Ed Banger
Tomorrow, 11pm, Volar
Those of us whose memories survived the last visit from French electro crew Ed Banger will need little convincing when Pedro Winter (left) and his gang return to Hong Kong tomorrow night.
Winter, one-time manager of Daft Punk and the brains behind Ed Banger, will hit the decks at Volar under his Busy P alias, alongside So Me and DJ Mehdi. So Me is the label's art director and plays music on the side. DJ Mehdi hails from a hip hop background, which he has fused with Ed Banger's signature sound.
Much like the Gallic answer to Steve Aoki's Dim Mak imprint, Ed Banger (say 'head banger' in a French accent) has been around since 2003. 'I was fed up with DJs spinning s*** music,' Winter has said of the cross-genre label's inception. 'It was time to bring back the fun, happiness and colour.'
If Daft Punk opened the doors for their music and a movement known as French Touch carried it through the early millennium, the boys and girls at Ed Banger are producing electro from Paris that is unmistakably current. It's post-electro - repetitive, dirty, and disrespectful of the limits of danceable sound.
But the crew will rein in their anarchic leanings for Volar. 'We'll [create] more of a house music feel,' Winter says, 'rather than just banging noises.' He looks forward to coming back to Hong Kong, which he calls 'fast and furious'. Last time, he 'had the chance to hang out with your two official party ambassadors, TK and Edison Chen'.
Among Winter's most famous prot?g? are the Grammy-winning Justice - the duo responsible for the track We Are Your Friends and later D.A.N.C.E., whose mainstream coup propelled Ed Banger to global recognition in 2007.
Ed Banger parties are emotional. At the label's recent seventh birthday party in New York, a crowd of 4,000 showed up. 'It was amazing,' Winter says, 'hip hop kids stage diving, electro freaks breakdancing and indie kids on ecstasy.'
Winter may seem a little fierce, but the Ed Banger honcho has a soft side. If he could come back to life as an animal, for example, he'd return as a cat. 'If I could extend the dream,' he offers, 'I'd wish to be adopted by a cute girl.'
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