Inspired by the lack of connection when DJs and artists started livestreaming from their bedrooms and studios to make up for the lack of live gigs, a new event organiser emerged in Taiwan.

Describing themselves as an amalgamation of a music show and party experiences, Nebulosa is dedicated to providing sensorial experiences by combining good music, captivating visuals, and heritage sights. Based in Taipei, Nebulosa hopes to be able to shine the spotlight onto the local culture and history of the country through music and art.

Nebulosa launched their first ever show featuring house DJ Velvet Collective on a rooftop in central Taipei, and is just the first of many more to come. We had a quick chat with the guys behind Nebulosa to find out what’s next.

Electric Soul: Hi Nebulosa, congrats on your new launch and first ever show! Tell us more about Nebulosa. 

Nebulosa: Thank you so much! Nebulosa is a project offering a music show whose aim is to promote artists and local heritage, coming from collaborations with pre-existing events or from a unique party organized for the occasion.

ES: How did the idea for Nebulosa come about?

Nebulosa: The idea for Nebulosa was born here in Taipei during the Covid 19 pandemic. Having had the apprehension of several months of lockdown in Europe and the experience of a society where the cultural space has disappeared, we started to wonder what would become of parties deprived of its human and social dimensions, leaving no other alternatives of expression than digital and streaming. It was in reaction to this that Nebulosa was born in Taiwan; enjoying an opportunity and freedom of a Covid-free country to share the potential of the local artistic community with the rest of the world.

Living in a society where the culture has - in a way - disappeared for some time, has left a strong impact. Sometimes we tend to realize the value of things when they tend to disappear. The project name comes from Feolis Nebulosa, the scientific name of the clouded leopard that was a strong symbol in (Taiwan) before it became extinct.

ES: Your first ever show was on a rooftop in the middle of Taipei. Tell us how did you go about the curation and programming of Velvet Collective? 

Nebulosa: Just after attending a party where Velvet Collective was performing at, we realized that they match perfectly with the musical vibes we wanted for the show. Moreover, that event had the identity of what we imagined for Nebulosa - a space of freedom, located on a rooftop in a photography studio transformed for the occasion into a dancefloor, an outdoor bar, and even a delicious pizza stand provided by Little New York Pizzeria. The idea of transforming a common space into a place that can host a unique event for one night only is a concept that we are particularly fond of.

The 4 friends of Velvet Collective: Nathan, Yuhan, Matt and Chupis were immediately convinced by the idea of ​​realizing an original show with us, putting Taipei in the spotlight. They also partnered with 3 dancers, Mei Fung, Rachel Wong and Jona Huang, to make several surprise appearances during the show.

After discussing the technical aspects for the video together, we put everything in place to organize this first show in the best conditions and are delighted with the result!

ES: What kinds of things do you want people to experience at a Nebulosa event?

Nebulosa: During a Nebulosa show, I want people to feel like they can be free at a unique event. Like a time-capsule to have fun, dance, meet, discover, exchange, be surprised, and be part of an original experience that they will be able to look back on (after) the show.

ES: The event and festival scene has seen huge changes in the past 2 years thanks to COVID-19, with the future of festivals unpredictable. What are some of the biggest concerns you have when you decided to launch Nebulosa?

Nebulosa: The main concerns I had when creating Nebulosa was keeping the essence of the party in its best form, especially as a social and galvanizing experience. It's very reassuring to see that artists always find a way to adapt to every situation, no matter how upsetting the situations are.

It’s a little sad during this pandemic to see a lot of artists performing and sharing content from their own bedrooms – it felt like the notion of spectacle was starting to elude us.

We want to make the best use of all the technical video resources at our disposal today to offer content that is always original and qualitative. The founding challenge of our project is to dress the musical performance in its best (form), bringing the party where it is not used to happening, and making it rub shoulders with different universes to give the audience a moment of escape and real entertainment.

ES: There are already plenty of players in the music scene in Taiwan. Do we really need another event organizer?

Nebulosa: I don't think it's a problem at all to have a multitude of organizers in the same space. It certainly allows the (music) culture in question to develop and I think that's a very good thing. 

What is annoying is the lack of originality in event proposals or the simply copying (other events) that unfortunately happens often in this industry.

I would like to point out that Nebulosa is based around the idea of a video show aimed at promoting one (or more) artists and the surrounding heritage. We aim to collaborate with pre-existing entities such as labels, festivals, bands, institutional organizations etc for events already established and thus develop concepts to be able to serve, as a support and platform, for connecting local culture to a wider audience through an original visual performance.

However, we want to create our own events in the future.

ES: Are there any plans for collaborations with existing collectives? Do you plan on collaborating with local organisers in Taiwan? 

Nebulosa: Affirmative! I cannot reveal anything for the moment as the element of surprise is an important part of our identity, moreover we have been stopped in our launch with a late arrival of contamination with Covid-19 in recent weeks. Despite this I can tell you that projects with other local organizers of the electronic scene as well as a festival are in the works.

We look forward to continuing to collaborate and to materialize the ideas that we have prepared in the meantime, and show how Taiwan is a magnificent and surprising place!

ES: What do you hope to achieve for Nebulosa in the next year? 

Nebulosa: We hope to make Nebulosa an online place to showcase a new side of Taiwan; to develop the local community; to let people discover new key locations across the island; to become strong enough to be able to collaborate with increasingly important partners; and why not in the near future, cross borders and collaborate with neighboring countries in Asia.

Photo credit: Sasha Hong Photography

Drone footage: FBL Productions

Stay updated on the latest Nebulosa shows by following them on Electric Soul, Facebook, and Instagram.