A MIXMIX session is quieter than you’d expect. A few people at the back, a camera operator, the director checking levels, and the city behind you doing its own thing. If you’ve watched a Korean DJ play a one hour set on YouTube, filmed from the side of the booth with the Seoul skyline going dark behind them, there’s a good chance this was the channel.
MIXMIXTV has been recording the city’s underground DJs since May 2014, which makes it older than most of the clubs it films in. It matters more than its subscriber count suggests, because for a decade it has worked as Seoul’s booking reel, its archive and its quality bar all at once.
A Decade of Seoul DJs, Filmed One Hour at a Time
MIXMIXTV is a Seoul based DJ streaming and video platform, not a club. It was founded in May 2014 by DJ Kuma and the video director Jang Jin-seok, and in 2018 the DJ Beejay joined the team. The format has settled into something recognisable: one or two DJs a week, one hour each, recorded and broadcast in a Boiler Room style with the DJ front and centre and the room behind them. The focus is deliberately on DJs working underground rather than the names already on festival posters.
The archive is the point. Korean namu.wiki (Korean) lists several hundred DJs who have recorded a MIXMIX session, from KINGMCK and Tiger Disco to Closet Yi, Jinwook, Salamanda, Yetsuby and Bagagee Viphex13, alongside touring guests from Tokyo, Munich, Bogota and New York. If you want to hear what a Seoul DJ sounded like in 2016, as opposed to what a press release says they sounded like, this is where the tape is.
I’ve recorded there, and the quiet is what stays with you. There’s no crowd to read, so you read the light instead: the session starts in daylight and ends with the skyline lit, and a good hour follows that curve. You set up on a single pair of CDJs and a mixer facing the lens, monitors low because the stream mix matters more than the room, and you play for a listener who isn’t there yet. It’s the most honest hour a DJ in this city gets to record.
Where It Films: A Rooftop in Seongsu
Most recent sessions are shot at XIMXIM (심심), a rooftop bar inside S-Factory (에스팩토리) in Seongsu-dong, the converted factory complex on the east side of the city. XIMXIM is MIXMIX’s own room: the team opened it for the channel’s tenth anniversary as an on site studio and cocktail bar with a vinyl collection, on the third floor of S-Factory’s Building B beside the rooftop.
That location says something about where Seoul’s scene has moved. Ten years ago a channel like this would have set up in an Itaewon (이태원) basement. Today the interesting rooms are as likely to be in Seongsu, Euljiro (을지로) or Mullae (문래) as they are in the old nightlife districts, and MIXMIX followed the energy east. We wrote about that shift in how each Seoul district was made and in the piece on Euljiro.
Half Broadcaster, Half Promoter
The channel has always been half broadcaster, half promoter. It ran a MIXMIX stage at World DJ Festival as early as 2015, a Luna Park DJ event at Seoul Land in 2019, and broadcast with the Woldipe untact festival in 2020 when nobody could gather in a room.
MIXMIXTV’s Live Events, 2015 to 2025
From a festival stage to its own festivals
믹스믹스티비의 라이브 이벤트
| Year | Event | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | MIXMIX stage at World DJ Festival | One stage |
| 2019 | Luna Park DJ event, Seoul Land | Amusement park |
| 2020 | Woldipe untact festival broadcast | Online only |
| 2022 | Let Korea Dance opening day, Hongdae | Street party |
| 2023 | MIXMIXTV Open Air Festival, S-Factory | 51 DJs, four stages |
| 2024 | Tenth anniversary festival, S-Factory | 71 DJs |
| 2025 | CREW2CREW at XIMXIM | Crews, no headliners |
How to read itThe channel grew from a guest stage at someone else’s festival to running its own, all on Korean DJs and crews.
In 2022 it programmed the opening day of the Let Korea Dance festival, produced by the World DJ Festival team, on the walking street in front of Hongik University in Hongdae (홍대), which is about as public as a rave gets in this city. Then came the two that defined it: the MIXMIXTV Open Air Festival at S-Factory in 2023 with 51 DJs across four stages, and the tenth anniversary festival at the same site in 2024 with 71 DJs. In May 2025 it launched CREW2CREW at XIMXIM, a 4pm to 2am bill sold as “Strictly Collective. No Headliners” and built from Seoul party crews including Aquari-us, Frisk, Gwangheungchang, More Breaks and Planet Turbo.
Seventy one Korean and visiting DJs on one bill, in daylight, in a factory yard, is something the Gangnam (강남) megaclub model could never have produced. It’s closer to what we described in the daytime and coffee rave scene: a crowd that comes for the lineup, not the table.
The same site has also shown the limits of scale. In July 2024 Boiler Room’s Seoul event at S-Factory was halted around 1am, just before Peggy Gou was due to play. The venue held about 2,000 people, media reports put ticket sales at around 6,000, and five people had breathing difficulties. Big daytime bills in Seongsu work when the numbers match the yard.
Why a YouTube Channel Matters to a Club Scene
Three reasons, and none of them is subscriber numbers.
First, it’s a booking tool. A promoter in Bangkok or Tokyo who wants to hear a Seoul DJ before flying them out doesn’t go to a club night. They watch a MIXMIX session. For a lot of the names in our Korean DJs to know list, that one hour video is the calling card. We covered how that works in building a DJ career in Asia.
Second, it’s a record. Korean clubs close fast and quietly, as the Gangnam collapse and the years around COVID showed. Rooms disappear, and with them the evidence that a sound existed. A decade of sets in one place is the closest thing this scene has to an archive.
Third, it changed what a good Seoul set looks like. When you know the hour is being filmed and will sit online for years, you play differently: less crowd pleasing, more statement. That isn’t always better for the room on the night, but it has raised the floor for what Korean DJs are willing to put their name to.
MIXMIXTV and Seoul Community Radio Do Different Jobs
The obvious comparison is Seoul Community Radio, which started about two years later in Itaewon. They overlap in artists and in spirit, but they’re different animals. SCR is a radio station with a bar attached, live most days, in the pirate and community radio tradition. MIXMIX is a video archive built on the Boiler Room model, shot in sessions, with festivals as its live expression. A DJ coming up in Seoul today wants both: the SCR residency for the weekly reps, the MIXMIX session for the tape.
Where to Start
Start on YouTube, the main archive, sorted newest first. SoundCloud and Mixcloud carry audio only versions for the commute, and Instagram is usually the first place festival announcements land.
For more on the music these sessions captured, my piece on the Seoul sound looks at what makes Korean club music distinct. The Seoul club map covers the rooms where that scene plays the rest of the week, and the Korean festival guide covers the outdoor side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s MIXMIXTV?
MIXMIXTV is a Seoul DJ streaming and video platform on YouTube that has recorded the city’s underground DJs since May 2014. It was founded by DJ Kuma and the video director Jang Jin-seok, and DJ Beejay joined the team in 2018. The format is one or two DJs a week, one hour each, filmed in a Boiler Room style with the DJ front and centre.
Where are MIXMIXTV sessions filmed in Seoul?
Most recent MIXMIXTV sessions are shot at XIMXIM, the channel’s own rooftop bar and studio inside S-Factory in Seongsu-dong (성수동) on the east side of Seoul. Sessions start in daylight and end with the skyline lit behind the DJ. The location reflects a wider shift, with interesting rooms now as likely to be in Seongsu, Euljiro or Mullae as in the old nightlife districts.
Why does MIXMIXTV matter to Seoul’s club scene?
MIXMIXTV matters because it works as a booking tool, an archive and a quality bar for Seoul DJs. Promoters abroad who want to hear a Seoul DJ before flying them out often watch a MIXMIX session instead of attending a club night. Korean clubs close fast and quietly, so a decade of filmed sets in one place is the closest thing the scene has to an archive.
How is MIXMIXTV different from Seoul Community Radio?
Seoul Community Radio is a radio station with a bar attached in Itaewon (이태원), live most days, in the pirate and community radio tradition. MIXMIXTV is a video archive built on the Boiler Room model, shot in sessions, with festivals as its live expression. A DJ coming up in Seoul today wants both: the SCR residency for weekly repetition and the MIXMIX session for the tape.
Further Reading on The DJ Diaries
- Seoul Community Radio
- Korean DJs to Know in 2026
- The Seoul Sound: What Makes Korean Club Music Distinct
- Seoul Daytime Parties and Coffee Raves
- The Korean Festival Guide
Sources
Yonhap, on S-Factory and XIMXIM, January 2024
Resident Advisor, SPIN x XIMXIM (venue address), January 2024
Resident Advisor, MIXMIX Open Air Festival 2023
Korea JoongAng Daily, Boiler Room Seoul halted over overcrowding, July 2024
Written from Seoul, by someone who has been in the booth for more than twenty years. More on the site, or book a DJ.
Follow the rooms: MIXMIXTV on Instagram
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