Marco Mei Electronic Roots

Event Details

This event took place at The Lighthouse Bar, 51 Nguyễn Tư Giản, Phúc Tân, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam, from 9 PM on 6 September 2023 until 4 AM on 7 September 2023. The Lighthouse Hanoi presented Marco Mei Electronic Roots, bringing the concept developed through Bicycle Corporation and Scientific Sound Asia to the capital for a seven-hour electronic music session.

The event followed the success of the Bicycle Corporation radio show on Scientific Sound Asia Radio. Moving the format into The Lighthouse extended Electronic Roots beyond its earlier appearances in Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City and added Hanoi to the growing event archive.

Marco Mei represented Bicycle Corporation and brought more than three decades of international DJ experience to the night. The Italian selector began his career in 1991 after being shaped by the early waves of Afro and House music, later developing a much broader style across underground electronic music.

His long career allowed him to approach Electronic Roots from several different directions rather than treating the event as a narrowly defined genre night. House, deeper electronic grooves and other club-focused sounds could all find a place within a set built around rhythm, progression and the atmosphere of the room.

Marco’s international work had already taken him through clubs and events across Europe, Asia and beyond by the time of the Hanoi appearance. His bookings included Woo Bar in Bali, The Mansion in Shanghai, Fuse in Brussels, The Observatory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vervo Club in Kunming, Pacha in Dresden, Cha Cha Moon in Koh Samui, NLO in Minsk, Time in Manila and Global Dance in Russia.

Those appearances exposed him to very different club environments, from smaller underground rooms to larger international venues and events. That experience helped shape a flexible DJ approach capable of adapting to different audiences while maintaining the musical identity built over decades behind the decks.

Marco had also shared line-ups with established international artists including Roger Sanchez, David Morales, Ralph Falcon, Sander Kleinenberg, Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, Justin Berkmann and Funk D’Void. Those connections placed his career alongside several generations of House Music and underground electronic culture.

Bicycle Corporation provided another important part of the history behind the event. Marco formed the project with Italian producer Stefano Ugliano, also known as 6884, and their work developed across House, Techno and related areas of electronic production.

Their relationship with Scientific Sound Asia later expanded through a series of online radio programmes. Electronic Roots gave Marco a dedicated format for exploring the broader influences behind his club music and allowed the programme to move beyond one fixed interpretation of House or Techno.

The live event at The Lighthouse Hanoi carried that idea into a physical setting. Instead of presenting the music solely through a broadcast, Marco could react directly to the audience and develop the selection across the full seven-hour running time.

That long format gave the night room to build gradually rather than depending on rapid changes or a short headline appearance. Deeper opening material could develop into stronger electronic selections as the night progressed, allowing the set to follow the energy inside the venue.

The Lighthouse provided an appropriate setting for the Hanoi edition because of its connection with the city’s independent electronic music community. Bringing Electronic Roots to the venue placed the series within another part of Vietnam’s underground nightlife rather than restricting it to the southern scene around Ho Chi Minh City.

The Hanoi date was also important geographically for the wider development of the concept. Earlier Electronic Roots events had already connected Scientific Sound Asia with Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City, while this appearance extended the same radio-to-club relationship into northern Vietnam.

That movement between cities reflected the broader international nature of Bicycle Corporation’s work. A programme broadcast through Scientific Sound Asia could reach listeners online before being translated into club events in different parts of Asia.

Marco’s musical history made him well suited to that kind of movement because his career had already been shaped by international travel. Rather than carrying one fixed club formula from country to country, his sets could respond to local audiences while remaining rooted in House, electronic music and groove.

The event also demonstrated how Scientific Sound Asia’s radio activity could lead directly into physical bookings. The platform’s wider work now connects events, broadcasting, its regional DJ agency and music news across underground music in Asia.

For Marco Mei, the Hanoi appearance added another Vietnamese city to a career that had already included performances in Ho Chi Minh City and numerous locations elsewhere in Asia. It also strengthened the connection between his individual DJ work, Bicycle Corporation and the Electronic Roots identity developed through the radio series.

The musical direction remained deliberately broad enough to represent that history. Afro and House influences formed part of the foundation, while decades of club experience allowed Marco to move into deeper and more contemporary electronic territory as the night developed.

The seven-hour running time also gave listeners an opportunity to hear more than a compressed festival-style set. A longer session could reveal the transitions, pacing and different musical influences behind Marco’s approach rather than concentrating only on the most immediate dancefloor records.

Marco Mei Electronic Roots at The Lighthouse Hanoi therefore marked another step in the expansion of the series across Asia. From 9 PM until 4 AM, Marco Mei brought more than three decades of international experience to the Hanoi dancefloor while connecting Bicycle Corporation, Scientific Sound Asia and the wider Electronic Roots concept with Vietnam’s capital.