Coachella. The group will take the stage later today, continuing their Coachella experience. They hope to close this chapter the way they seek to close all chapters – with authenticity. This is what the group hopes their fans will take away from this and any experience they have with BINI.
“We want people to see that we’re not perfect. We don’t strive for perfection. We strive for excellence and we strive to be the best versions of ourselves,” Micah says. “It’s okay to be human. It’s okay to make mistakes. We’re here with you.” [on this journey]”.
Aya traces this openness back to where it began. “We are not only happy, we can be sad, we can be angry, we can express any emotion because all of these emotions exist and have a reason,” she says. “We started as one person, but with the right amount of hard work and the right people around you, you can make it happen.”
After we’re done, the group heads to the festival’s catering tent, stopping to gush about British girl group Say Now along the way, before rushing to the Desert Stage to catch fellow Grammy-nominated Filipino artist Sofia from KATSEYE.
Maybe it’s the surfacing “girl power” kick that helps BINI decide what word they’ll use to describe this Coachella experience. Colet makes a suggestion that is met with equal parts agreement and amused laughter. “Her story,” Collette says. There seems to be an agreement. Some other members echo her “story.”
