So many of the sets that have been a part of 9128.live these past few years have been outstanding, and some artists have even been able to make a couple of appearances across multiple takeovers. One of those artists who ticks both these boxes is Suna.
Based in Seoul, Suna made her first appearance in our world for the Astral Industries 9128.live takeover over a year ago, and was then invited back by Joachim Spieth for the Affin takeover earlier this year. Her set for this takeover was spellbinding, and I was obliged to ask Suna to present this mix once again for the isolatedmix series, for even more people to enjoy.
For those who are new to Suna, she plays a crucial part in the burgeoning electronic scene in Seoul - one I have heard amazing things about but yet to experience. As part of the infamous club vurt, Suna can often be heard as part of the lineup gracing the infamous concrete bunker with her carefully crafted ambient sets, of hypnotic deep techno, or just as busy running things behind the scenes.
ASIP - Thank you, Suna, for allowing us to republish this mix. It was one of my favorites from the 9128.live Affin takeover!
Suna - First of all, I feel very grateful to have an opportunity to take part in 9128.live, I enjoyed working on it.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at vurt?
vurt. is a crew that seeks the pure spirit of underground culture and timeless electronic music. We hold a slogan, 'Ancient Future'. Before opening vurt., I often felt there's a systemic problem that DJs cannot improve their music with their own identity. DJs were asked to compromise our musical direction that could have been related to the revenue of clubs, and new trial and challenges were not accepted. Superficiality was the only dominating concept, wearing the mask of the underground. I felt strongly that we are in need of a venue that DJs can build up their musical style through experiences, experiments and improvements.
vurt. wants to make everything possible, developing and realizing pure music that hold each one's character and identity. We keep the olds, welcome the new, and bridges various generations and their knowledge and experiences.
How has vurt been impacted by the past few years? And what do you see as the future of clubs in this new world?
Like every other club in the world at the moment, vurt. has been influenced by Covid19 big time.
Last year, the Korean government started to shut down clubs officially, and even before several months from that point, we were advised(morel like coerced) to keep shutting down.
When we were having such a big difficulty without receiving any financial support or aid from the government, many local and international artists helped us.
Alex from Cassegrain released an album called <in_vurt> with many other artists, and they donated the sales revenue. I don't know how many times one gets to experience such a special gift, I still haven't figured out how I can pay them back. I feel indescribably grateful. After that vurt. and two other clubs in Seoul, Faust and Volnost joined forces and made a VFV Club project. We raised funds via a streaming event. Things were still on pause, and the pain was roaming in the air. I gained lots of energy to move forward while meeting people who were in the same shoes. Just by talking about how the camera is, how the streaming is, I felt like it gives me power. In the retrospect, it was a meaningful time to get to understand further about each other, before that event we three didn't really have that active communication. I thank all the listeners and people who donated. We also got great spiritual supports from loving friends of vurt., and the financial support from Jaegermeister was a meaningful help as well. So far, it was a miraculous time that we could hang in.
We couldn't just shut the door, sit down and wait, so now we turned the venue into a bar and focusing on ambient music than techno. Before the pandemic, we were running vurt. as an ambient bar during the weekdays so the transition was somewhat natural. Now, we are doing exhibitions once every two months, we showcase the artists who have connections to vurt.'s identity. The latest exhibition last month was very meaningful and special. The artists were rather young, all based in Seoul and regulars of vurt., and for the last few years we have grown together. They were students who study art and photography, it was difficult to make an opportunity to do something together when we were running as a club, but at this point when things are paused because of the disease, they utilized our venue and created their narratives. The title of the exhibition was 'Symptoms', and it was about various symptoms that are being created while being deferred, and the hopes that are jumping in. While the exhibiting period, I felt the venue was revived by the young friends who have visited here countlessly and grown up together with us. When the venue lost its role, and we were getting tired of it, they brought the new hope to us. I felt strongly about the younger generation's power.
However, it is a sorrowful, desolating thing to see that techno music cannot be played here, which was built and existed for that very reason. I keep thinking about how it could function was a club, in this confusing time.
Can you summarize your approach to the mix you prepared?
I was invited by Joachim Spieth last January, and joined 9128 live - Affin invites to play.
I like to deliver the vitalities that are newly created when one track meets another in my set. I also want to communicate emotionally, via various strange sounds that are related to the terra incognita. It would be a great pleasure for me if I could give a moment as a present when the listener's consciousness wakes up responding by deepened, spacious sounds.
The mix holds a wish to heal our bodies and minds that are damaged by the sense of loss because of the prolonged pandemic.
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Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.
Tracklist:
1. Joachim Spieth - P 680 [Affin]
2. The Abyss Within Us - Life in a Circle - Part 1. [Astral Industries]
3. Biosphere - Gilberg [The Senja Recordings]
4. Kassel Jaeger - Fog Constellation (approaching)
5. Kassel Jaeger - Paris Mustangs
6. MonoLogue - A1 [Chemical Tapes]
7. Guy Hobsbawm - Brumaire [Mysteries Of the Deep]
8. Ab Uno - Sophia [Mahorka']
9. The Caretaker - In the deep and dark hours of the night [History Always Favours The Winners]
10. hakobune - Seamless and Here [Patient Sounds]
11. MonoLogue - A2 [Chemical Tapes]
12. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Andata [Commmons]
13. Saenïnvey - The Big Travel [Eilean Rec.]
14. Magna Pia - The Mirror [AWRY]
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Suna | Soundcloud
