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RA.835 Marco Weibel

Published
Jun 5, 2022
Filesize
220 MB
Length
01:36:00

Deep club grooves from a deep New York DJ.
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Marco Weibel is the epitome of modesty. Over the past decade, the New York artist has quietly amassed a loyal following through expansive DJ sets that touch on everything from spiritual jazz to disco, but rather than credit himself, he lets the tunes speak for themselves. This humble attitude has won him the respect of veterans such as Lefto and Bradley Zero, as well as a growing fanbase from all corners of the musical spectrum. When he's not DJing, Weibel curates nights at various New York venues and co-runs Darker Than Wax, a label based out of Singapore (where he was born and raised). His selections showcase rhythm and texture over drops, but he always has an arsenal of radiant house cuts or UK garage to fire up a crowd. Cavernous crates aside, the cadence of his sets is perhaps their most distinguishing feature. On his weekly shows at Lot Radio, Hawaiian funk is followed by broken beat while at the club, 2-step spills into dembow techno and rich amapiano. While his mixes and performances usually start out on the melodic side, his RA Podcast switches things up. Unleashing a whirlwind of jungle before moving onto '90s-flavored house and other loopy styles, his session highlights local talents with plenty of delightful transitions throughout. Peter Brown's spacey soul flows into Aquarian's pulverising breaks, Ayesha's percussive techno precedes heart-tugging house and heavy dub morphs into Kerri Chandler's acid. Fluid and rolling, this is a true digger's delight. What are you grateful for these days? I'm grateful for the little things, like being healthy, safe and having a roof over my head honestly, the last 2 years put that into perspective. Also, grateful to RA for the invitation on this podcast—happy to connect with more ears across the globe. Big thank you to anyone who has ever put me on, supported, shared, come out to dance... it all goes a long way for real. How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it? I recorded it in my living room with two Technics 1200s, two XDJs and a four-channel Pioneer mixer. It's both records and a playlist on my USB of tracks I'd been putting aside specifically for the last two weeks leading up to the submission, real happy to feature some forthcoming exclusives from very talented friends, big shout out to Ayesha, Barbie Bertisch, Felipe Gordon for lacing me up. It's a little all over the place and I think that's just how my DJing style is. I wanted to kick things off strong and high-energy, so the first 30 minutes jumps right into it with some of my favorite jungle records. It then goes deeper from there—it's a reflection of the range of styles and moods I'd DJ in the club depending on the moment. Even though it's all over, there's parallels in the sound: big dub / soundsystem nods, I've really been finding myself drawn to these sub frequency vibrations lately. Definitely a nod to New York and that classic '90s sound that would be heard at parties like Shelter, etc., and connecting the dots to that influence / source originating from jazz / soul / funk which carried on to the UK and beyond in street soul / downtempo / dubstep / jungle, etc. There's always a certain rawness and soulfulness apparent in the track selection. I'm pretty active on my mix output as I host a weekly radio show on The Lot Radio (Darker Than Wax FM every Saturday from 12 to 2 PM EST). On radio, I focus on fresh discoveries—old and new, things I'm subconsciously drawn to but relatively unfamiliar with. This mix is definitely more material that I've sat with for awhile. It's a reflection of where my ear and interests are currently at. The parties you curate in New York bring out people with various music tastes. What's your strategy to selecting lineups and getting a diverse crowd? I believe it's important to encourage cross-pollination within scenes in your city! NYC is such a melting pot but lineups can often be very similar in sound and people, I understand that is how institutions are built (with regular residents and consistency, etc.) but in my humble opinion New York has so much of that already. My approach to selecting lineups is thinking about scenes that have relations with one another and then selecting the players that are orbiting slightly outside these scenes. It's always been about the cross over for me. Raji Rags in London did a tshirt a while back that was brilliant—"too techno for the hip-hop kids and too hip-hop for the techno crowd." I think that sums things up pretty well in regards to what kinda DJs I'd put on a lineup. I like to think these lineups instigate an interesting performance as well, not knowing what to expect throws artists and DJs off, and there's magic in that when you're out of your comfort zone musically. There's more room for improvisation. I'm grateful to the people who come to our parties, it always puts a smile on my face when someone tells me they enjoy the parties because they don't know what to expect musically. If your DJ lineup is diverse, your crowd more than likely will come through diverse as well. After all these years of working in radio, have you learned anything new about DJing that you wouldn't have been able to pick up elsewhere? I've learned to listen deeply and to let the music play out. Early on when I started doing radio shows, I'd try to squeeze in as much music into a two-hour show as possible. I realized it makes for a better listening experience to play out tracks in their entirety on the radio, especially if it isn't a 4/4 track. I think that radio is such a unique and special format, very different to playing in a club. I love both but with radio, you are very much in control of what you'd like to present whereas in a club, it's a bit more of a back-and-forth between you and your audience. It's two different approaches and at the end of the day, realizing that has definitely informed my DJing craft. I think the amount of preparation that goes behind researching and digging for a weekly radio show, as well as the hours put in behind the decks, definitely add up, too! What's one of your most memorable sets? The memorable ones tend to happen when I'm able to play all night or for an extended period. It really allows me to get into a groove and weave through different moods and feelings. That's where I feel the real magic of DJing happens—when your subconscious takes over and you're just connected with the music and the people. It's hard to pick a "most memorable set" because there honestly have been so many, but one particular night that comes to mind was in Berlin at Farbfernseher, I was supposed to play back-to-back with a DJ who unfortunately fainted (they were fine thankfully) just as the night started. They decided it'd be best to head home after that and I played alone from 10 PM till 6 AM, I was running off very little sleep, had just come straight from Dimensions in Croatia. Something clicked that night and it was a special one. What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to? We live in unstable and crazy times. Between the pandemic, the many conflicts and wars happening, environmental issues, I think mental health is a very important one. Be kind to one another, take care of your loved ones and yourself, show love and respect to all. We've all been going through it. Hoping to spread love through the sounds. What are you looking forward to in the near future? Looking forward to warmer weather and the summer months in general (Rockaway / Rippers beach season!), I'm also looking forward to Covid restrictions in Southeast Asia finally loosening. It's been a tough time for all the family and friends out there, glad there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hoping to be able to spend more time back as their nightlife sector reopens. The second volume of my Various Channels compilation is in the works, production and pipeline delays making it hard but we'll get there so hold tight for that. Also manifesting more opportunities to play across the US, I’ve only really been to the coasts.
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