Building Foundations

Damian Saint from Woobar talks about his new project at the club, Foundation.
W Bali is continuing their on-going support of the burgeoning local electronic music scene through their latest concept, Foundation. Having most recently given the current crop of Indonesian DJs a platform to show how good they really are, through their now regular Heatwave night, they have now extended this concept out to the Asian region with a slight twist, as they handpick the finest and most talented resident DJs across the whole of Asia from some of the continents most recognised clubs and venues.
What’s the concept behind the new Foundation night at Woobar?
Well it’s like this: Resident DJ’s are the unsung heroes of club land, they are the ones who are trusted to read and excite the crowd at either end of the night, and ensure the night is a textured experience taking everyone on a musical journey. Often the best of these are critically acclaimed by the headline acts but receive none of the glory, so we felt it was time to give them the chance to showcase themselves and prove that The Foundation is what everything else is built on. There’s such a great pool of talent with the resident DJs across Asia Pacific it seemed a waste to not start booking them rather than super famous DJs.
How do you go about finding or selecting the resident DJs for the night?
Well this is a very new concept for myself and Woobar Bali so there’s no particular method right now. We’re launching with Singapore and Kilo resident Maurice Simon who’s really been on top of his game the last year or so. He’s somebody I’ve wanted to book for quite some time and he was available so we went ahead with it. I do have a short list for the coming months though. I’ve chosen this to be the last Saturday of every month but with so many great DJs we may move to two per month if it goes well giving us the chance to showcase more regional resident DJs.
How is it being the resident DJ in a big club and having the visiting DJs pass through every day or week, taking all the glory? Does it make you itch to get out there?
I don’t think glory is the right word… However I do know what you mean. Lots of people bang on about warm up sets and what a fine art it is.  It kind of is but it’s not that hard. Closing sets after a ‘big name’ and keeping the crowd is the real challenge. That’s where you can often find the itch you speak of. Sometimes however it can go the other way. I recently booked an artist who strictly plays only for 90 minutes. The night was packed and sure enough 90 minutes into his set he said that was it. It was 2am peak time and he was done. This actually left me with a full club to play with which stayed full until 4.30am.
Be sure to get down to Woobar on 29 April as W kicks off Foundation with Singapore’s Kilo Lounge Resident, DJ Maurice Simon.