Percussive sunset mix from Brooklyn
Excited to welcome Brooklyn-based DJ Yibing onto the series. I've been a big fan of her show on The Lot Radio for a while now, and recently had the pleasure of putting together a mix for it myself. It's always nice to connect with people who you feel like speak the same musical language, especially from the other side of the world. Really grateful to Yibing for putting this mix together for the series, recorded live at a DIY party in Brookyln. Her selections move effortlessly between more dancefloor-oriented sounds and dreamy, contemplative moments.
How are you today?
A little tired, stayed up late last night seeing Jek and Masa at Mansions. It was so fun. Now I'm sitting in my partner's studio. We have a movie playing in the background and are both working on our thing. We love parallel play.
What was the last song you listened to?
Neno Exporta Som, “Deixa a Tristeza.” It’s a beautiful, hopeful song tinged with melancholy.
Where do you most enjoy listening to music?
I try to bike often, it's one of my favorite ways to move around the city and get to places. And that's how I enjoy listening to music the most. I feel like it's where I am able to listen most deeply.
Other than that, I think the booth at Nowadays (and Nowadays in general) has such an amazing sound. One of my favorite sets there from the last few months was a Vladimir Ivkovic all-nighter. It was so inspiring.
What’s the best music discovery you’ve made recently?
I recently discovered St. Etienne's "Pond House", from their 2021 album I've Been Trying to Tell You. I loved reading the liner notes about it too – the whole album is a meditation about memory, and its unreliable nature, and to convey that all the songs are sample-based, taking elements from pop songs from the late 90s.
I've also been loving the new GMO record, Twist, released on Canary Sound.
Is there an artist or album you keep coming back to that people might not expect?
This is a funny thing to think about... I guess maybe 2000s Latin Rock and Pop like Café Tacuba, Zoé, Belanova, Babasónicos. No matter how long I've been away from Mexico City, or how many different music phases I've gone through since, that music will forever hit for me.
Tell us a bit about your musical background. What first got you into music, and how did you find your way into DJing?
Growing up as the only Asian kid in my elementary and middle school back in Mexico City, I often felt like an outcast, and music became my whole identity pretty early on. I went through so many phases in my tweens and teens, trying to soak up as much as I could: pop punk, emo, classic rock, hardcore and metal, and eventually indie stuff like shoegaze and bloghouse in high school. Around then I also started listening religiously to a local college radio station, Ibero 90.9, which began what now feels like a lifelong love affair with radio. It carried me through college, where I did freeform radio for four years, and has lasted through most of my adult life.
After graduating, I moved to NYC, and the first person I became close with started taking me to warehouse parties all over Brooklyn, introducing me to facets of electronic music that were foreign to me at the time. I also spent a year in Shanghai with my family, where I kept digging deeper and seeking out this sound, which eventually led me to Beats in Space. When I moved back, I ended up working with Tim Sweeney on his radio show and label for about four years. I got to see incredible DJ sets every week at WNYU, and the archive, with over 1,000 shows recorded across 20 years, is so special.
I started DJing around that time too, which felt like a pretty organic next step after all the different iterations of community radio I’ve been involved with over the years. I started out playing bar gigs, record shops, and community-run stations like Half Moon Radio, and eventually started throwing a party with some friends called Strictly Biz, at our favorite DIY space at the time, Magick City. In 2020, I started my residency on The Lot Radio with Tranquilamente Radio, and even after six years, I find it so thrilling to have a platform that keeps pushing me to find new music and new ways of telling stories through it. I’m so grateful to get to share music with people, and for the places this journey has taken me so far.
What kind of sounds, moods or records do you naturally gravitate towards when playing?
I tend to gravitate towards tracks with strong percussive elements above all. I also love chuggers and slower tempos, since that zone gives every element on a track room to breathe and stretch out. It’s almost like you can hear everything more clearly at that speed. Airy, ambient synths and soft, whispery vocals are always tucked in somewhere in my mixes, too. And enders. Enders are my favorite genre.
Talk us through your Theory Therapy mix. Where did it come together, and what kind of mood or headspace were you in?
I recorded this mix at a very special DIY venue in Brooklyn, for Slink’s residency there, where they usually host an all-day party on Sundays. It’s always exciting to play in a space where everyone is really engaged and locked in. I love building moments of introspection (and almost introversion) with layers of release woven in at different moments of the set. There were so many tracks I was excited to play and get to listen to on a nice soundsystem, including “Rain Song” by Gus Till, “Don’t Pretend” by Harmony Index, and “A4” by Topdown Dialectic.
Massive shout out to the Slink fam. I’m endlessly inspired by everything they do together as a crew, and individually. Everyone is so damn talented!!
Where would you recommend listening to the mix?
Maybe on a long drive or bike ride. I'm also imagining it would be fun to do the loop in Prospect Park with this mix, maybe on a misty morning :)
Tell us something exciting coming up in your life or music.
My partner Johnny and I are going to Shanghai to see my family, and we're squeezing a few days in Tokyo and Beijing as well (send recs!). We've been looking forward to this trip for a while... A lot of new core memories to be unlocked I'm sure 💓
Music-wise, I've been taking Ben Bondy's music class, and it's been a really fun experience. I still find the idea of making anything of my own so daunting, but it's been really great to learn ways to get started, and his approach to it is super lowkey, with the main ethos being that you can make so many things with resources at your fingertips, without having to buy super expensive software or gear right from the jump. I highly recommend it to anyone that's looking for inspiration to get started or to continue that journey!