Listen to ASIANDOPEBOY’s wild, kinetic Dazed mix

The first time I saw an ASIANDOPEBOYS performance was last year at London’s Southbank Centre: a 12-hour theatre-rave odyssey featuring live shows, visual art, and a spectacular ritual involving a naked man placing flowers into the mouths of audience members. For those familiar with Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen and his ASIANDOPEBOYS collective, this freewheeling approach to art and music will probably come as no surprise, characterised by a weaving together of rituals, immersive narratives, and speculative sci-fi stories. “I want to have an expanded way to think of a performance: is it a concert? Is it a rave? Is it a theatre or a happening?” elaborates Tianzhuo.

Last month, I encountered the collective once again, this time at the opening of the Venice Biennale, where Tianzhuo premiered a multidisciplinary performance of Moyang 先祖 & Seaman 漁師, starring choreographer and dancer Siko Setyanto, whose fantastical improvisation featured a neo-animist ritual connected to the ocean (performed under moonlight, no less). Curated by Kuboraum Editions, the show was intended as a stage interpretation of the recent release Ocean Cage by electro-gamelan duo KADAPAT and artist-activist Nova Ruth – issued via Kuboraum Editions and SVBKVLT – featuring Setyanto’s narration and monologues.

For his exclusive Dazed mix, ASIANDOPEBOYS’ Tianzhuo shares his approach to artistic collaboration, the relationship between chaos and performance, and his perfect rave. Listen to the mix below and revisit the Venice show in the gallery above.

I loved the recent Venice Biennale show! How do you situate your work with ASIANDOPEBOYS in relation to the art and music worlds?

ASIANDOPEBOYS: Thank you. Performing in Venice is a great experience for me too, I’m happy that I played at this well-curated event by Kuboraum and alongside many other artists I admire. I like the fact that my work does not 100 per cent belong to the art or music world, it is something in between, but also not in any of those mainstream radars. I would never feel comfortable just staying in one category.

How do you go about choosing which artists to collaborate with? Why is collaboration important to you?

ASIANDOPEBOYS: I chose my collaborators because I'm a fan boy of their work, I love what they do and so I ask them. I feel creating together with people who share the same vision and building a trust is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I am inspired and motivated by working with collaborators. When you meet a beautiful mind and soul, it just happens that you appreciate each other's work, that is bliss!

How would you describe the relationship between all your various performances with ASIANDOPEBOYS – is it an expanded universe?

ASIANDOPEBOYS: I think of ASIANDOPEBOYS more as an evolving ecosystem than a series of isolated performances. Different works share recurring figures, symbols, sonic languages, spiritual themes, and emotional states, but they continuously mutate depending on the collaborators, location and context. So it’s not exactly a linear narrative or cinematic universe. It’s more like fragments of the same cosmology appearing in different forms.

What role do chaos and improvisation play in your performances?

ASIANDOPEBOYS: Chaos is essential because it keeps the work alive, especially in an era where everything is so controlled, surveillance and governed. I usually build a structure – scenography, choreography, symbolic language – but inside that structure, there has to be a certain level of [the] liberal. Many of the performances are long-duration or immersive, so energy constantly shifts between performers and audience. Improvisation allows the work to respond to those changes in real time.

I’m not interested in perfectly controlled theatre. I prefer something closer to a ceremony form, where repetition exists but each performance transforms depending on the bodies, emotions, exhaustion, and atmosphere present that day.

Describe your perfect rave.

ASIANDOPEBOYS: Not necessarily the biggest crowd or the best sound system, but a space where hierarchy dissolved, where exhaustion, sound, emotion, bodies, freedom and quality meet and create a temporary collective state which is safe and warmly welcome for all. Also, going with your beloved one and enjoying music from your beloved DJ/ musicians marks a perfect rave, too.

Tell us about your Dazed mix.

ASIANDOPEBOYS: It is a pretty energetic mix with two tracks from our performance OST, and also features many other artists I admire and I’m friends with. I hope I do it well and the listeners enjoy my mix!

Tracklist:

“Wrath from the Waves” – KADAPAT

“Jo-ducuroma roma” – Disco Vumbi

“Gal Dem” – Magugu

“TROCA TIRO E FAZ DINHEIRO” – DJ K

“Shutterbug” – Dj Funeral

“Strictly Business” – Criso

“Mammoth (Kelly Dean Remix)” – Kwizma

“Anakku” – KADAPAT&Nova Ruth

“Dread” – Slikback

“Oh No（Extended Mix)「feat.なかむらみな］” – Itoa

“Blow Yo Shit (Lenkemz Remix)” – Traxamn