We live in a society that values talent and appearance. Supermodels are judged on how they look, sports stars on how they perform. Their worth is calculated accordingly. And when their youth is spent, so is their value.
It's tough, but the rewards are so high that the downside is often forgotten. For every supermodel there are hundreds of wannabes that do anonymous catalogue shoots. For every NBA standout there are hundreds of thousands of kids who had promise but never went all the way.
The Vinyl Word subscribes to the being-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time theory of fame. Therefore, we also subscribe to the idea that if the world's best DJ was Taiwanese, then, right now, like a star in Taipei's night sky, you wouldn't see it.
So, what to make of Edmund (
He already has an impressive CV, having played at most of the big clubs and events that have gone down in Taiwan, including the World Trade Center mega parties. He's also been invited to play at promotional gigs for big-name brands in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Some time ago we wrote that Edmund was the next-in-line to the throne of Victor Cheng, who most people would agree has been consistently the best DJ on the scene since it began around the time of the Texound Yangmingshan parties, over six years ago.
"Victor inspired me," Edmund says at the start of what turned out to be a 10-hour-long interview that took in Warner Village, his latest tracks and a hotpot on Zhongxiao East Road. "He had long hair and was thin and tall. He influenced me and I admire him. My music style is different though, more breakbeats."
Now, Edmund plays every month at Eden with the former Texound (now AXD) promoter/DJ Jimmy Chen. These A-One parties are in addition to the AAAportIS events and Back-to-Back parties that first introduced Edmund as a top local DJ.
His mother is from the UK but Edmund's English is not fluent, as his Taiwanese father (who died tragically in a fire) insisted on Chinese at home. He says it was his mom who "encouraged me to be a DJ." Edmund used to be a promising basketball player (he's 1.93m), but gave it up after leaving school. His brother is the supermodel Norman Huang (
Though Edmund says, "I don't want to be king," it's not hard to detect that he would like to be a big-name DJ. He admits to being sensitive or emotional and seems to fit the tortured artist mold. "I live to make music." He says he stays up for days and nights at a time, either spinning at clubs, listening to others or twiddling with his computer, software, synthesizer and decks, downloading his sets into mp3 format, working on album designs or planning the next CD.
His home is that of the classic bedroom DJ, full of audio equipment and computer screens dripping color. He burns us a CD from two years ago that was part collaboration and part homage to producer Lee Yu-huan (李雨寰), who worked with Faith Yang (楊乃文). It's a strong, beat-heavy collection of dance tracks mixed up with the best Taiwanese electro-pop sounds and the Pet Shop Boys. It's easy to imagine a remixed single doing well in the charts and production is something Edmund should do more of to register his name on the musical map. He has a feel for it.
Edmund is one of the brightest stars on the Taipei scene and he deserves to be seen and heard.
The Vinyl Word: Try something different this week and refresh the palate with free Mexican food and cheap Coronas at Marcus Aurelius' and Nancy Cheng's first-ever after-work hair salon party at EGO. Talk to a french hair stylist and listen to funky vibes. It's Tuesday, March 29, 8pm to 12pm on Renai Road. Check www.urbanpeople.net for details and map.
Finally, for a complete break from house, tomorrow, check out two punked-out bands for the price of one, with The Deported and DGS, at Vortex, on Zhonghe Road. DJs will be shot on sight, we have been informed.
Tomorrow, @llen and Taipei Times top DJ Nina at Eden, still free; and Roxy 88 is celebrating 23 years of rock 'n' roll. @llen will be showing off his roots, along with Randy and Alex36.
Send comments and listings to vinylword@taipeitimes.com.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby