VOL. I : NO. (17) : 3/96 

AN INDEPENDENT LABEL INTERVIEW: NOISE 

By Dead Angel

Dead Angel 
E-Zine #17  

China News 
April 21, 1995 

Fujui and Anes are two guys from Taiwan who joined forces several years ago to bring a little bit o' noise to Taiwan, just to give them a change of pace from the cheesy western-style dance pap so prevalent in Asia. (I've heard it, and yah it can be cheesy... no more so than American dance pap, true, and Asian singers sound really cool, but... cheesy is cheesy....) Their first release was a disc by the eternally-cranky Gerogerigegege and the most recent has been by Z.S.L.O., so their pedigree is GOOD, eh? And now, onward.... 

DEAD ANGEL STAPLES SOME CDS WITH NOISE: 

DA: How and when did Noise get started? 
ANES: NOISE is the first and only D.I.Y. label from Taiwan. We (Fujui and Anes) like underground unusual/creative music. We hope to spread this music over here (Taiwan). So, we started our activities in the spring of 1993. 

DA: What was the purpose behind starting the label? 
ANES: We hope to open Taiwanese audience's mind and let them contact more diversified music, and hope more people in Taiwan can make more creative soundworks. 

DA: How did you get interested in documenting the noise artists in the first place? 
ANES: It's very hard to obtain any information about noise/experimental music in Taiwan. So, we self-published the 'NOISE' fanzine from 1993. This is the only zine about this kind of music in Taiwan. 

DA: What kind of noise scene (if any) exists in Taiwan and China? 
ANES: There are not so many noise/experimental music artists and activities in Taiwan as there are in western countries and Japan, but we think Taiwanese noise scene is growing up now. Taipei Broken Life Festival, an experimental music/performance festival in Taiwan, was held in 1994 and 1995. Some foreign bands like C.C.C.C. (Japan), Con-Dom (U.K.), Schimpfluch (Swiss), Endoxan (France), came to Taiwan to join the festival last year. In near future, there will be more experimental music live pewrformances and bands in Taiwan. We don't know if there are any noise artists and [related] activity in China. In Hong Kong, there are some noise/experimental music bands like Xper. Xr., PNF, and I.666. They are our friends. 

DA: Is your label releasing material from artists in Taiwan and China, or is it just American and European artists? 
ANES: We have released a CD for our friends' noise band Z.S.L.O. in Taiwan and some tapes for foreign artists living in Taiwan like Jobi Kobi and Fast Boy Metropolis. 

DA: Tell me about some of the artists who have appeared on Noise, please. 
ANES: The Gerogerigegege is the first artist who had appeared on Noise. We released a CD for The Gerogerigegege. It's the first harsh noise release in Taiwan. This CD surprised the CD pressing company. They wanted us to make sure there wasn't some problem with the master reel tape. They couldn't hear any music but harsh noise. [moonunit: i can just imagine....] Yes, the album's name is NOTHING TO HEAR, NOTHING. Of course, this CD really gave some Taiwanese underground music fans a shock. We wanted to bring Taiwanese audience a totally new listening experience. Zero and Sound Liberal Organization is the weirdest band in Taiwan. They call Z.S.L.O. a real sound/non-music band. They use many noise sound materials from environmental noise in industrial areas, machine, radio, non- industrial, traditional instrument, etc. We think it is a reaction to the modern industrial city.

DA: What difficulties have you encountered in running the label? 
ANES: All our tape release covers are handmade. We very much care for the quality of our works. We spend too much time to do each release. 

DA: What projects have you been most satisfied with? 
ANES: We learn a lot of things from every project. Every project's process is very interesting for us. 

DA: Whose work would you be most interested in releasing in the 
future?
ANES: We will continue to release unusual/creative soundworks no matter what kind of music. 

DA: How do you find and choose artists to work with? 
ANES: All foreign artists are by mail. Taiwanese artists are our friends or introduced by our friends. 

DA: Anes, please tell me about this column you write for the Taiwanese newspaper. 
ANES: The prime editor of Taiwanese 'POTS' newspaper, a weekly newspaper about subculture, is our friend. The content of 'POTS' is all about subcultures like noise and the experimental art scene in Taiwan. The editor also hopes 'POTS' can include some foreign subculture information, so he asked us to write a column about some American underground activities/ artsts. I have written some articles about the 1995 Northern California noise festival (in Sacramento), Big City Orchestra (San Francisco experimental music band), underground film RED SPIRIT LAKE (directed by Charles Pinion and Starring R. Kern and Annabel Lee), and some noise live performances including AMK, Crawl Unit, Daniel Menche, inBoil, Merzbow (live in Sacramento), Small Cruell Party, Violent Onsen Gesha (live in S.F.). 

DA: Finally, what projects are you planning for the future? 
ANES: We will continue to do more tape/cd releases and NOISE magazine. Also, we will do our own soundworks.