With performances from East Asia’s fastest-rising underground artists, Margins United was a colourful celebration of culture ‘from the margins’
Are you a Lazada e-Girl? Or, a Geylang drifter? Perhaps you’re a Shabby Star, or a Mobile Legends bang out (or both)? If so, and you’re based in London, then there’s a good chance you were at Eastern Margins’ Margins United day festival in Tottenham last month. With live performances from Seoul’s Effie, Shanghai’s Sebii and Japan’s Peterparker69, alongside food, fashion and tattoo pop-ups, the event went beyond just music – it was a celebration of the full spectrum of culture emanating out of East Asia in recent years.
“Eastern Margins draws from a rich tapestry of subculture woven in east and south-east Asia, but our home is London,” says the label’s founder, David Zhou, of the inspirations behind the single-day festival. “London is a sonic petri dish, a place to incubate and mix new ideas and sounds, and we wanted to unite all the margins of alternative Asian culture here in a way that felt true to the city.”
This is evident from the pictures alone. Attendees from across the Asian diaspora and beyond flocked to Archive in north London to hear artists who are rarely booked in the city, dressed in everything from cat ears to maid outfits in solidarity with their distant tribes. In many ways, Margins United was like Comic Con meets underground rap, marked by stark acceptance between the otherwise niche subcultures.
“There is really no feeling like watching the moment in a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu megamix set specifically created by the legend [producer Yasutaka] Nakata-san where ‘Candy Racer’ slams straight into ‘PONPONPON’,” recalls Zhou of a standout set from J-pop star Kyary Pamyu Payu, which formed the sonic equivalent of Harajuku’s neon-lit streets. “That is the intersection of every suburban otaku, gyaru goth, takeaway kid, catboy weeb from the margins in one searing moment, and there was acceptance that everyone was in the right place.”
Indeed, every inch of the event was packed with visual and sonic overload, mimicking the maximalist UI of Asian web design itself. The event’s kawaii, gummy bear-like mascots were plastered everywhere, from event flyers to projections on the side of the venue, while a special DJ set from actor Benedict Wong – under the name DJ Obi Wong – only added to the general chaos. “Music is always at the core of Eastern Margins, but in a FYP! hyperscroll world it never exists in isolation,” says Zhou, drawing a through-line between the internet and the musical subcultures featured at Margins United.
It’s an important connection – the internet has played a huge role in the explosion of East Asian talent in recent years, with many artists fusing the DIY ethos of Drain Gang’s cloud rap with influences from their local environments. “We’re seeing some vital connections being made across scenes and countries right now, often mediated by the digital primordial soup of social media,” says Zhou. “With groups like Shabby Club (Billionhappy, Chalky Wong, SEBii, WoWoWorld and DJ小女孩) in China linking up with Effie, kimj and The Deep in Korea, or Tohji tirelessly voyaging beyond the Japanese heartlands, a scene is emerging that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.”
Still, when looking ahead, Zhou points to one scene as particularly promising above all: China. “A ‘New China’ is emerging, and the Margins are all in,” he declares. The road to Margins United 2026, it seems, has already begun.
Catch a closer glimpse at Margins United’s colourful celebration of East Asian subcultures in the gallery above.