采访：atmen interview

By Josh, 2016年 5月 17日

《 看中文采访 》

Following up on our Kiwese interview, pangbianr returns to the bustling Chengdu underground to interview Su and Xiang, founders of electronic music event promoter/label atmen. You can learn more about the project here. atmen’s next event — Aus-atmen 2016 — is an outdoor music festival happening in a huge flower garden outside of Chengdu, including a custom-built DJ stage, art installations, a jam tent, a food & drink & artisan market, and endless chill vibes. Su and Xiang introduce their passion project, their next event and their future plans:

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pangbianr: What was your goal in establishing atmen? What do you bring to Chengdu that it was lacking before?

Su: When Xiang Xiang and I first started to discuss atmen, we didn’t really have a specific goal. We just wanted to do things we liked, fun things, and at the same time to express ourselves through our love of music and our understanding of life. I don’t think Chengdu lacked anything, things like this come from the people. As long as our minds are free, and we have the energy to do it, dare to think and dare to do, there will be no lack of interesting projects. We just want to be ourselves. If everyone does what they enjoy, it compensates for any perceived lack. We just enrich the city in some aspect by doing our projects.

Xiang: We didn’t think that far ahead when we started atmen. Chengdu is our hometown, we love the soil here. I hope that through the platform of atmen, through our efforts, we can guide and build a community of people who love life and love electronic music, transmit the spirit of pure techno and rave culture, absorb the energy of the music and experience a feeling of ecstasy.

pbr: What kind of music do you mainly like to DJ? How has your taste or aesthetic changed over time?

Su: Minimal techno. I think time and experience give you a sudden perception, constantly changing. Time signifies experience and growth, every stage of life is different, the experiences you receive are always changing.

Xiang: Mainly minimal techno. Regarding my personal aesthetic, I just try to be in the moment, to have dynamic changes, but also an underlying constant.

pbr: You’ve recently added Kristen Ng on to atmen, playing guitar. Where do you draw the line between DJing and live performance?

Su: We were really happy to meet Kristen, she’s young, full of energy, very earnest and hardworking. If atmen can attract more and more people like that, brimming with passion and energy to work together, we’ll continue to increase our potential.

Xiang: I think a music performance, whether it’s a DJ or any other format, is all about freedom, there are no boundaries. We use all kinds of sound materials to create a space. It could be a single track, a loop, a field recording, a sample, a sound of any origin… they all fuse together in the performance. The main distinction of a DJ performance is that it allows you to lose your sense of time and your body in the music, to dance in a dynamic state of meditation.

pbr: What are some of your favorite China-based producers and DJs? Favorites in general?

Su: I have a few… I don’t want to list them one by one, but my favorite is my partner Xiang Xiang, hahaha. Peace and love!

Xiang: Shao, Bas Mooy, Sigha, Rrose

pbr: What’s the difference between your recurring events Ein-atmen and Aus-atmen? What do these names mean?

Su: “atmen” means “breathe” in German. Einatmen and Ausatmen are verbs, to inhale and to exhale. The name is intended to connect music with life and other things in the world, which all share a sense of breathing, rhythm. Music is as indispensable for the body and soul as breathing is for life. Ein-atmen, inhaling, is more about the inner city scene, because breathing in has a more tight or rigid overtone. Aus-atmen, exhaling, is more about nature, since breathing out is relatively relaxed.

Xiang: Inhale, exhale, in and out. That’s life itself. Like life, music has the rhythmic frequency of breathing, like a never-ending stream…

pbr: Can you describe “Flower Town”, the venue of Aus-atmen Festival? What’s the vibe like there? What can people at the festival do besides enjoy the music?

Su: Actually with all of the atmen events in the city and in nature we’re looking for strongly contrasting elements, using sound, light, visuals etc to give the audience a really distinct mental and physical experience. For the next event at Flower Town we found a really wide lawn, the grounds include a forest and flower gardens, and there’s also a pool. When the weather’s good it’s clear, blue skies, white clouds and sunshine overhead, there are birds and kittens running around, it looks like an idyllic scene from childhood. This time we want to use a lot of these natural elements, our videos and posters also use elements from nature; the preview video [above] was shot at the event site. In addition to enjoying the music, this space will also allow the audience to appreciate nature, hang out with friends. We’re putting together a lot of interesting elements for the festival to increase its interactive nature, including a teepee with instruments for a free jam session. We’ll have a market with food and merch, as well as a small open stage for amateur DJs to share music with their friends. We also have our artist friends MOMO and Chun Qi coming to custom-build a stage to fit the environment, and we have artist Li Kun making a custom lighting installation to fit the stage. Words aren’t enough to convey it all, you’ll have to be there and experience it yourself to understand it. It’s a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, throw yourself into nature, nice music, art installations, food and drink, interesting people, everything that makes us happy. At the end of the year, our next Ein-atmen event will present a completely different experience. Every year one breath out, one breath in.

Su 苏

Xiang 响

pbr: What are your upcoming plans? Will atmen remain a Chengdu exclusive, or do you plan to branch out to other cities in China, or other countries?

Su: Currently Xiang Xiang and I are beginning to produce music, our plan is to develop atmen into a label that also produces and releases original recordings. We also want to uncover and promote undiscovered local producers. Actually both of us are happy to let nature take its course, to let time and serendipity show the next step. We don’t have a fixed plan, besides doing another Ein-atmen event at the end of the year. A lot of Chinese and foreign friends have asked us about organizing events, I hope we can collaborate with all of them, hahaha. After this year’s Aus-atmen Xiang Xiang and I will go to Europe for a few months with a few producer and label friends, hang out together and learn more about the scene there, go to a few music festivals that we’re interested in. I hope we meet more fun, like-minded friends there, and get a spark to propel the future development of atmen.

Xiang: We plan to expand our base of operations to include both Chengdu and Berlin.

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Move fast to book your tickets to Aus-atmen 2016, which goes down on Saturday, May 21. Find full event info on Kiwese and grip a presale ticket on Zaomengshe.

旁边儿回到繁忙喧闹的地下成都，采访了电子音乐推手/厂牌atmen的两位创始人苏和响。atmen的下一个活动 — Aus-atmen 2016 — 将是一场盛大的户外音乐节，就在成都郊外的一个公园里。现场将设有一个定制的DJ舞台、艺术装置、jam帐篷、户外市集以及无限量的惬意轻松。苏和响介绍了她们心之所爱的项目，下一个活动以及未来的计划：

旁边儿: 你们成立atmen的目标是什么？你们给成都带来了什么此前缺失的东西？

苏: 刚开始和响响一起聊到atmen的想法的时候，其实并没有给自己设定一个具体的目标，就是觉得想做自己喜欢的事情，好玩的事情，同时能给通过它来表达自己对于音乐和生活的理解。我觉得成都并不缺任何的东西，事情都是人做出来的，只要人的思想是自由的，加上行动力，敢想敢做，就不会存在缺失，我们只是做自己，如果每个人都做自己喜欢的事情，其实就不存在弥补缺失的情况。我们的出现只是让它有了更丰富的一个元素吧。

响: 当初成立atmen的时候并没有想得太远..成都是我们的家乡，我们喜欢这里的土壤，希望通过atmen这个平台，用我们的力量引导和集结更多热爱生命和电子音乐的人，传递纯粹的techno精神和锐舞文化，在音乐中吸收能量，体验狂喜。

旁边儿: 你DJ时最喜欢放的音乐是什么类型？你的品位、审美是如何随着时间改变的？

苏: Techno、Minimal。时间和阅历带给自己的一些当下的感受吧，它一直都在改变，时间意味着随之而来的经历和成长，每个人生阶段不同，接受的东西也就不一样了。

响: Techno,minimal为主。对于品味和审美，我想就是每个当下的感觉吧，有变，也有不变。

旁边儿: 最近你邀Kristen Ng加入了atmen，弹吉他。你如何划分DJ演出和现场演出的界限？

苏: 我们其实很开心能遇到Kristen Ng，她年轻，充满活力，而且非常的认真和努力，atmen能吸引来越来越多充满爱和能量的人一起玩，会让它的能量更加持续。DJ演出就是挑选别人的作品，通过现场播放混音演出，现场演出就是演绎自己创作的东西。

响: 我觉得一个音乐现场，无论是DJ或其他任何形式，都是自由的、没有界限的。我们通过各种声音素材创造出一个又一个空间，它可能是一首单曲、一个循环、一段录音、采样、任何发声源…在现场将他们融为一体。而DJ现场最大的特点是它可以让你在音乐中忘记时间和身体，持续不断地舞蹈，进入动态冥想的状态。

旁边儿: 你喜欢的居住在中国的制作人和DJ有哪些？不限定居住地的话呢？

苏: 有一些，就不一一列举了，但是我还是最喜欢我的搭档响响，哈哈哈。Peace and love！

响: Shao, Bas Mooy, Sigha, Rrose

旁边儿: Ein-atmen 和 Aus-atmen之间的区别是什么呢？这两个名字的意思是什么？你是怎么想到atmen这个名字的？

苏: Atmen是德语呼吸的意思,Einatmen和Ausatmen是动词，分别为吸气和呼气的意思，取这个名字意在音乐同生命和世间万物一样都是有呼吸和韵律的，音乐于身心灵也如同呼吸于生命一样不可或缺。Ein-atmen吸气更多是在城市里的场景，因为吸气有着较紧收的意味，Aus-atmen呼气则更多在自然里寻找场景，因为呼气相对更有放松的意味。

响: Einatmen是吸气，Ausatmen是呼气，一进一出。atmen是德语动词“呼吸”的意思，即生命本身，音乐如生命一样有着呼吸的频率，源源不断…

旁边儿: 你可以形容一下Aus-atmen音乐节的场地“Flower Town”吗？那里的气氛如何？人们在这个场地除了享受音乐还可以做什么？

苏: 其实每一次atmen的活动都会在城市和自然寻找一些对比强烈的场景，通过现场的声、光、视觉等带给大家特别的身心体验。这一次的flower town我们找到了一片很宽阔的草坪，周围覆盖了很多的树林花草，也有水塘，天气好的时候抬头就是蓝天白云阳光，还能看到小鸟小猫在周围嬉戏，就像小时候郊游的场景，我们这一次希望大量的运用这些自然的元素，就像我们的宣传片和海报里也是大量的自然元素采样，而片中的植物采样都是来自我们这次活动的场地。在这个场地除了享受音乐，肯定就是感受大自然和认识有趣的朋友了，我们在现场搭建了很多有意思的装置，增加了这次音乐节的互动性，比如teepee帐篷，free jam的区域玩乐器的朋友可以带上自己的乐器和现场的朋友一起jam，交流这样，市集里我们精选了有意思的商品和食品，还有开放的电子小舞台可以给希望分享音乐的朋友一起玩，也有艺术家朋友MOMO和春琪过来根据现场的自然感觉为我们设计和搭建了很棒的舞台，还有艺术家李琨配合现场舞台装置为我们设计了灯光装置，真的很棒，无法用语言表达，这些都真的只有到现场来感受，如果可以给大家制造一次可以远离城市喧嚣的机会，全身心的投入到自然中，鸟语花香，好听的音乐，艺术装置作品，美酒美食，认识有趣的人，就是我们觉得开心的事情，年底我们ein-atmen会和这一次产生一个全然不同的体验，每一年的一呼一吸。

响: 这次我们在三圣花乡找到了一大片草坪，还有树林和花草，在这个初夏时节刚刚好。在这片自然乐园里有音乐，艺术装置，市集，社区…自由、分享、开放…这是一年一度的atmen户外电子音乐节，邀上你的好友、爱人一块来玩吧！：）

Su 苏

Xiang 响

旁边儿: 近期的计划？atmen会留在成都吗？又或者你计划拓展到国内的其他城市，甚至其他国家？

苏: 目前我和我的搭档响响开始了音乐制作，atmen厂牌涉及的领域比如制作和发行也是我们的计划，同时就是发掘出本土更多更好的制作人，其实我们两个都比较顺其自然，都是觉得时机成熟了就开始做下一步的工作，没有特别确定的计划，比如年底我们还会再做一次einatmen的活动，但是我们还有确定具体的时间，尽管现在已经有很多国内国外的朋友或制作人已经在问我们的安排，希望能合作，哈哈哈，就是太顺其自然了。今年aus-atmen结束之后我和响响会去欧洲几个月，和我们的一些制作人朋友和经营厂牌的朋友一起玩和交流学习，也会参加一些我们认为不错的音乐节，希望认识更多趣味相投的朋友，也为atmen未来的发展碰撞出一些火花吧。

响: 上趟山，下月去柏林。atmen会以成都和柏林为基地，拓展开来。

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看所有对于 Aus-atmen 2016 的信息／买预售票在Zaomengshe.

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