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Since BINI was formed back in 2019 through Star Hunt Academy, they’ve been making their own path as a Filipino girl group navigating global stardom. Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna, and Sheena were met with early success in the Philippines and have since grown their presence internationally. In 2024, BINI became the the first Filipino artist to enter Spotify’s Top Artist Global Chart, became the first Filipino artist to perform at KCON, and became the first Filipino artist to win Best Asia Act at the MTV EMAs. And this year, they became the first Filipino act to perform at Coachella.

BINI has embraced the concept of the “Biniverse” since before their debut, and its expansion shows no signs of slowing down. Earlier this week, just ahead of their Coachella debut, the group released their third EP Signals along with a Netflix documentary, BINI Docuseries. Beyond music, they’ve also built a strong presence in beauty with their own line, BINI Cosmetics. The group has partnered with several major brands in the Philippines, from retail brand Penshoppe to Baobab eyewear, and globally as well with a new Nike Sportswear campaign.

During Coachella rehearsals, BINI met with Rolling Stone to chat about Signals, anticipation around their Coachella set, and their must-have products when rehearsing.

At the time of this interview, we’re days away from the release of your new EP Signals. What is your favorite song from Signals and why?

Mikha: My favorite song from the Signals EP is “Blush.” Wait… “Step Back” and “Sugar Rush.” I’ve been wanting for us to sing or perform songs like these. They just give a different side to us.

Maloi: Mine would be “Unang Kilig” and “Step Back.” “Unang Kilig” because it’s my comfort zone — the cutesy vibes, bubblegum pop genre. And “Step Back” — it’s something that is very new to me, very fierce. So I’m excited to perform in stage in the future.

Stacey: My personal favorite from our EP are “Step Back” and “Blush” because it brings out my inner baddie attitude. I wanna be fierce and I want to step out of my comfort zone.

Colet: “Blush” because it screams confidence for BINI. And “Unang Kilig” because I like the bubblegum pop sound.

Sheena: “Sugar Rush.” I am the number one “Sugar Rush”enthusiast. I will fight for that song until I die! [Laughs.] Oh, I won’t die… Until until I suffer! [Laughs.]

Are there any first impressions or immediate reactions you remember having when you were first listening to the songs off Signal ?

Jhoanna: Should I say this? [Laughs.] When we had a listening session, our least favorite was “Honey Honey.” But when we heard the final mix, it became one of our favorites. It’s very dynamic and it’s very clean.

Stacey: Yeah! I remember we were so hyped up. We cannot wait to release these songs because they’re so good. We’re excited to perform them.

Colet: I’d just like to add a fun fact — “Unang Kilig” was supposed to be part of the Flames EP. But yeah, but we saved it to give it her own spotlight.

Mikha: When I heard “Step Back,” I would play it all the time to get me hyped up. It’s that type of song. It’s gonna get you jumping and moving and grooving. I can’t wait for everyone to hear. I had memorized it quickly because I listened to it so much.

What about any fun stories from the recording process that you remember?

Stacey: I lost my voice and I recorded it without my voice. When I listen to it, I’m like, “Oh, who’s that singing? Is that me?” Yeah, it’s so funny. [Laughs.]

Sheena: I remember while recording “Sugar Rush,” I was scammed! Well, I was, like, recording, you know, “Sugar, sugar,” and then my phone was like, “Ding, ding, ding” — my bank was hacked! And then I was like, “Coach, can I go?” Thankfully, I was with my parts, but I did not do any harmonies and Maloi saved me. All the harmonies, she did it. Yeah. I guess that’s not a fun fact. [Laughs.]

That’s crazy! Is everything OK now?

Sheena: Oh, yeah, my bank is now good.

Signals is your third EP and BINI continues to evolve and grow with each release. How would you say this project creatively and sonically differs from Flames?

Sheena: The concept of Flames came here from the Philippines as a reference to the game FLAMES — it has an existing meaning, so we re-interpreted it in a way that could relate to our songs. With Signals, we’re drawing inspiration from the word itself. It’s BINI’s signal to the world that we are coming. It still talks about love, but with signals. Love isn’t something you can you can explain right away, but you know the feeling. So with these songs, they have different kinds of feelings, different types of signals when you’re in love.

Colet: For Flames, it’s more loud and raw, but with Signals, I agree with what Sheena said — it’s kind of more of like our signal to the world. So for this songs, it talks about, you know, the unspoken connections to your favorite person.

And you have Coachella coming up this week already! What are some of your favorite songs from your discography to perform live?

Maloi: “Pantropiko.” I enjoy performing it, singing it, dancing it. And as the years pass by, there are a lot of new ad-libs and we put different flavors, different arrangements. I’m very confident singing that song.

Gwen: Mine would be “Salamin, Salamin” and “Pantropiko.” It’s like a trademark to BINI. Whenever we sing and perform “Pantropiko,” everybody just sings and dances with us.

Aiah: Mine is actually “Cherry On Top.” I just like how it has so much sass and flavor to it.

Not only is this your Coachella debut, but you are making history as the festival’s first Filipino act. What does that moment mean to you?

Jhoanna: We feel like it’s a turning point and we don’t see it as a peak. We see it as a beginning. It means a lot and we’re just grateful for that. We just don’t bring our name BINI. We bring Filipino talents and hopefully we open more doors for OPM [Original Pilipino Music] artists.

Maloi: It’s with such a big crowd, such a big stage. It’s very pressuring for us to perform there because a lot of people, but I think that pressure will help us to be more great, more excellent, in the craft that we do. And it just drives us to be the greatest version of ourselves.

Jhoanna: It is also exciting and inspiring to see a lot of different cultures that are being heard and seen now.

In addition to your music and touring, the BINI brand expands with things like BINI Cosmetics. You guys have like a whole lifestyle brand that’s going on for you guys. What’s your long-term vision for being beyond music as well?

Jhoanna: For us, we see BINI not just as a girl group. With BINI Cosmetics, it was our first time trying to release a cosmetic brand and our Blooms [BINI’s fandom name] love it. So hopefully we expand more, naybe next time, skincare or, you know, perfume, clothing. But for now, we just maximize everything with of course, quality over quantity.

Do you have any specific BINI cosmetics products that you really love?

Sheena: We have different biases. For me, it’s the Pout Pop. I use it every day because it has a lot of shades, so I have my favorite shade. It is Cinta. Yeah, you should try it. [Looks at their manager] Do you have extra? (Laughs).

Manager: I’m also using it today!

Colet: Mine would be the Cherry Blush in the shade, eyyy. Do you know “Eyyy”? It’s an expression in the Philippines, like when you do something cool or you just want to hype each other up, just say, “Eyyy!” So we named it after that.

Stacey: I think we have the same favorites. My favorite is the Cherry Blush in the shade Tooot! It’s very pigmented and I love to put it on my cheeks.

Gwen: Mine is the Cherry blush as well, because you can use it as eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick.

We’re at rehearsals today. How has it been preparing for Coachella specifically? Is there anything different like your normal rehearsals or normal practice that you’re trying to focus on?

Mikha: I think what’s so different is that we’ll be performing for 45 minutes straight. In concerts, we have breaks when one of our girls have solo performances, or when we’re interacting with the crowd, but at Coachella, it’s back to back. You can’t really rest for too long because you want to maximize the time you have. Since it’s our first time, we want to perform as many songs as we can, because we are introducing the Filipino pop culture for the first time on a Coachella stage.

Gwen: We’ve been very focused and hands on through the process: in terms of styling, the lineup of the songs, we make sure that we give a different flavor and arrangement. And I think that’s what people should look forward for our performance.

Are there any specific Coachella sets or sets from other festivals of other artists that you watched to prepare?

Mikha: I think we’ve all seen Blackpink’s performance from a live stream, and it was insane. It’s inspiring.

Sheena: Beyoncé, too. When was that, what year was it? Even though it has been — I guess not a very long time ago, but it’s still as iconic as ever.

And which performance are you most excited to see this year?

Sheena: Ahh! I’m excited to see Sabrina Carpenter. Givēon. Fuji. Justin Bieber. Big Bang. Taemin. Oh my god! And Katseye, and everyone!

Jhoanna: I have six! Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Katseye Dijon, Tinashe, and Major Lazer. I love Major Lazer.

Stacey: I’m excited to watch Justin Bieber. Sabrina Carpenter, Katseye, Young Thug, Central Cee. Oh my gosh, that’s a lot. BINI! [Laughs.]

Aiah: I’m excited to watch Sabrina Carpenter, Katseye, Justin Bieber. Giveon, Pink Pantheress, and Major Lazer. Oh, also Foster the people!

Is there advice from other artists that you have gotten in the past that has really stuck with you?

Aiah: One of the many artists that we look up to in the Philippines is Mr. Gary Valenciano. He’s known as Mr. Pure Energy of the Philippines. He actually gave us a lot advice and he always tells us to take care of ourselves, and to focus on the things that make us happy. Mentally, physically, because, you know, in the industry, there will be times you get tired, but it’s how we try to push through all of it. There’s actually one time we were talking about it inside a room and he requested for all cameras to leave. There would be no recordings, because that’s how much he really meant all of his words. I remember also there was one time he asked us, his very first question was—

All: “How are you?”

Aiah: And we all cried because it just felt very pure and sentimental!

Colet: I have one, too. Her name is KZ. She said to us that your talent will make you stay in the industry, but your attitude will make you stay longer. So you treat everyone equally. The staff, the artists, everyone, you respect them equally.

Jhoanna: Because you’ll never know, maybe next year they’re above you or, you know, you’ll never know.

What are some of the ways that you think you’ve grown stronger as a group over the past few years?

Maloi: I strongly believe that it is our perspective on everything. Personality, the way we look into our lives, the way we make decisions, small or big, work ethic, and the way we deal about our everyday lives. It also helps that we have our own lives. We used to all live together, but now we live separately. And we make our own worlds and for me, it’s helpful that we do things on our own. We have our own friends, we have our own worlds, and when we meet, we have so much to share — new ideas, new perspectives, that helps us to push further, to grow, and to see that each and every one of us is growing and changing, embracing change.

Aiah: Throughout the years, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs, really. We’ve had a lot of storms. We have gone through the pandemic together. That itself was really hard. We’ve had a lot of struggles internally, mentally, and even face a lot of challenges online in which sometimes it can really be hard and it can be testing, especially with our insecurities and we tend to overthink things and have self-doubts, but it’s through that that we learn a lot. I think over time, we’ve grown to be mature as well, and we’ve grown to understand some things and we’ve learned how to maneuver away and just rise above it all.