NU-disco comes to Hong Kong

Compared to Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, or Manila, Hong Kong isn't distinguished for its vibrant or diverse musical ecosystem. Options are seen as limited, and enthusiasm has often been low. But slowly and steadily, that reality is changing, as more big musical names grace the city, drawn by a growing demand and an increasingly engaged audience.

In large part, that's due to the efforts of individuals such as Ouissam Mokretar, the founder of Cliché Records, an event organiser/aspiring music label dedicated to bringing internationally celebrated DJs to Hong Kong. Mokretar, also known by the moniker DJ Visa, has been in Hong Kong for three years. Before that, he worked at a trading company in Guangzhou.

Mokretar tried DJing in Guangzhou, but found a difficult scene. "Guangzhou was much harder for music," he says, "because there was no audience, and without Facebook and YouTube, there's less music sharing. You work with what they know, which is what's playing in the clubs. But it's different in Beijing or Shanghai. I was in the wrong city at the wrong time."

In Hong Kong, Mokretar took up a DJ residency at Vibes in the Mira Hotel. He approached his boss with the idea of booking an international DJ. His boss agreed, and in March 2012, they booked The Magician, a Belgian spinning nu-disco, which is a sound his record company is making its own. "I had never seen so many people here excited about nu-disco," he says. "I began to see that people wanted that, and I thought that I could start something in Hong Kong."

Cliché was officially born a year ago, with an event featuring Justin Faust at XXX Gallery in Sheung Wan. The company now employs six people and this June, celebrated its first anniversary with the return of Faust at Socialito in Central.

In between, they've organised an impressive procession of international DJs and acts, including Aeroplane, Classixx, Breakbot, Attar and College (known for his track A Real Hero in the movie Drive).

Many of these acts incorporate the nu-disco sound, but there's some variety - with house, techno and Italo-pop, among others. "If the music is good, then the genre doesn't matter," says Mokretar. Cliché also helps organise large collaborative events with other electronic music promoters.