The Lab Sessions present Assemble episode 12 on Scientific Sound Asia. Scientific Sound Asia operates as an Asian electronic music radio station, event promoter, DJ agency and music news platform, connecting underground artists and listeners across Asia and internationally.
The Lab Sessions is an electronic music collective based in Bogotá, Colombia, built around collaboration, cultural exchange and long-term development of the local underground scene. Since 2016, the project has worked across radio, events and artist showcases to present Colombian electronic music to audiences both at home and internationally.
A central part of the collective’s identity is curation rather than simply event promotion. The Lab Sessions brings together DJs, producers and listeners from different backgrounds while maintaining a strong connection with the character of Colombia’s own underground electronic culture.
Their work also places emphasis on inclusivity and artistic quality. By creating space for both international artists and Colombian talent, the collective has developed a platform where different approaches to electronic music can meet without losing their individual identity.
The Lab Sessions has built a consistent presence across South America through appearances at clubs, festivals and alternative venues. Their history includes events at Octava, Klan 31, Teatron, KAPUTT, Vagabond, Bud-X Colombia, Top Secret Medellín, Armando Records, Céntrico, Mambo Alive, Sutton and Montibus Fest.
Independent projects have also formed an important part of that activity. Bassline events, TLS Parties and Eurotechno have given the collective additional spaces to develop its own programming and strengthen connections between artists working across different areas of underground electronic music.
Beyond Bogotá, The Lab Sessions has extended its activity into other cities around the region. Appearances in Cali and Quito, including events at Madame Garden, La Fabryka, Groove and Dirty Sanchez, helped broaden the project’s network across Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador.
That regional experience feeds directly into Assemble, which gives The Lab Sessions another format for presenting the artists and sounds connected with its wider community. The programme reflects the same collaborative approach found in its events while allowing listeners outside South America to engage with the collective’s selections.
Guest DJ Takamasa Owaki (first hour)
This week’s first guest DJ is Takamasa Owaki, originally from Kamo-gun in Japan, whose musical development has been shaped by time spent across South America, North America, the Middle East and Asia. His DJ career began in South America, where he performed at events in Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador and started building an adaptable approach to selection.
That early period helped define a style rooted in House, Nu Disco and Tech House while drawing on nearly two decades of influence from 1980s and 1990s electronic music, Disco and Rock. Classical music also formed part of his early background through his father, contributing to the sense of structure and atmosphere that later became important in his DJing.
At the age of twenty-three, Takamasa spent two years in the United States as an agriculture student. Exposure there to electronic music alongside Hip Hop, Reggae and Latin styles broadened his rhythmic vocabulary and became an important part of his musical development.
After returning to Japan, he worked as a florist while steadily gaining DJ experience through café and bar residencies. Those smaller environments allowed him to refine a style based on pacing, continuity and responsiveness rather than rigid genre boundaries.
His sets now move through Disco, Afro House, Psychedelic and Ambient textures, with Deep House and Soulful House forming much of the core. Chillout passages are also used to create contrast and release tension, giving his programming room to shift naturally between deeper and more energetic sections.
That approach is expressed most clearly through his Cactus Experience project. The concept centres on refined urban grooves, deeper House selections and carefully controlled progression, with each part of the set contributing to a broader musical flow.
Alongside DJing, Takamasa has continued to develop his work as a producer. Releases including Pleasure Line and Midnight Boogie, the latter created with Shiika, have appeared through DIGGGz Recordings.
Those productions lean towards Disco-informed swing and late-night House while remaining connected with the deeper side of his DJ sets. They also show how his studio work has begun to mirror the balance between groove, melody and understated movement heard throughout Cactus Experience.
Takamasa began his career playing vinyl and has since performed or held residencies at venues including Lavista at the InterContinental Hotel Doha, The Warehouse Wine and Tapas at Pearl Rotana Abu Dhabi, Impressions Lounge at Anantara Abu Dhabi, ToroToro at Etihad Towers and Hard Rock Cafe Bogotá. That international experience has given him a broad perspective on how different audiences respond to House and related electronic styles.
For his appearance on Assemble episode 12, Takamasa Owaki brings together the influences gathered across several countries and scenes. His guest mix reflects a selector shaped by Deep House, Soulful House, Disco and atmospheric electronic music, with continuity and measured progression at the centre of his approach.depth, continuity and emotional connection, inviting listeners into a carefully shaped underground journey.
Guest DJ Bustamante (second hour)
This week’s second guest DJ is Bustamante, a Colombian DJ and curator based in Bogotá whose work is closely connected with the development of the country’s underground electronic music scene. He is also the founder of The Lab Sessions, a project created to give greater visibility to artists working across Colombia’s independent club culture.
The Lab Sessions has developed into a wider artistic collective, event platform and long-running podcast series. Through those projects, Bustamante has worked to connect emerging and established Colombian artists with audiences both locally and internationally.
A central part of that activity has been creating opportunities for new talent. The collective has placed local DJs and producers alongside national and international names through festivals, club events, radio showcases and independent electronic music projects across Colombia.
Bustamante’s own musical outlook is rooted in Techno, Deep Tech and House. His influences extend towards the club cultures of Berlin, Detroit, London and Madrid, but his aim has remained focused on interpreting those foundations through a distinctly Colombian perspective.
Rather than reproducing the sound of those cities directly, he uses them as reference points for rhythm, structure and atmosphere. That approach has helped shape both his DJ sets and the wider curatorial direction behind The Lab Sessions.
His performance style has also developed alongside changes in DJ technology. Earlier sets incorporated live and hybrid elements using Native Instruments controllers and step sequencers before he gradually moved towards a fully CDJ-based setup.
That progression reflects his emphasis on structure and long-form flow rather than short, peak-driven moments. Rhythm and continuity remain central to the way he builds a set, allowing different areas of House and Techno to connect naturally across longer passages.
Beyond his own performances, scene building remains an important part of Bustamante’s work. The Lab Sessions emerged from gaps he identified within the local ecosystem and developed into a platform capable of giving artists more consistent opportunities for exposure.
That commitment means curation and community remain just as important to his role as DJing itself. By maintaining spaces for collaboration and exchange, he continues to support a wider network of artists working within Colombia’s underground electronic music culture.
Bustamante is also developing his production work, with original material and early EP projects forming the next stage of his creative direction. While his public identity has so far been shaped primarily by DJing and curation, the studio provides another way for him to translate the ideas developed through his sets and the wider TLS network.
For his appearance on Assemble episode 12, Bustamante brings that Bogotá background and curatorial experience directly into the programme. His guest mix reflects a DJ shaped by Techno, Deep Tech and House while remaining closely connected with the local scene he has spent years helping to develop.
Takamasa Owaki opens the first hour with Wearing Shoes and TIER RA NICHI before Wipe the Needle with Tshaka Campbell and T-Markakis establish a warm, groove-led Deep House foundation. Alex Agore and Cosmonection keep the selection fluid, adding soulful textures and a relaxed rhythmic character before the set begins to broaden.
Babert with Shovell and Panko with Samuele De Santis and Nico S bring a brighter disco-inflected edge, while Manoo's remix of Vince Watson introduces deeper percussion and a more atmospheric pull. Harpoon with Jasmin Jade and Richard Earnshaw's revision of Lee Wilson and El Funkador then strengthen the Soulful House side of the first hour.
Adri Block and Chris Marina continue the house groove before Fernando Picon creates a brief transition into more expansive melodic territory. Jody Wisternoff and Mimi Page in the Spencer Brown and Wilt Claybourne remix add a Progressive House dimension before Nudsko closes Takamasa Owaki's set with "All Over".
Bustamante opens the second hour with a Kreacher edit of Amy Winehouse before Raw Equipment and Mancini move the mix towards stripped-back Minimal House and deeper tech grooves. Zambiancki with Alex Dam, Kenny Oliver and Demarzo's remix of Mehlor keep the rhythm tight, favouring rolling basslines and sparse percussion.
Alex Dam, Sebastian Ledher with Toochi and Rigzz's remix of Reelow continue the deeper club pressure before Aron Volta, ANOTR and Daze Prism sharpen the groove further. Cosenza and Lucianno Villarreal then maintain the Deep Tech House direction, giving the second hour a noticeably more stripped and percussive identity than the first.
Silkeepers leads into two consecutive Mateo Dufour and Cosenza tracks on elrow Limited before Oden & Fatzo close the programme with "Taboulet Malgache". Across Assemble 12, Takamasa Owaki blends Deep House, Soulful House, Disco and progressive flavours in the opening hour, while Bustamante answers with Minimal House, Deep Tech House and groove-heavy underground club music.
Assemble 12 by The Lab Sessions Crew
Takamasa Owaki (first hour)
Wearing Shoes - Reduce The Speed (Original Mix) [Deep Obsession Recordings]
TIER RA NICHI - In Paradise (Total Bliss Imprint) [Ghost Recordings NYC]
Wipe the Needle, Tshaka Campbell - Torn (Original Mix) [TotheRockRecords]
T-Markakis - Marvins Touch (Original Mix) [Little Jack]
Alex Agore - Isolation (Original Mix) [Moment Of Truth Records]
Cosmonection - Carnaval [Pont Neuf Records]
Babert, Shovell - Corazon (Original Mix) [Club Sweat]
Panko, Samuele De Santis, Nico S - Parmesano Rhodes (Original Mix) [About Disco Records]
Vince Watson - Progress (Manoo Remix) [Everysoul]
Harpoon - I Still Feel You Feat. Jasmin Jade (Extended Mix) [Tinted Records]
Lee Wilson, El Funkador - Complicated (Richard Earnshaw Revision) [Blockhead Recordings]
Adri Block, Chris Marina - Fallin (Original Mix) [PLAYEDiT Records]
Fernando Picon - Intro Nature [Surbeats Records]
Jody Wisternoff, Mimi Page - For Those We Knew (Spencer Brown & Wilt Claybourne Remix) [Anjunadeep]
Nudsko - All Over (Porter Remix) [Grouper Recordings]
Bustamante (second hour)
Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Kreacher Edit) [Soundcloud]
Raw Equipment - Yesterplay [PIV]
Mancini - Furbished [Moan Recordings]
Zambiancki, Alex Dam - In The Meantime (Original Mix) [Whoyostro]
Kenny Oliver - The Vibes (Original Mix) [Rawsome Deep]
Mehlor - Avalon (Demarzo Remix) [Mile End Records]
Alex Dam - Patwa [Whoyostro]
Sebastian Ledher & Toochi (SA) - Elevate (Jizz Remix) [Play Groove Recordings]
Reelow - In The Benninginng (Rigzz Remix) [Moan Recordings]
Kevin Toro & AWSI - Pollock (Aron Volta Remix) [Key Records]
ANOTR - Troublemaker [No Art]
Daze Prism - Monotype (Original Mix) [Whoyostro Black]
Cosenza - Nasty (Original Mix) [Pitch Records]
Lucianno Villarreal - Carioca Feat. Vocal Ale Castro (Original Mix) [Blind Vision Records]
Silkeepers - Everyday Is Friday [Habitat]
Mateo Dufour, Cosenza - Slap Me (Original Mix) [elrow Limited]
Mateo Dufour, Cosenza - Atlantic (Original Mix) [elrow Limited]
Oden & Fatzo - Taboulet Malgache (Original Mix) [Salin Records]
Listen on Mixcloud here.