Ouissam

It would be wrong to start talking about where Ouissam comes from – after a decade in Asia, he’s now something of a regional entity that has managed to change the dance music scene wherever he has laid down roots. His approach to a dance floor is as simple as it is intuitive and elegant: nothing that can make a room shudder with joy is barred from his selections.

As the founder of Hong Kong’s Cliche Records, he was one of the first in that city to cultivate a disco-house-techno synthesis that shifted the understanding of what could be danced to there. He went on to create the magnetic Homesick and Fragrant Harbour labels, before suddenly setting his sights on Hanoi in Vietnam, where he has established the dance mecca Savage where he runs the monthly queer night Snug. And on top of all that, he found time to curate the coveted Equation festival, now entering its fifth year.

But beyond his achievements, you find a DJ with a pure love and appreciation for the power of music, and one that has learnt how to harness this love into something that can be transmitted to his dance floors. Moving effortlessly between disco, house and techno, long-lost gems collide with cutting-edge groove to produce a sonic aesthetic that is simply irresistible.

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