BYAS: From Antwerp to Bangkok, The Architect of Asia's Deep House Scene

There is a small group of people who built a music scene from a city where no such scene existed. BYAS is in that group. Belgian-born, Antwerp 1993, currently Bangkok-based. Co-founder of Deep House Thailand, curatorial anchor of Vibe Agency, and one of the few DJs in Southeast Asia who built the institutional infrastructure for melodic and afro house from the ground up.

This is the long-form profile.

BYAS, born Yasin Borry on April 10, 1993, grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. The DJ thing started almost by accident. A friend was throwing a goodbye party before moving to Australia, and Yasin had been teaching himself to mix on a Hercules controller at home. That night, playing for 20 or 30 friends, something clicked. The music did something to the room he could not explain, and the obsession found its direction.

The early career was chaos. Under 150 followers on Instagram. Maybe 10 posts on a brand-new profile. But Yasin had started doing something most people would call unconventional: sitting down every morning, closing his eyes, writing affirmations as if they were already true. One day, something told him to add #AntwerpDJ to his posts. There were only about 56 posts under that hashtag. A few days later, Swedish fashion brand NA-KD (2 million followers at the time) searched that exact hashtag looking for a DJ in Antwerp. They found Yasin. They booked him for eight influencer events, gave him clothing, and suddenly the kid with no bookings had gigs every week.

From those NA-KD events, doors opened fast. He played Club Ampere in Antwerp, Club Sotto's in Brussels, shared stages with Like Mike, Makasi, Jaydee, and Magit Cacoon. Within months he went from zero to weekly bookings. Along the way, brands like H&M, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Pull&Bear trusted him to curate deep house soundtracks for fashion shows and car premieres.

A trip to Bali in 2019 changed the trajectory. Everyone there was working online, building businesses from laptops. Through a chain of connections, Yasin landed a role at a multi-million dollar e-commerce company, learning performance marketing and paid advertising from the inside. The job was not the dream, but it was the education of a lifetime: the psychology of attention, the mechanics of scaling a brand online, and how to read what people actually respond to.

He was also running ads for his own music on the side, always losing money. The streaming revenue never broke even. Then a simple insight struck: what if he stopped advertising one song and started advertising one playlist? Running an ad that says "listen to my song" asks something from people. Running an ad that says "here is a playlist of amazing deep house" gives them something. Inside that playlist, you place your own tracks alongside others.

He pooled his savings, called his friend Jens from Gobi Desert Collective (an organic house duo in Belgium with about 400 monthly listeners at the time), and said: "I have an idea. If it works, we might not have to work ever again." Jens jumped in. Today Gobi Desert Collective sits at 250,000 monthly listeners. That was the beginning of Vibe Agency, now one of the most influential playlist networks in the deep house, afro house, and melodic house space. The Vibe Agency network has driven over 100 million streams for artists and labels worldwide.

BYAS moved to Bangkok in 2022. He stopped in Thailand for what was supposed to be a week. That week never ended.

Bangkok's nightlife had energy, but it was all surface. Everywhere was EDM or hip-hop. Clubs felt repetitive, built around bottle service and big drops. The rooftops were beautiful but the music did not match. If you wanted the deep, dreamy, melodic side of house music, the kind that hypnotizes a room, it simply did not exist here. Deep house in Thailand was barely a whisper. Afro house was nonexistent. Organic house, melodic house, tribal sets, the sounds that pack venues from Berlin to Ibiza to Tulum, had no home in Bangkok.

On his second day in the city, he walked into a rooftop venue and saw a DJ booth overlooking the skyline. He started visualizing himself playing on rooftops like that every morning. Two years later, he played that exact spot.

It started at a 12x12 DJ gig where BYAS met a DJ named Siggi. They clicked immediately and started talking about an idea: what if they just threw their own party?

December 2023. A Christmas party at Yasin's condo rooftop. 80 to 90 people showed up in seven days. Deep house, afro house, melodic house, tribal beats. Sounds that Bangkok's nightlife did not have a home for.

Next came Spectrum Rooftop Bar, 250+ people, fully sold out. Then Mustache, Baccarat, SIN Rooftop Bar, MOJJO. Pool parties. Ice bath raves. Coffee raves. Each one building on the last. The collective got a name: Deep House Thailand.

As the collective grew, so did the crew. Cameron Glasgow, a DJ and producer with serious creative energy, became a key part of the team. He brought his own style to the decks, helped shape the visual identity, and became one of the driving forces behind DHT's content and events. Berry Linn, a pioneer of the Myanmar electronic scene, joined the roster. Together with a growing circle of talented DJs, the collective became bigger than any one person.

By 2025, DHT had become Bangkok's fastest-growing deep house collective. By 2026, the format they pioneered, melodic and afro house programming at rooftop venues and unconventional spaces, had been adopted across the city's venue circuit. APT 101, 24BLVD, and Baccarat now regularly program the genres that DHT introduced to Bangkok audiences.

In 2025, DHT launched Coffee Rave, a daytime afro house party inside a Porsche exhibition gallery. The format was unprecedented in Bangkok: weekend daytime electronic music programming in a non-traditional space, with coffee instead of cocktails, families and design-industry attendees alongside the regular nightlife audience.

Coffee Rave became culturally significant for two reasons:

1. It introduced afro house to a Bangkok audience that did not frequent nightlife venues
2. It positioned DHT as a culture brand rather than a club promoter

The format expanded into additional event concepts: Ice Bath Party for wellness-meets-music programming, and Creator House Party blending the music community with Bangkok's creative and digital nomad scene.

Three words define the BYAS sound: dreamy, tribal, global. The sets weave through deep house, afro house, melodic house, organic house, and indie dance. The sonic palette sits somewhere between Monolink, Keinemusik, Black Coffee, and Lane 8: bongo percussion, plucky arps, melodies that stay with you on the walk home.

His production sensibility sits at the intersection of three traditions:

1. Belgian melodic discipline: long arcs, patient builds, restrained drops
2. South African afro house warmth: hand percussion, vocal sample treatments, swing
3. Compositional openness: willingness to leave space, less peak-oriented than typical European productions

The current Spotify profile tracks 6M+ streams across the catalog. The full discography is distributed through DistroKid. The Vibe Agency network has driven over 100 million streams for artists and labels worldwide, with BYAS serving as the curatorial anchor across multiple playlist properties.

BYAS has performed across three continents. Venues include Club Ampere (Antwerp), Club Sotto's (Brussels), Sing Sing Theatre, Baccarat, Spectrum Rooftop Bar, Mustache, MOJJO Rooftop Bar, APT 101, and venues across Bali, Mexico, Croatia, and Slovenia. He has shared stages with Like Mike, Makasi, Jaydee (NL), and Magit Cacoon (IL).

On the brand side, H&M, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Pull&Bear, and NA-KD have trusted BYAS to curate deep house soundtracks for fashion shows, luxury events, and car premieres. He has also been associated with Crosstown Rebels, Tomorrowland, Warner Music, and Studio Brussel through various collaborations and appearances.

For the current calendar and booking inquiries, see byas.world/shows.

In 2026, BYAS sits at the center of a three-brand ecosystem that we believe is unique in Southeast Asia electronic music:

1. Deep House Thailand: the scene authority. Events, collective, editorial, community building. Bangkok's fastest-growing deep house collective.
2. Vibe Agency: the playlist network and artist services layer. 100M+ streams driven. Submission infrastructure, editorial coverage, campaign management.
3. BYAS: the curatorial anchor and artist face. The personal brand that makes the three-brand institution coherent.

The timing could not be better. Tomorrowland has announced and sold out their first Southeast Asian edition in Thailand (December 11-13, 2026, Wisdom Valley, Pattaya, 150,000 tickets sold out in under one hour). EDC Thailand follows December 18-20, 2026 at Rhythm Park, Phuket. Both festivals signed five-year deals through 2030. The global festival circuit is turning its attention to the region, and the infrastructure that Deep House Thailand built from scratch, event by event, community by community, is exactly what this moment needs.

He is one of the few electronic music figures who did something rare: arrived in a foreign city and built the institutional infrastructure that gave a genre a home. Bangkok's melodic house and afro house scenes exist, in part, because BYAS built them. The collective he co-founded, the playlists he curates, the events he programs, and the editorial institution he anchors all feed the same vision: a life built entirely around music, on your own terms.

The kid from Antwerp who got kicked out of school and visualized his way into a career is still following the same instinct. Still closing his eyes every morning and imagining what comes next. The difference is that now, when he opens them, the room is full.

How did BYAS end up in Bangkok?

BYAS relocated from Antwerp to Bangkok in 2022. What was supposed to be a one-week visit never ended. The city's creative energy and the gap in melodic house programming drew him in permanently.

Is BYAS the founder of Deep House Thailand?

Co-founder. DHT started in December 2023 when BYAS and fellow DJ Siggi threw a Christmas party at a condo rooftop. 80 to 90 people showed up in seven days. Cameron Glasgow and Berry Linn joined as the collective grew. Today the team includes a growing roster of resident DJs.

Does BYAS only DJ or also produce?

Both. His recorded catalog is distributed through DistroKid. Total catalog streams exceed 6 million. The Vibe Agency network he founded has driven over 100 million streams for artists and labels worldwide.

Where can I see BYAS play?

Bangkok venues including APT 101, 24BLVD, Baccarat, Spectrum, and Mustache. Regional dates in Bali, Phuket, and across Southeast Asia. See byas.world/shows for the rolling calendar.

How do I book BYAS for an event?

Booking inquiries through byas.world directly, or through the DHT events team for Bangkok-anchored events. Contact: bookings@vibeagency.net

What is the BYAS sound like?

Three words: dreamy, tribal, global. The sets weave through deep house, afro house, melodic house, organic house, and indie dance. The sound sits somewhere between Monolink, Keinemusik, Black Coffee, and Lane 8. Bongo percussion, plucky arps, melodies that stay with you on the walk home.

What is the connection between BYAS, DHT, and Vibe Agency?

DHT is the scene authority (events, collective, community). Vibe Agency is the playlist network and artist services layer (100M+ streams driven). BYAS is the curatorial anchor for both. The three brands operate as a single ecosystem with three faces.