Shiuan Liu (劉軒) was the dutiful son who took his father's advice: He got up early, did his homework on time, studied classical music at Juilliard and graduated from Harvard. His alter ego is SL, the party animal and producer who adds spice to the Taipei night scene and is on the verge of signing a record deal that could see him become the country's first native DJ star.
Though interesting in itself, Liu's transformation into DJ SL also mirrors the shift in attitudes that has occurred in the last 30 years, as Taiwan's young and upwardly mobile generation has moved from traditional Chinese values to a more global and contemporary outlook.
Most Taiwanese know SL's father, Yung Liu (劉墉). He was famous in the 1970s for being a TV news anchor and later wrote inspirational books that were required reading for most students and conscripts in the army. His most successful publications, however, were letters of advice from a father to a son and it is through these books that the public first became acquainted with the young Liu. They got to know him even better when he followed in his father's footsteps and became a published author himself.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Though he was born in Taipei, SL moved to New York as a kid and only returned here full time in 2002, when he took a day job with an advertising agency. It was at this time that he capitalized on the experience he had gained with his college DJing and residencies in Boston and New York in the late '90s to create a new identity and introduce a more funky and jazzy house music to Taiwan, which was in the grip of techno and trance at the time.
"I had this public persona thanks mainly to my father, and I had to deconstruct my image here as a writer and also as a famous person's son," SL said. "It was a different kind of world. The kids who read my books were kind of good kids, who studied a lot and didn't go out much. I had this other life of electronic music that was exciting and appealed to my classical-music background."
His aptly named "Who's Your Daddy?" residency at 2nd Floor broke the grip of hard house and later, with DJ Saucey and the Citrus parties, he helped make deep house popular, edging it away from a grimy, "headshaking" mentality to something sexier and more attractive, particularly to women.
He began to establish himself as a DJ, playing alongside the world's best. He was also asked to play at fashion shows and launch parties for leading companies like Mercedes, Elite Model Look and the Grand Hyatt Taipei. He composed and arranged music for TV -- in particular MTV Asia's Style Awards show. Now he's moving onto the next stage, which is production.
"I'm fusing the East and West elements. I like to produce electronic music that has some Asian heritage. Much of the early house music came from the US, but the Brits injected their own sound into it, just like the New Yorkers put their Afro-Latin twist on things. And I would like Chinese house music to have its own sound."
"It's a work in progress. It's something I'm trying to get a handle on. Within a certain style of music you have certain stylistic parameters. Like, there's Afro-Cuban percussion and that seems to fit quite well within house music; but Chinese sounds and Chinese composition don't fit so easily into the structure. So, I'm looking at ways to make it fit. To make it cool actually."
As for the record contract, "I'm in the process of negotiating a deal. There are offers on the table at the moment. Taiwan is a great place to start because it has the sophistication and it still has the energy, you can start something small and people will take notice. The machine, ie record companies, isn't so `humongous,' so you don't have to be the record company product or just underground. I have to retain my artistic integrity."
"Today, being true to where you are from and your heritage is pretty important. You've got to remember who you are. I am Chinese, Taiwanese, Asian. I can imagine if I was to break into the Western market they will look at me as `the Taiwanese DJ,' or `Asian DJ.' It will be the music that convinces them to look beyond the ethnic boundaries."
Alan Hsia, the former manager of 2nd Floor and now manager of Luxy, is convinced that SL could be the first local DJ to break the glass ceiling and make it into the international market. "He is one of the few DJs who truly understands where its been, where it's at, and where it's going. His DJ skills, music production skill, talent, looks, sense of style, dedication, passion, great personality and charisma ... SL has it all."
DJ SL will be playing tomorrow at the Kenting Summer Festival, from 11pm to 1am, at the Dajien Mountain camp site area (大尖山露營區) in Kenting.
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