New Year’s Eve, Foundations Saigon with Japanese guest DJ Marcy

Event Details

Scientific Sound Asia presented a one-off New Year’s Eve edition of Foundations Saigon, bringing special guest DJ Marcy from Okinawa, Japan, to Ho Chi Minh City. Marcy had previously appeared on Scientific Sound Asia Radio, and the event extended that connection into a live two-floor celebration across Dill Saigon and Nightcap Saigon.

The party used two venues operating from the same location, giving guests different musical directions as they moved through the building. Downstairs at Dill Saigon, the focus was on Breaks, Hip Hop and Funk, while Nightcap Saigon upstairs moved towards House, Nu Disco, Disco and melodic electronic sounds.

That split gave Foundations Saigon a broader identity than a conventional single-room New Year’s Eve party. Rougher breakbeats, Hip Hop rhythms and Funk could drive the downstairs floor while the upstairs room offered a smoother soundtrack built around House and Disco influences.

Dill Saigon provided the more informal side of the event with drinks designed for easy party service throughout the night. Draft MixTape craft beer, craft beer cans, cider, Huda by the glass, Carlsberg draft and Carlsberg bottles were all included in the drinks selection.

Upstairs, Nightcap Saigon offered a cocktail-bar environment that suited the House, Nu Disco and Disco-led programme. Cocktails were served throughout the night, giving the upper floor a different atmosphere without separating it completely from the wider party downstairs.

The line-up brought together DJ Marcy from Okinawa, DJ Psycho-UK from London and DJ vDub from Canada. Their different backgrounds gave the event a genuinely international character while allowing the music to move across several generations of underground dance and club culture.

DJ Marcy arrived from Okinawa with more than twenty-five years of performing experience behind him at the time of the event. His selections moved through House, Nu Disco, Minimal and Techno, with an emphasis on keeping a consistent groove while adapting to the atmosphere of the room.

His earlier appearance on Scientific Sound Asia Radio meant the New Year’s Eve booking developed an existing relationship rather than introducing him as an entirely new artist to the platform. Bringing him from Japan to Ho Chi Minh City connected the station’s international broadcasts with a physical event and gave the celebration another direct link with underground music elsewhere in Asia.

Marcy’s broad musical range made him especially suitable for the upstairs Nightcap Saigon programme. Nu Disco and House could provide warmth and movement early in the evening, while Minimal, melodic material and stronger electronic selections gave him room to adjust as midnight approached and the party developed.

DJ Psycho-UK, also known as Bearhead, brought a considerably longer connection with Scientific Sound Asia’s activity in Vietnam. His background stretches from Hip Hop and Acid House through Hardcore, Jungle, Drum and Bass, House and the wider British underground scene.

Growing up in East London, his musical foundations were shaped during a period when Hip Hop, House, rave and soundsystem culture were developing rapidly around him. Influences included Public Enemy, KRS-One, Run-DMC, DJ Hype, Carl Cox, Mickey Finn, A Guy Called Gerald, Leftfield, Portishead and Massive Attack.

For Foundations Saigon, that history gave him room to work across the different musical areas represented on both floors. Hip Hop, Breaks and Funk connected naturally with his earlier roots, while House and related electronic styles reflected the broader direction his DJing had taken over the following decades.

His involvement also connected the New Year’s Eve event directly with Scientific Sound Asia’s wider work across events, radio broadcasting and artist bookings in Vietnam. Rather than appearing solely as a DJ, he represented the organisation behind the wider concept and its multi-genre approach to underground music.

DJ vDub brought another international element to the bill through a background that began within the underground Asian club scene in Taiwan. His early sets focused on Nu Breaks and Dancehall, with electro-grunge and fidget influences gradually pulling his sound towards dirtier electronic bass music.

Over time, that direction developed further into electro-glitch and mash-up territory. The result was an eclectic style built around broken rhythms, heavy bass and unexpected combinations rather than a predictable four-to-the-floor club structure.

During his career, vDub had played alongside artists including Jack Beats, Atomic Hooligan, Aquasky and Hybrid. Those connections placed him close to the worlds of Breakbeat, bass music and genre-crossing electronic production that fitted naturally into the downstairs Dill Saigon programme.

His presence gave the Breaks, Hip Hop and Funk floor a different character from a conventional Hip Hop event. Dirty bass beats, Nu Breaks and mash-up influences could connect with Funk and rap selections while keeping the room energetic throughout the New Year’s Eve session.

Across both floors, the music therefore moved through Breaks, Hip Hop, Funk, House, Nu Disco, Disco and melodic electronic sounds. Rather than forcing all three DJs into the same style, the two-room format gave their different backgrounds enough space to work while keeping the party connected through rhythm and groove.

The event also fitted the broader Foundations idea by drawing from the musical roots behind several areas of modern club culture. Hip Hop, Funk and Breaks downstairs could sit alongside Disco and House upstairs, highlighting relationships between styles that developed through different scenes but often shared the same rhythmic foundations.

Scientific Sound Asia’s broader platform links that history through its radio station, DJ agency, events and music news. The New Year’s Eve edition of Foundations Saigon brought those connections together physically through artists from Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada in one Ho Chi Minh City location.

The combination of Dill Saigon and Nightcap Saigon also gave the event a practical advantage for a long celebration. Guests could change rooms and musical pace without leaving the building, moving from rougher Breaks and Hip Hop downstairs to smoother House and Disco sounds upstairs as the night developed.

Foundations Saigon – New Year’s Eve therefore worked as more than a standard countdown party. DJ Marcy, DJ Psycho-UK and DJ vDub brought international underground experience across two floors, with Breaks, Hip Hop, Funk, House, Nu Disco, Disco and Melodic House music carrying the celebration into the new year.