Up next on Electric Soul Radio #7 is deep house DJ Klosing, a fresh face looking to shape up the Taiwan underground music scene.

With half of his career spent in Taiwan during the pandemic, establishing himself as a DJ was pretty challenging. Through his gigs in Taiwan, China, and Vietnam just before Taiwan closed its borders, Klosing found his signature sound as a blend of minimal and deep house. 

With even bigger plans as he joined hands with fellow DJs Neilacid and Koliseum for Evaporate, Klosing hopes to be able to further develop the electronic music scene by providing a platform where like-minded music lovers can come together over diverse music genres and styles.

We spoke to Cory to find out more about his stage presence as Klosing, as well as his journey into the DJ scene as a co-founder of Evaporate.

Electric Soul: Can you introduce yourself to our readers out of Taiwan?

Klosing : Hi. I'm Cory Yang a.k.a. Klosing from Taiwan. During the day, I work at a trading company. My main musical styles are minimal and deep house. It was only in 2019 I knew what musical style I enjoyed. In 2020, I founded the brand 'Evaporate', which aims to promote underground house and techno culture by organizing events and parties in the region of Taiwan.

Electric Soul: 可以跟我們的讀者介紹一下你自己嗎 ?Klosing: HI！我是 Cory Yang aka Klosing，來自台灣，平時是貿易公司的上班族，主要播放曲風為 Minimal / Deep House，在 2019 末才確定自己喜愛的曲風。在 2020 創立了 Evaporate 蒸發品牌，在台灣地區推行 House / Techno 的地下文化及組織派對。

ES: Who is Klosing as a DJ? How would you describe your sound?  

Klosing: I focus on the degree of smoothness in transition and mixing, where audiences during the set would not experience any interruption while I maintain the continuity of it. In terms of mixing, I focus on the fluid delivery of the tracks, while subconsciously transitioning to the next song. The music of Klosing is deep but groovy, pleasurable, and the one that gets people to dance and move to it. In other words, it's approachable music!

ES: 你會形容Klosing 是一個怎麼樣的DJ？ 你會怎樣形容你的音樂？

Klosing: 我注重歌曲銜接流暢度跟 Mixing 上多一些，在一個 SET 裡讓聽眾沒有打斷，維持延續性；Mixing 部分則是注重 Smooth，不知不覺間進入下一首歌。
Klosing 的音樂是 Deep but groovy 的，愉悅的以及令人想跳舞擺動的，也可以說是平易近人！
 

ES: You run Evaporate along with Neil, and Koliseum. Can you explain to our readers what Evaporate is and tries to offer to the scene?

Klosing: In the beginning, we founded Evaporate because we happened to share the same ideas and musical tastes. With the goal of giving local Taiwanese DJs a platform to perform, we also have been discovering new DJs as well. There are many Taiwanese who perceive local DJs as inferior to foreign DJs, but we hope to change that as Taiwan has a lot of talented DJs. Evaporate also has its own self-produced podcast series where we invite DJs to share about the different musical atmosphere in each region. It’s not only the headliners who can put out good music as there’s a lot of other talented DJs out there who aren’t as famous. To make electronic music a part of our daily lives, we want musical enthusiasts to be exposed to more local DJs to experience many more musical styles.

ES: 你跟Niel 和 Koliseum主辦Evaporate。 你可以跟我們講一下Evaporate想帶給電音界些什麼？
Klosing: 一開始創立這個派對主要是剛好有相同的理念跟音樂品味，希望給台灣的場景多點本土 DJ 出場的機會，我們也一直在發掘新 DJ，許多台灣人可能會認為本土 DJ 亞於國外 DJ，但我們希望翻轉，台灣也有很多優秀的 DJ。
同時有固定電台 Podcast 的製作，邀請各地的 DJ 分享交流各區域不同的音樂氛圍，不是只有 Headliner 才可以把歌放好，許多優秀的 DJ 或許沒有如此出名。把電子音樂日常生活化，讓愛好者接觸更多異地的 DJ，感受更多種風格。

ES: Back in March, Lloyd Chiu from B1 explained to us that EDM was preeminent until not so long. How would you describe the scene in Taiwan?

Klosing: The global reach of EDM has certainly been slower, as it has been replaced with the rise of techno and tech house. It’s the same as in Taiwan, as it tries to chisel its way into the numerous stores in Taipei. Only through the hard work of promoters and event organizers did people start to take the first step into exploring the underground scene. 

In Taiwan, techno music is marginally more popular than house as the strong rhythms of Techno allows people to get into the mood easier, while the "feel-centric” House music is not as popular. 

ES: 在三月的時候， B1 - Lloyd Chiu曾說過EDM沒以前那麼普遍。你會怎樣形容現在台灣的電音場景？
Klosing: EDM 在全球的發展確實比較趨緩，起而代之的是 Techno / Tech House 的興起。
台灣也是一樣的，有鑿於台北各店家、Promoter 及派對品牌的努力，開始許多人踏入地下場景。
不過比例上 Techno 還是多於 House 很多的，Techno 的強烈節奏讓人更容易進入狀況，而講求感覺的 House 則在這塊土地沒有這麼風行。

ES: Would you change anything about the scene in Taiwan?

Klosing: There are more and more people venturing into the scene. Ultimately parties, brands, and club owners are not idealistic but a real subsistence economy for survival.

I also hope that the quality of the music scene will improve, by focusing more on the DJ’s skills instead of online popularity. This way, Taiwan’s music scene will rise even more.

ES: 你會希望看見台灣的電子樂界有所改變嗎？
Klosing: 有越來越多的人進入這個場景，畢竟派對、品牌或是店家不是做理想而是有現實面的生存經濟壓力。
也希望水平素質更加提升，注重在 DJ 技巧多一些而不是社交軟體，這樣台灣的整體實力會在更上升。

ES: Although Taiwan has experienced its first spike in the past days, how does it feel to be out to party during all this time while the whole world is on lockdown? 

Klosing: I feel extremely lucky. With our good border management, everyone around the globe was yearning for parties while we’re here going about our daily routines - it’s a very unique experience.

ES: 雖然最近台灣的疫情不理想，但你對於全世界都被封鎖的時候，台灣還在party有什麼感覺？
Klosing: 是感到無比幸運的，曾經有著最好的邊境管理之一的我們在全世界都渴望派對之時，在這則是稀鬆平常的事，是很特別的經驗。

ES: What are your plans for the rest of the year? 

Klosing: Because of the worsening pandemic, we actually can’t do much. Presently, we’re focusing on having exchanges with foreign organizations, producing podcasts series, and radio programmes for foreign groups. Aside from that, we are also continuously inviting DJs from other countries to produce podcasts for Evaporate.

ES: 未來這一年有什麼打算
Klosing: 由於疫情悲觀的緣故，其實是無法做出太多事情的，目前著重於與國外組織的交流，製作電台節目給國外；另方面則是繼續邀請其他國家的 DJ 為蒸發製作電台。

ES: Would you name an up-and-coming DJ that people should pay attention to?

Quadcore, a Taiwanese DJ who has just turned 19, his style in both Techno / House are very mature.

ES: 有什麼未來之星的DJ 大家應該注意的嗎？

Klosing: Quadcore，剛滿 19 歲的台灣 DJ，Techno / House 的成熟度都已經非常成熟。
 

ES: Where would you recommend people to go in Taiwan for pre-party and after-party?

If you like 4/4 beat, it has to be B1 / Pawnshop / 23 Music Room!

有朋友來台灣的話你會介紹他們去哪裡 pre-party 跟 after-party?

如果喜歡 4/4 beat 的一定是 B1 / Pawnshop / 23 Music Room！

Translation: Wei Yi Pua

Listen to Klosing’s exclusive guest mix for Electric Soul below.

Keep up with Klosing on  Electric Soul, Mixcloud, Instagram, and Facebook.