poster designed by Sam Shin
Saturday, October 30, 2021
8pm CT
Streaming on Twitch
FREE, $5+ suggested donation (100% goes to the artists)
Resonance is a sonic phenomenon that occurs when one object vibrates at the natural frequency of another, causing the second to vibrate as well. Eastern Resonance will present a collection of Asian artists who operate at the margins of pop and club music; hailing from Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and the diaspora in the United States, they are a part of an increasingly interconnected wave of Asian musicians melding experimental sounds into pop forms. Not constituting a cohesive "scene" yet mutually influential, these artists are a cross section of an exciting moment in music from the Asian diaspora, one that is inextricably linked to the decentralizing potential of new media. Whether they incorporate traditional motifs into global styles or reclaim the artistic merit of "low" forms, indigenized genres like Indonesian funkot and Vietnamese vinahouse, these artists capture the resonance of various underground music scenes in Asia.
This concert is curated by ESS’s Fall Curatorial Fellow James Gui. The ESS Curatorial Fellowship seeks to create space for the exploration of frameworks, strategies, and structures for connecting artists and audiences. For more information about James, click here.
Artist Line Up & Set Times
Artist Bios:
HWI (Korea)
HWI is a singer, producer, and visual artist based in Seoul, South Korea. She makes electronic music by the name of HWI, and videos as a member of an artist collective named '업체eobchae'.
OHYUNG (USA)
OHYUNG is an Asian American experimental rap artist and film composer. OHYUNG’s music has been featured in PAPER, NOWNESS, Bandcamp New & Notable, and The Wire. In 2020, OHYUNG released their sophomore album PROTECTOR (Chinabot), an experimental rap cross-genre collision course through distorted 808s, pitch-shifted rapping, frenetic pop energy, and ambient loops. PROTECTOR is rooted in anti-white supremacy, and working through gender fluidity and diasporic longing.As a film composer they have written music for Hulu, Disney, and many independent films including Bambirak which recently won the Best International Fiction Short award at Sundance, and the critically acclaimed feature film Test Pattern. They are a 2021 Pioneer Works Resident, and co-host of the Lot Radio show Stray Dogs.
Mona Evie (Vietnam)
Based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Mona Evie is a multi-genre collective. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical selection from Experimental Hip Hop acts like JPEGMAFIA and Death Grips, Alternative R&B like Frank Ocean and FKA Twigs; to the hypnotic sound of Psychedelic/Dream Pop bands like Sweet Trip, The Beach Boys, Cocteau Twins,... Our Sound Collage textures are inspired by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and the Japanese noise/improvisation band Ground-Zero. The collective sets out to mash genres in a progressive direction - experimenting with song structures, lyrics, sounds,... while maintaining a strong affinity to Pop melodies.
The group was founded by Long Tran (Pilgrim Raid) in 2019, Thien Vuong, Hong Phuoc Van and Jaduk, as well as new members, such as Ha Anh Vu (Aprxel), Nguyen Nguyen, Spencer Nguyen and Zach Sch (2 members from Rắn Cạp Đuôi) later joined.
Xamd (Japan)
Xamd is a solo project by Kazutaka Sawa, a trackmaker, DJ, and promoter who belongs to the Tokyo-based electronic unit "phai". His music is a mixture of aggressive sounds such as trance, industrial, and gabber, and lyrical sounds such as ambient and acoustics, creating an expression that is a mixture of violence and beauty. They continue to explore music itself with a conceptual and ambitious approach.
rEmPiT g0dDe$$ (Malaysia)
Victoria Yam is a Music Producer and Composer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is most prominently known for her two distinct electronic music projects, VIKTORIA and rEmPiT g0dDe$$. With genres traversing the realms of industrial club music, to deconstructed sounds and the emotional dimensions of film scoring. She is currently the Music Editor at Magazine For Young Girls, an independent publication highlighting female talents from Asia and diaspora communities around the world.
Lalit (USA)
Lalit is a Brooklyn-based DJ, producer, and alchemist. They are the architect behind the Xiao Ma Party Zone, a monthly qtpoc party at Bossa Nova Civic Club that pushes the boundaries of techno. Their compositions range from rumbling drones to screamo, informed by their spiritual practices of qigong, kungfu, and divination, including Jyotish and tarot. Channeling world-wide sources of musical inspiration, their DJ mixes blend hard-hitting tek with decidedly non-techno sounds from Top 40 to Kollywood.
The ESS Curatorial Fellowship is supported by Walder Foundation.
