Rehab – Saturday Sessions

Event Details

This event took place at Arcan, 236/29/2H Điện Biên Phủ, Phường 17, Bình Thạnh, Ho Chi Minh City, from 3 PM until 8 PM on 3 November 2018, with the original address retained for archive accuracy even though the venue has since closed. Rehab switched away from its usual evening format for this Saturday Session, giving Ho Chi Minh City’s underground bass music community a five-hour afternoon programme dedicated to Drum and Bass.

The earlier running time gave the event a different character from the late-night Rehab sessions that had already become part of the local scene. Instead of building towards the early morning, the DJs had the afternoon and early evening to move through different sides of Drum and Bass while Arcan was still operating as a daytime gathering point.

Rehab had been developed as a regular outlet for dedicated Drum and Bass events in Ho Chi Minh City, with residents and guests selected around a focused music policy rather than a broad commercial format. The Saturday Session continued that approach with Being, Skitty, Skrunk and Hugh G representing different parts of the local bass music community.

Arcan provided a suitable setting for the series because its sound system could handle the low frequencies, drums and sharper production associated with the genre. The club had already become connected with alternative electronic music in Saigon, making it a natural venue for an event centred on bass weight and underground selections.

Skitty brought the strongest direct connection with the British Jungle and Drum and Bass tradition represented within Rehab. Originally from Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and later based in Ho Chi Minh City, he developed his career through production, DJing and his Foundation X record label.

His catalogue includes releases through Metalheadz, Renegade Hardware, Bassbin, Subtitles, Osiris, Dutty Audio and Trendkill Records. These labels are closely associated with the deeper and harder sides of Drum and Bass, giving Skitty a substantial production background behind the selections he brought to Rehab.

In 2009, Skitty founded Foundation X as a platform for uncompromising Drum and Bass and what he describes as raw ruffneck junglism. The label gave him another way to support darker material while extending his work beyond individual releases and DJ appearances.

After relocating to Ho Chi Minh City, Skitty became an active part of Vietnam’s bass music scene and helped develop Rehab together with Scientific Sound Asia. His appearances around the city included venues such as Piu Piu, Arcan and The Basement, while festival performances included Cargo Remote Festival and Vibe Nation.

Being brought another established Rehab connection to the Saturday Session and added a groove-led local perspective to the programme. His participation helped preserve continuity between different editions of the series, giving regular attendees a familiar resident presence alongside the other DJs.

Rather than treating every Rehab event as a completely separate line-up, the organisers used recurring selectors to build a recognisable identity around the night. Being’s role within that structure helped establish the residency as a continuing Drum and Bass platform rather than a sequence of unrelated one-off parties.

Skrunk joined the Saturday line-up as another selector connected with the city’s bass music community. The original event material does not provide a detailed biography, so his appearance is retained here without adding unsupported career claims or release information.

His inclusion nevertheless broadened the afternoon programme and added another voice to the four-DJ format. With each artist given room to contribute, the event could move across different rhythmic approaches without abandoning the Drum and Bass focus at its centre.

Hugh G completed the published line-up and contributed another local connection to the session. As with Skrunk, the surviving event details do not provide enough verified background to expand his biography responsibly, so the archive preserves his role without speculation.

The combination of Being, Skitty, Skrunk and Hugh G gave the Saturday Session a distinctly resident-led identity. Instead of relying on a headline international guest, Rehab used artists already connected with the local scene to demonstrate the depth of Drum and Bass activity developing in Ho Chi Minh City.

That approach was important for a regular event series because a sustainable scene could not depend entirely on visiting artists passing through Southeast Asia. Local and locally based DJs needed their own recurring platform where they could develop audiences, exchange music and build familiarity with listeners over time.

Rehab also used this edition to invite other DJs interested in future appearances to make contact with the organisers. The invitation showed that the series was still developing and that its resident structure was intended to remain open to new selectors capable of contributing to the same underground music policy.

This emphasis on participation helped create a pathway between people attending the events and DJs hoping to become involved with later editions. It also supported the broader aim of building a stronger network around Drum and Bass rather than keeping the event limited to a fixed group of names.

The afternoon format made this particular Rehab session unusual within Ho Chi Minh City nightlife, where many underground electronic music events began late and continued into the early morning. Starting at 3 PM created a different social setting while still giving the DJs five hours to build a coherent musical programme.

That timing also made the event accessible to people who wanted dedicated Drum and Bass without committing to an all-night club session. By finishing at 8 PM, the Saturday Session could function independently while still leaving the rest of the evening open for other events around the city.

Rehab’s wider music policy covered rolling Drum and Bass, darker material and harder underground selections rather than restricting the series to one narrow branch of the genre. This allowed the residents to move between deeper passages and heavier dancefloor material while preserving the identity of the event.

Scientific Sound Asia’s involvement with Rehab formed part of its broader work in Ho Chi Minh City’s underground music community. The organisation now brings that history together through its events, radio station, DJ agency and music news sections.

The current Scientific Sound Asia agency still represents Skitty, providing a direct link between these historical Rehab events and the artists associated with the organisation today. His profile documents both his British Drum and Bass background and his later involvement in developing the genre within Vietnam.

Arcan has since closed, but preserving the exact address, running time and line-up gives the Saturday Session a proper place within the archive of Ho Chi Minh City’s underground electronic music venues. The event documents a period when smaller independent spaces could provide dedicated programming for music that sat outside the city’s mainstream nightlife.

Rehab’s decision to experiment with an afternoon slot also demonstrates that the series was willing to adapt its format while retaining its musical purpose. Being, Skitty, Skrunk and Hugh G supplied the selectors, Arcan supplied the room and sound system, and Drum and Bass remained the reason for bringing everyone together.

The Saturday Session therefore represents another step in the wider effort to give Drum and Bass a regular home in Ho Chi Minh City. Rather than depending on spectacle or a major touring headliner, this edition relied on local commitment, resident DJs and a focused five-hour programme built around the music itself.