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Going Out in Seoul: A Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Guide to the Actual Scene
I’ve been DJing in Seoul since the early 2000s. Here’s the neighborhood guide I wish I had — from Hongdae’s chaos to the basement techno spots with no sign on the door.
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Cakeshop: How One Club Defined Seoul’s Underground
Before Cakeshop, Seoul was not part of the international underground circuit’s conversation. After it, the conversation could not happen without Seoul in it. The basement at 244-1 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu is not large. The capacity is somewhere around 200 to 300 people depending on configuration. There is nothing about the physical space that explains why the
Seoul Scene
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Cakeshop: How One Club Defined Seoul’s Underground
Before Cakeshop, Seoul was not part of the international underground circuit’s conversation. After it, the conversation could not happen without Seoul in it. The basement at 244-1 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu is not large. The capacity is somewhere around 200 to 300 people depending on configuration. There is nothing about the physical space that explains why the…
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How Korean Club Culture Developed Its Own Rules
Korean club culture is not a copy of European club culture. It developed under different social pressures and produced different norms. The differences are the interesting part. In a Berghain-model European club, tables are unusual and bottle service is absent. In a Gangnam club, the table booking is how you anchor your group’s social unit…
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How to Get DJ Bookings: The Honest Version
Nobody gets booked because they asked nicely. The real mechanism is craft, showing up at shows, supporting the scene genuinely, social media (yes, really, sorry), and the long game. This is the honest version.
Profiles
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Fred Again: What He Actually Did to Electronic Music
Fred Again is not just hype. Here’s an honest look at why his production technique, live approach, and collaborations have genuinely moved electronic music forward.
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The Chemical Brothers: Block Rockin’ Beats & Beyond
From Manchester bedrooms to Glastonbury headliners — the full story of The Chemical Brothers, why their music still hits, and what they taught a generation of DJs about spectacle.
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The Accidental Rise of Deadmau5: From Obscurity to EDM Supremacy
How Joel Zimmerman went from finding a dead mouse in his computer to headlining every major electronic festival in the world — and why his music still stands up.
Mixes
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Feeling Factor Vol. 46: Jazzy, Deep, and Soulful House
Unwind and elevate your mood with Feeling Factor Vol. 46! This mix seamlessly blends deep house grooves with soulful vocals and jazzy influences, creating a truly captivating soundscape. Perfect for relaxing evenings, focused work sessions, or cruising through the city. Press play and let the music take you away!
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Get Down Vol. 6: Soulful House and Disco Through the Cold Months
Join DJ 4play on a sonic adventure with ‘Get Down Vol.6 House & Disco Mix’, showcasing the best in soulful house and energetic disco tunes.
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Get Down Vol. 2: A Live Disco & House Mix from Seoul’s Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve in Seoul is one of the best nights to play music in this city. The Koreans, who didn’t grow up with Christmas as a solemn religious occasion, treat December 24th with a genuine enthusiasm for the purely social elements of the holiday that can feel refreshingly uncomplicated if you’ve spent too many years…
Essays
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Drum and Bass and Jungle: The UK Underground Story
The Amen break is six seconds of drumming from a 1969 soul record. It built an entire subculture and was never licensed. The Winstons recorded Amen, Brother in 1969. Gregory Coleman, the drummer, was paid a session fee. He never received another penny from that recording. The six-second break he played became the rhythmic foundation…
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Acid House and the Second Summer of Love
Acid house did not travel from Chicago to London as a finished product. It arrived as a process: a machine, a filter knob, and the instruction to turn it. In 1987, DJ Pierre, Spanky, and Herb J bought a Roland TB-303 from a Chicago pawn shop for almost nothing. Roland had discontinued the machine three…
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The Rave Era: from Warehouse to Field, 1988–1994
The Criminal Justice Act 1994 criminalised music characterised by “a succession of repetitive beats.” The parties had already changed the country. On the night of June 23, 1989, approximately 11,000 people gathered in a field near Longwick in Buckinghamshire for Biology, one of the orbital M25 raves organised by Tony Colston-Hayter’s Sunrise company. They had…
Dance Music Genealogy
50 Years of Genre History, Mapped
From Detroit techno to Seoul’s underground — an interactive tree tracing how every subgenre connects, splits, and evolves. 56 nodes. One continuous story.
Explore the Tree →