PUBLISHED December 31st, 2015 04:00 pm | UPDATED August 19th, 2024 02:40 am
For over 15 years, Adrian Wee (some might know him as weelikeme) has been deeply involved in Singapore’s nightlife. From DJing to promoting parties to running clubs, Adrian has done it all. His highly successful decade-strong party, poptart, has introduced alternative and indie rock to the dance floors.
But for this edition of City Nomads Radio, we chat with Adrian about his new company – Never – his music, and the one thing that people don’t know about him.
City Nomads Radio #07: Adrian Wee / weelikeme by Citynomadsradio on Mixcloud
Hi Adrian! It has been 15 years, how did it all begin?
It has indeed been a while since I started as a wide-eyed DJ noob! The short version of how I started is I got sucked into the dance scene during my university days in Melbourne. I spent all my lunch money on records; got a pair of 15 year old decks from a friend; locked myself in my room for 6 months and practiced every day.
Soon after, I got a gig at a club in Mohammed Sultan and have been doing gigs since then.
How has your music progressed over the years?
There’s no doubt the music has progressed a lot over the years. I was playing hard trance and techno in the beginning, and I’ve flirted with most of the other sub-genres that followed, like minimal, deep, tech-house, electro, and nu-disco.
Also, somewhere over the years, I found much joy in mixing britpop, indie, pop, and other non-electronic types of music. I’ve had the gross misfortune of dealing with EDM, but that’s a story for another day.
What’s one thing people don’t know about weelikeme?
I’m a huge fan of Madonna.
Apart from your popular parties (poptart & Modern Love), we heard you’ve started a company, NEVER. Tell us more about it.
NEVER is something I started with some friends that I had the pleasure of working with in the past. We design, brand, and market other organisations to look and sound better (or so we’d like to think). Apart from that, we also organise events and parties and make sure everyone goes home with a massive hangover and hearts full of joy (or so we’d like to think).
Being a promoter yourself, what do you think a good party should entail?
Good music, an open-minded crowd, perfectly-mixed drinks, and a half-man-half-cyborg clown-ninja-wizard juggling burning chainsaws while balancing on a unicycle on a trapeze above a swimming pool of sharks singing ‘Hotline Bling’.
Your all-time favorite track?
My hand-down all time favourite track is Laurent Garnier (Choice from Paris) – Acid Eiffel. As far as emotions go, this track embodies everything that pure, full of love and good intentions in dance music.
Any shouts?
Next poptart is 16 January at kyo, and a party with Gallery & Co later that month. More details can be found here
Story or inspiration behind your mix?
I was thinking to myself one day, ‘what music should I have at a party with a half-man-half-cyborg clown-ninja-wizard juggling burning chainsaws while balancing on a unicycle on a trapeze above a swimming pool of sharks singing ‘Hotline Bling’?’ and the result was this mixtape.
Check out Adrian’s Facebook Page here.
About City Nomads Radio
City Nomads Radio features mixtapes curated by regionally-based DJs, a community that deserves a whole lot more love from us.