isolatedmix 113 – Sunju Hargun

We’ve fallen a little behind the monthly schedule with isolated mixes recently, but that’s mainly because the artists lined up have been working hard on some very special journeys for us all. Getting back into the swing of things now, our latest mix comes from an artist who I got to know through a small online group that obsesses over Trance music, and ultimately helped us bring to life our recent Rapture Network 9128.live takeover, helping organize and provide the brilliant logo/identity for the festival and t-shirts.

When he and I are not obsessing over all types of ambient and psychedelic trance music, Sunju Hargun has been busy launching his new label, Siamese Twins Records, which since 2020 has not only been an outlet for some of his own work, but also served as an introduction to many pan-Asian artists through compilations such as Kāthā, and Vinyan, presenting a spectrum of “Eastern psychedelia”. The compilations represent a great starting point for many new artists stemming from a local scene, and one that I am excited about digging deeper into through both Sunju and his new label curation.

Kāthā V.A. (ST๐๐๕) by Siamese Twins Records

“A hypnotic sound bath in which tribally-rooted ambient morphs into one entity. Drones, live instruments and esoteric textures are transformed into a contemporary Kāthā interpretation.”

Coincidentally, during my trip to Hidden Sounds record store in London, I had picked up a remix EP from Sunju’s label, that delved into the slightly trancier side of his tastes (and label). It was a fleeting visit where the shop owner Alex loaded me up with so many nice bits, that I had hardly stopped to look at the artists and labels in my bag and was purely grabbing stuff on sound – always an exciting tactic for exploring new records when you get them home and realize you ended up supporting someone you enjoy based on music alone.

Vinyan Remixes (SToo๔) by Siamese Twins Records

It’s with great pleasure to have Sunju behind the decks for this isolatedmix and a get peek into his own influences that undoubtedly shape his own productions, mixes and label output…

Hi Sunju, can you give us an intro to your musical upbringing?

I’m of Indian descent, born and raised in Thailand with some roots from Japan. I find love and happiness in connecting with people through music. I co-run the Siamese Twins records record label focusing on psychedelic sounds from the East. I’m also a part of the Karma Klique collective organizing parties in nature across Thailand with proceeds going to local social causes.

I was surrounded by lots of music when I was young. Lots of people whose music is sought after in the local Thai jazz/blues wave were my father’s friends, and some of that music was connected to psychedelic rock as well. Around that time was also another side of music which was an integral part of my life, came from my mother’s passion for Indian art and traditional Hindu soundtracks from the early 60’s to 70’s.

We are both deep Trance fans at heart – but how did you get into the ambient side of music?

At the time I was living in Shanghai, my friends would host intimate house sessions every other weekend to experience ‘trip’ gatherings with the music we felt connected to and grow our little prog-trance family by inviting other ravers we met along the way. Most of us were music nerds of the group that had to contribute to certain hours of the night to share our playlists, and I was mostly in charge of sunrise. Although I was not familiar with the term Ambient back then, instead referred to it as Reprise/Chillout’. Having the pleasure to breathe through the early 2000’s Prog era, I was heavily inspired by compilations from Global Underground, Renaissance & Producers like Satoshi Tommie, Spooky, Starkid, Leama, and Rabbit in the moon are just a few to mention that were a gateway to falling deeply in love with it.

Your new label Siamese Twins Records has made an excellent start, can you tell us a bit about the approach?

Thank you so much, very happy to receive great support and words from you about it.

It has been very community-driven as it’s built upon mutual connections and friendships we made over the last five years running events with Karma Klique. We would invite artists from across the Asian region that gained our interest and with a similar ethos. There is a lot of mainstream electronic music here, but luckily there are also a lot of amazing artists, event organizers, record stores and labels that stubbornly do their own thing with a pure love for the art. While connecting with them often music they were working on was shared which we felt deserved a good home. This is also how we connected with Yoshi Nori who runs our sister label 禁JIN from Taipei and is one of the four co-founders of the Siamese Twins label.

The idea from the start was to embrace Asian identity and focus on the more psychedelic sound spectrum which can be both slow as fast. We release ambient, curated as long trips, compilations, but are also releasing trippy dancefloor orientated material ideally to be played at sunrise during a forest rave. We like to mix it up, stay weird. We care a lot about the total process from start to finish with lots of love and attention to detail. We approach it multi-dimensional and a way to have a dialogue with other expressions of Asian culture which shows in Taychin Dunnvatanachit’s artwork approach.

We hope to keep on building on these fundamentals. It’s very much our own thing and approach.

What is the ambient music scene like in Thailand? How do you try and stay connected locally?

Yes, Bangkok is a special city that I’m happy to call home.

The ambient movement is still quite young, but in the past year alone there might have been a spark of interest towards it being more appreciated by locals mainly because of spending plenty of time at home during the lockdown period. There is also a wave of music makers and collectives popping out at the moment who are heavily promoting it – A wonderful shift, with the hope that it earns a feature in festivals and gatherings on the horizon. The community of quality electronic music in Bangkok is tightly connected through record stores like More Rice and Zudrangma that promote a wide variety of world and electronic music. With the addition of a brand new local online-based radio called “BCR” that has managed to bring artists and friends to share music together during this time when clubs aren’t allowed to open.

You’re a great visual artist too, is your music and art symbiotic in approach?

I would like to think there is an underlying secret connection towards some form of visual identity with my approach to music. In the past, I experienced moments of having these images built from dreams that became starting points to an idea of creating a track. Does not happen often, but when it does – I welcome it!

The mix feels very uplifting, especially near the end. What role does ambient music play in your life at the moment?

Ambient music helped me to understand sound layering in a whole different perspective. Over the past two years, I’ve especially embraced more experimentation in the studio and introduced sounds from various cultures rooted in Asia. This helped a lot to push creative boundaries. When possible I try to spend time learning more about sound’s behavior as well and how daily noise from our surroundings can impact us. Keeping my eyes & ears wide open to observe the smallest details.

Where was the mix prepared and what is the idea behind it?

The mix was recorded at home at approximately 10:30 am on a rainy morning. The concept behind the mix was to include tracks that are influencing me at the moment. I’m finding myself drawn towards music from Japanese producers more and more these days and wanted to share some of those discoveries alongside other favourite labels and promos from friends. The mix itself carries a story that feels fluid with a lot of focus on space, texture, and a hint of nostalgic memories. I hope the listeners will enjoy it and feel the same way.

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Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 113 – Sunju Hargan

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Adi – Haz
02. Androne – Signs of life
03. Yagya – Old Dreams And Memories
04. Yumi Iwaki – Sleepy Fog
05. Pataphysical – Moonlit Picnic
06. Vivian Koch – Who
07. Lemna – Moments In Eternal Recurrence
08. Celestial Trax – New Masters of Psychedelic Ambience
09. Avsluta – Meditation 16
10. BLNDR – Callopsis
11. Vivian Koch – Closed (Yosemite Version)
12. JakoJako – Ochros
13. Only Thingz – Eyes Wide Open
14. Kosei Fukuda – Sky Clair (Uchi Remix)
15. Underworld – Dark & Long (Most ‘Ospitable)
16. Talvin Singh – Butterfly

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Sunju Hargun | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Instagram | Bandcamp (Siamese Twins)

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Written by A STRANGELY ISOLATED PLACE