Top Asian DJs play in Hong Kong for Cliché Records' anniversary
To celebrate its third anniversary, Cliché Records is holding a four-day series of parties that showcase the brand's international reach through the years
just one birthday a year. The crew at Cliché Records, however, are so party-loving that they intend to drag out the third anniversary celebrations of Hong Kong's only credible electronic-music record company over four days. Although the company's five staff see their Homesick and Fragrant Harbour labels as central to the company, and Cliché also operates a thriving booking agency, it's best known as a collection of event-organising party-starters par excellence, and it's that side that will come to the fore over the long weekend of April 23 to 26.
"Last year's birthday events lasted three days," says Cliché member Youlie, who handles the company's PR and administration. "Because one of our main business is a booking agency, which has a roster of international DJs who live in Asia, it's a good opportunity for us to bring them here for the people who've been following us."
The centrepiece comes on the night of Saturday, April 25, at the at underground Central nightclub Oma, where some 15 DJs will spin until dawn, including Australia's Andy Hart; the French-born, Japan-raised, US-based Alex From Tokyo; Belgium's San Soda; El'se and Mau Mau from Shanghai; and Magico and Antwork from Seoul; as well as local names including Ocean Lam and Taku Hirayama.
Andy Hart and Alex from Tokyo are also behind the decks at Kee Club on the Friday night, and before that there's a warm-up gig at Honi Honi on the Thursday featuring local DJs Gregzo, Miya, Arun R and Romi B. The festivities are wrapped up with an afternoon buffet brunch at Vibes in The Mira hotel featuring musical accompaniment from the Cliché team, and they've even found time for an invite-only junk trip — although they couldn't find a junk big enough to invite all the people they wanted to. "I still have flashbacks of the junk trip last year," says Cliché booker and DJ Samy Stouky, wistfully.
The main reason for turning the celebrations into a weekend-long event, says Ouissam Mokretar, aka DJ Visa, the company's CEO, who's also a producer and DJ booker, is the sheer volume of visiting talent and the impossibility of putting it all on in one night. Also, he says, there are so many DJs visiting who don't know each other, who'll be sharing music and what's happening around Asia with each other, and you can't do that on one night only. "Plus," he adds with a grin, "we want to make it really crazy."
Making it really crazy is the main reason Cliché has been so successful, gaining a reputation quickly after its launch for high-quality parties featuring discerning house music. Its staff — the five are completed by Jean-François Amadei, who handles the record labels and is also a DJ and producer, and designer, DJ and producer Graz Mulcahy — all originally come from different regions of France, and all have slightly different musical tastes, from techno to disco, but meeting in the middle ground of house, although Cliché is often referred to as a nu-disco or disco house label.