For the Love of Music: Inside Signal NYC's First Anniversary Weekend

Words by Nina Katashvili

Photos by Joe Marchetti

Signal NYC, Brooklyn, New York. June 2026

Signal NYC was celebrating its first anniversary last weekend and simultaneously launching “Signal Night and Day, where Fridays become all-nighters into Saturday days”.However, for this special weekend, they did not stop on Saturday; instead they went all the way into Sunday with the vibrant Pride celebration: Ron Like Hell B2B Clarisa Kimskii, Leonce, Sterling Juan Diaz, Alissa Brianna B2B Saint Panic.

It was a sunny day, with a touch of New York-style humidity on Friday, June 5th, when Furiika opened the floor. Connor Wrong followed with groovy beats. Then, Danny Daze’s extended set of four hours kicked off as the day rolled over into Saturday night.

This is when I accidentally met Leo, a co-founder and co-owner of Signal. At first, I was unsure, but as our conversation progressed, I became less hesitant to admit that, as far as a “boss”, he seemed remarkably well tuned in to the opinions of dancers and club goers. As I sipped on my drink, I watched Leo ask a number of attendees, including me, to “put a hater-hat on and say what you really think of this place”. Without him realizing what he was asking me to do was part of my job, I decided it was time to reveal that I am a journalist intending to write about the night.  

Leo and J. Richards (Josh Buhler) @ Signal NYC 2026

A few minutes after we both acknowledged who we were, he was already showing me some of his living room photos stacked with the soundsystem components. The theme continued in every room. Leo expressed his sublime love for music, particularly for the best sound systems humanity can build.  Given that Signal's sound system is already among the finest in New York City, this part was not as surprising as what followed.

"We're upgrading the sound system,"

he said, before adding without hesitation, "It will be the best on the planet."

The remark stayed with me.

Signal is a uniquely designed room built specifically for listening. To me, imagining a soundsystem superior to the one in the room next to us seemed almost unreasonable. As I walked back towards the dance floor, I kept noticing the wooden floors that keep sound bouncing, your feet shaking and dancing. The lights, reminiscent of a scene from a bondage adult movie, were passionately, and with great precision, strung in the air and flickering in red, and the atmosphere was homey, safe and comfortable.

Like any young venue, Signal is still growing into itself. The outdoor area already shows tremendous potential, though parts of it remain a work in progress. During the daytime hours, the courtyard grew noticeably warm under the sun and could likely benefit from a few additional fans, perhaps even misters, as the club continues refining its daytime programming.

DJ Masda. @ Signal NYC

The night grew increasingly warm and intimate, the crowd connected through invisible threads of sound washing across the dance floor and lingering on dancers' bodies. Danny, who has spent years behind the decks, knew exactly how to guide listeners through the grooves without overwhelming them, moving with purpose and intention.

Kurilo. @ Signal NYC

After Danny, followed the live set from Lamalice  and then DJ Masda taking over the booth. It was what one Reddit user has described it as: 

“The sound was dialed in, and Masda's mixing and track selection are second to none.”

The post concluded:

“A set I'll be thinking about for a long long time…” 

I could not agree more, it was one of the most blissful nights I’ve experienced in New York, stretching into the early morning hours.

By 8 a.m., Jade Seattle had taken the wheel, and the music gradually shifted toward deeper house selections while continuing Signal's genre-defying momentum. As dancers drifted between the floor and the courtyard, staff brought out complimentary croissants, a thoughtful gesture that was warmly received by the crowd. The moment also hinted at a future opportunity for Signal's marathon events: a small breakfast offering at sunrise would feel perfectly in step with the venue's increasingly ambitious Night and Day concept.

By 11 a.m., Ukrainian DJ and producer Kurilo, who also teaches at Signal's newly opened Music Academy, took over, dropping the needle on his first record before delivering a largely vinyl-driven set with immaculate mixing skills. A Signal resident and invaluable member of the team, Kurilo has helped bring some of the venue's most ambitious projects to life, including the Academy itself. 

When I asked what Signal means to him, he stated, 

“For me, Signal is one of the best clubs in New York, because it reminds me of European clubs, like the ones in Ukraine,”

and then continued with more rigor: 

“European, American, Signal is like another combination.”  

Kurilo concluded with confidence.

Oba+flip, an electrifying duo from our own NYC, kept the dance floor heated in their usual way: with care, intention, and plenty of love.

Late that night, I asked Flip what made Signal special.
“It is my favorite club,”  she said without an ounce of hesitation.

"I think it's the environment, the people, the sound. As a DJ, it's always a pleasure to play music on such a great sound system and share it with people who really care and are present in the moment. There's a lyric in one of the tracks we played earlier that says, 'The future is just a metaphor for the present,' which I really love. I feel like Signal accomplishes that, allowing people to be in the present and have an amazing time."

Mayell & Sibil were wrapping up their five-hour b2b, and J. Richards was preparing to step into the booth when I found myself catching my breath outside once again.

There were three of us standing near the tarp-covered outdoor area behind the ticket booth: Kurilo, GNMR, and me.

When I asked Kurilo what music meant to him, his face immediately brightened.

"For me, it's a lifestyle. Music saved my life. When we stayed in Ukraine, it helped keep me alive."

After sharing a personal story, he simply concluded:

"I do my things. And this is music."

At that point, GNMR jumped in:

GNMR @ Signal NYC, 2026

“For this guy, music was everything."

The two also revealed that they had been busy in the studio working on collaborative releases.

"Our common sense is not about our general style of music. It's about our souls," GNMR explained. "If you find your thoughts and your friend's thoughts together, you can make good music. If you don't find that stuff, you can't make it. It's impossible."

Once I headed back inside, the crowd was once again at its peak.

Oba + Flip @ Signal NYC, 2026

J. Richards, the DJ alter ego of Josh Buhler and the other half of Signal's founding team, is an extraordinary selector. Playing entirely on vinyl, he demonstrated a level of technical precision that even the most devoted mixing purists would appreciate. Fully focused on the crowd before him, his set reflected an artist committed to the present moment.

Watching from the front of the booth, it was easy to understand why one attendee later wrote: "J. Richards… was absolutely ripping tonight at Signal for their one-year party. I was in the front watching his all-vinyl set and it was actually magical to see. Everyone up there was grooving for three hours straight, and people were truly appreciating the art of him spinning vinyl." The observation captured the room perfectly. There was a rare attentiveness in the crowd, a collective appreciation not only for the music itself but for the craft behind it.

Between Josh and Leo, it became easy to understand how Signal was designed so intentionally. That intention is rooted in community, listening, and underground culture.

When I asked what makes Signal special, he told me:

"Signal was built by music lovers, for music lovers. It's the physically and sonically comfortable place we've always needed but just didn't quite know how to articulate. Welcome home, Nina."

Carl H b2b 98dots closed out the night, leaving only a brief intermission before Sunday Arousal took over. Curated by Ron Like Hell and featuring some of NYC's most exciting selectors alongside international talent, the gathering carried the momentum well into the next day.


Together, those two nights and one day felt genuinely magical. The kind of weekend that reminds you why you entered this world in the first place. The movement, the community, the surrender to sound. The moments where connection and escape become one, and the music dissolves everything else.