With a weekly commitment to a radio show, columns in magazines, speaking engagements, corporate events, and music production, Xuan (real name Shiuan Liu, 劉軒) barely has time to change his daughter’s diapers. Tonight at Room 18, he’ll be switching from daddy-mode to superstar DJ-mode and playing selections from his new album, Luxy DJ Series Presents Xuan.
Formerly known as SL, Xuan has let go of his previous moniker. “I have switched over to Xuan now. First of all because it’s the proper spelling of my Chinese name by the [Hanyu] Pinyin system,” he said in an e-mail interview with the Taipei Times. “Also because there are a few DJ SLs out there, like some 18-year-old playing hard house from the Netherlands. I’m not him.”
His new CD was released on DA6 Music, an offshoot of The Loop Productions. Recently, it released a CD by Cookie, and now it’s Xuan’s turn.
Photo Courtesy of DA Music
“I’d mixed a couple commercially released mix CDs in Taiwan, but this is the first one where I got to pick all the tracks. Being such, I wanted it to be a tribute to the past nine years I’ve been deejaying in Taiwan, and to the house music that I love,” he said.
“I’ve picked some new remixes of classic house tracks, and some songs that represent both the Citrus and Deep Inside sound,” he said, referring to the long-running parties he used to host with Saucey.
For his original tracks, Xuan worked with Alita D’Bone of Rock in Hose, and had Dominik Hooker remix one of the songs.
“DA6 Music convinced me to add a few more of my own tracks, making a second CD of all original Xuan productions,” he said. “So I guess now you can call it a mix CD, plus an album!”
With a toddler around the house and a new son due in March, being a good father is Xuan’s number one priority. “It’s been said that fatherhood turns a boy into a man. I do agree that seeing the face of your own child changes you fundamentally,” he said.
“Being totally responsible for a life that you have created, there is certain gravity to that, in a positive way. I look more long-term at the future. I also feel the need to have more focus in my career. And I’m busting my chops so my family can have a good life. There are still good times, but those take second priority now.”
However, he hasn’t followed in the footsteps of many a producer new to fatherhood. “A lot of house guys love to sample their newborn kids on their albums. I haven’t done that yet, but maybe I will.”
Xuan may have traded in his partying ways for family, but once an event organizer, always an event organizer. “I’ve been thinking about doing a house party for kids and their parents,” Xuan said. “Good clean fun and funky beats. Kids love to dance. It’s in their nature. Why not give them a good environment where they can really run free, and the parents can enjoy it too?”
■ Xuan Album Launch at Room 18, B1, 88 Songren Road, Taipei City (台北市松仁路88號B1), tel: (02) 2345-2778. From 10:30pm. Admission at the door is NT$700, which includes two drinks
Also tonight, bodies will be getting hot and sticky at SWET at Brickyard. Pro Res (real name Jason Hare) wants people to know that this isn’t just some ordinary top-40 club night.
“The idea for SWET originated during my time in New York when four or five of my friends would throw parties in a secret location,” Res said. “Next thing you knew, there where 300 people shoulder-to-shoulder all bouncing to old school hip-hop, experimental techno, house and whatever else the DJs decided to play. What made the vibe amazing was what everyone brought to the party — a willingness to trust in the DJs to rock the party.”
This is the fourth SWET party Res has hosted, and they just keep getting bigger and better.
“The goal is to continue to provide a night different from what Kaohsiung currently offers, and continue to seek out and book talented and creative DJs that are not afraid to push the boundaries,” he said. “Each SWET DJ is encouraged to pick a genre like hip-hop, dancehall, electro, house, dubstep or funk, and not just play songs, but mix, sample, rewind and loop tracks to create something new. You really never know what will happen and sometimes I don’t even know.”
■ SWET, tonight at Brickyard, B1, 507 Jhongshan 2nd Rd, Cianjin Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市前金區中山二路507號B1). Admission is NT$300 for gents and NT$150 for ladies. Open bar from 10pm to 11pm and two-for-one mixed drinks from 11pm to midnight. Students with a valid ID get in for NT$50 before 1am
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