Fresh Kicks 192: Marco Weibel

During the eight years that he’s resided in New York, Marco Weibel has made a strong imprint on the city’s music scene. Whether through his weekly show on The Lot Radio, curating nights for the label he helps run, Darker Than Wax, or playing at some of the city’s most distinguished venues, he’s become known as a DJ’s DJ, trusted by many.

Growing up in Singapore, he was exposed to a vast range of music through renowned institution, Zouk — a club that’s been running since the early ‘90s. “It was like a rite of passage,” Marco explains. “Zouk had a big part to play in terms of my musical upbringing, and then there was another club called Home that was always pushing more leftfield sounds.”

He was exposed to artists such as Floating Points and Mala through Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival in Singapore, and says he has always been drawn to the sounds from the UK. It’s back home that he also met Dean Chew (aka Funk Bast*rd) and Kaye, who founded Darker Than Wax. A label with its foundations in South-East Asia, nowadays it has a worldwide following and roster of artists from around the globe.

Marco’s record collection is diverse, in part due to the many record stores he had access to when he was younger. “Singapore is actually a great place for collecting records; a lot of the pressing plants were there back in the day. We have a few record stores out there. A lot of 12”s that I was collecting in Singapore were not so much house and techno, but more funk, disco and soul. There’s a crazy warehouse that’s called Red Point, and I think they housed about 40,000 records in this spot. It’s all second-hand, a lot of it is archives that the owner bought out from radio stations from the ‘80s. So there’s definitely gems to be found in Singapore.”

Moving to New York in 2014, Marco gained access to an abundance of record stores to further diversify his collection, digging deep into classic ‘90s house, dub and reggae, amongst other genres. His musical explorations can be heard via Darker Than Wax FM on Brooklyn’s The Lot Radio, a show he’s been co-hosting for six years every Saturday from 12-2pm (EST). “It’s really evolved over the years. I’ll have certain sets that are themed, with a certain vibe or a genre. But most of the time when I do radio, the format I like is really about pushing new artists, playing stuff that is fresh; I get sent a lot of promos and a lot of unreleased music, so just trying to keep my ear on that sort of thing. I would say it’s pretty different from what I play in the club. I want listeners to come back every week and discover something new,” he says.

Marco is also a key player in the nightlife scene of NYC, and right now things are bubbling; there’s been a burst of energy since the clubs reopened that hasn’t died down. “The energy of the city is still at an all-time high. I feel very blessed to be here. Obviously having laid roots here for quite some time, and being trusted to programme at places like Good Room, Le Bain and Public Records, being allowed to curate line-ups in these spaces, it’s amazing,” he says.

Marco Weibel is a connector at heart, joining the dots between the cities and scenes he’s called home, pushing new artists and talent through his many platforms. In January, he’s heading back to South-East Asia, bringing a collective of NYC DJs to play in Singapore for the first time. Next year, he plans to release another compilation via Darker Than Wax — ‘Various Channels Vol.2’ — and host some parties to support the release.

Listen to  Marco Weibel’s Fresh Kicks mix, and check the tracklist, below. 

Tracklist:

Kesswa ‘Chasing Delerium (feat. Nova Zaii)’
Monkey Ken & DJ Seto feat. Hazaed & Daddy Shadow ‘Taiyou Ga Arukagiri’
Fred P ‘Brownsville Groove (Ambient Pass)’
Javonntte ‘These Words’
Montego Bay ‘Music All Night (Deep in Milano Mix)’
Orlando Voorn ‘The Soul Messenger’
Wagon Cookin’ ‘Mainstreams (2 Left Feet Dub)’
A Guy Called Gerald ‘Emotions Electric’
Dave Lalla ‘Eternity Is Mine (Poetry By Fire)’
dreamcastmoe ‘Make Ya Mind Up’
K-Hand ‘Get On Up (12” Underground Mix)’
K-Lone ‘Get Loose’
Tiro! ‘Yule Brenner’
Rival ‘Blacklight’
James Bangura ‘Monterrey’
Tribe Of Colin ‘Babylon Kingdom Shall Fall’
Ethiopian Records ‘Qen Sew ቅን ሰዉ’
Beatrice Dillon & Call Super ‘Fluo’
Archie Bell & the Drells ‘Where Will You Go When The Party's Over (Mike Dunn Edit)’
Michael Henderson ‘Riding’