Dead Angel
E-Zine #17
China News
April 21, 1995
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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. |