Tokyo party series Gan-Ban Night returns to Taipei tonight with its second installment, this time featuring Japanese electro-pop outfit the Dexpistols.
Maar (real name Kawano Masataka) and Daruma (real name Kitamura Norihisa) make up the Dexpistols. Before they combined forces both were widely known for their street fashion credentials. Daruma once headed the defunct fashion brand Roc Star, and now works as a fashion brand director. Besides deejaying, Maar is the in-store music director for the UK brand Topshop.
The two got together, dabbled in the music scene and before long they were playing Japan’s renowned Fuji Rock Festival.
Photo Ccourtesy of The Wall
“It was memorable to see the audience 100m away from the stage, jumping and screaming as hard as those in the front,” said Daruma.
The Dexpistols, whose name was inspired by the 1970s London punk rock band the Sex Pistols, have released four albums to date and are currently working on a fifth. They have also released a handful of remixes for illustrious international electro artists like Justice and Boys Noize.
“Our biggest accomplishment thus far was [our remix] for Sebastien Tellier called Divine,” said Maar. “The music was produced by Guy-Manuel from Daft Punk and then we collaborated indirectly on it.”
“It was especially memorable because we [later] shared a stage” with Daft Punk, added Daruma. The pair have also played alongside the renowned Parisian Ed Banger crew.
“We also did a remix of Grenade by Bruno Mars,” Maar said. “It’s going to be released at the end of May, but will be available exclusively in Japan.”
Outside of the studio, the Dexpistols are known for bringing a tremendous amount of energy to a gig, and sometimes spin six-hour sets.
“If you ever wanted to organize a DJ duo, you had better come check out the Dexpistols DJ set to see what are the characteristics of good chemistry between two people,” said Taipei native Mykal (林哲儀).
“A Dexpistols DJ set always inspires me because they know how to absorb brand new musical elements and combine them with old but good influences and music they really love to create an awesome party groove,” he said.
The Dexpistols were also the inspiration for a venture by another local favorite, Spykee Fat (金弘杰).
“[The] Dexpistols inspired me in many ways,” said Spykee. “In their early days, they did amazing combinations between rock and dance, and that’s one of the reasons I formed the duo Tomodachi in 2007.”
The Dexpistols play tonight at The Wall, B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Tickets are available in advance for NT$900 at The Wall, but admission at the door will run you NT$1,100. Mykal, FunkStar, Bounce Girlz, Discoattack, Freaky Squeaker and Swing Child are also on the bill.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
RSS