For Beijing-based creative collective Out of Fashion Boys, their city can at times feel stale and inhibiting, but they also believe it’s a place with untapped potential. As China’s capital, Beijing is the political center of the country, but politics is the farthest thing from the minds of the city’s youth. Young creatives, like those behind Out of Fashion Boys, have been hard at work carving out their own paths, and with little interference from commercial interests, they’ve been left to their own devices to do so. As their name suggests, Out of Fashion Boys doesn’t care about being hip or “fashionable.” The group, an offshoot of the now-defunct music label THUDVR, aims to be more mindful of how youth culture is broadcast.
在 Out of Fashion Boys 眼中，北京是一座压抑、下沉又充满能量的城市。尽管地处政治中心，但那里的年轻人希望用更多不循规蹈矩的方式来看待身边的一切。而与一些经济最发达的城市相比，这里所形成的文化气候并不容易被市场完全消耗，呈现出深沉又具有能量的气魄。正如其名，Out of Fashion Boys 并不想赶时髦，这支前身为 THUVDR 电子音乐厂牌的团体，希望用不浮躁的方式表达自己的文化讯号。
Listen to OUT OF FASHION BOYS VOL.1 below:
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On December 19th, Out of Fashion Boys released OUT OF FASHION BOYS VOL. 1, both digitally and as a physical CD. The compilation album features a dozen music producers, who’ve all been invited to share their interpretation of Beijing through music. Participating artists include Shanghai’s ZEAN, London’s Air Max ’97, New York’s False Witness, Mexico City’s Lao, among other up-and-coming producers from around the world. We caught up with Luxixi and TsingLung, the two founders of Out of Fashion Boys, to talk shop about music, mainstream trends, and the importance of breaking the mold.
2019 年 12 月19 日，Out of Fashion Boys 第一张合辑以数字和 CD 的形式发行。《OUT OF FASHION BOYS VOL.1》集合了世界各地曾经造访北京的电子音乐艺人，包括了上海的 ZEAN、伦敦的 Air Max ’97、纽约的 False Witness 以及墨西哥城 Lao 等等十二位杰出的场景人物。他们将各自对北京的印象融进音乐的制作中，打造一种形散神不散的概念。
在合辑发行之际，我们找到了 Out Of Fashion Boys（以下简称为 OOFB）的主理人 Luxixi 和 TsingLung，和他们聊了聊电子音乐以及 “时尚” 和 “过时” 的界限。
Neocha: Why was THUDVR disbanded? How did this new project come about?
OOFB: As THUDVR, we threw a lot of electronic music parties between 2016 and 2019, and had a lot of fun ideas. But it felt limiting just being a record label and party organizer; we wanted to be more experimental with what we were doing. So after deliberating long and hard, we decided to end THUDVR, start anew Out of Fashion Boys, and bring some of our kooky ideas to fruition.
Neocha: 什么契机会选择永久终止 THUVDR，并另起炉灶？
OOFB: 2016年到今年2019年，我们做了很多电子音乐的派对，过程中也萌发了许多有趣的念头。作为派对厂牌的 THUVDR 却变得难以作为这些萌芽的土壤。我们认真的思考后决定永久停止 THUVDR 的一切活动，以 Out of Fashion Boys 作为全新的起点实现这些有趣的想法。
Neocha: What does being “in fashion” and “out of fashion” mean to you?
OOFB: Being fashionable and being out of fashion aren’t polar opposites. It’s all a cyclical process. What’s considered dated will become fashionable again. For us, being “out of fashion” means deconstructing preconceptions and expressing the things we want to express without being influence by what’s “in” at the moment. Copying for the sake of staying up-to-date is a shameful compromise. Some that’ve been done to death. For example, the explosion of people throwing LGBTQ+ parties or retro-themed parties feel gimmicky. They become bastardized into something that’s far from their roots. The name Out of Fashion Boys is meant to capture our intentions: in a time of fast-changing trends, we want to do things that are “outdated,” a subversion of our modern need keep up with the latest trends.
Neocha: Out of Fashion Boys 眼中 “时尚” 与 “过时” 的衡量标准是什么？
OOFB: “时尚” 与 “过时” 永远不是两个对立面，轮回中的 “过时” 就是 “时尚”。在我们眼里“过时”是抛弃大众对一件事物的刻板印象，表达自己想要表达的而不被大众认知所影响的“时尚”根源。为赶时髦而复制是对大众刻板印象的妥协，那些被复制了上千次的内容，比如一簇而拥的 LGBTQ+ 派对和复古派对，最后会变成了一个噱头，最终与其背后的文化却渐行渐远。之所以取名 Out of Fashion Boys 也是对我们的初衷做一个诠释 —— 在浮躁的浪潮中，我们只想做一些“过时”的东西，来反对浮躁的文化现象。
Neocha: What’s your take on the growing popularity of electronic music in China? What does the new album aim to contribute to the burgeoning scene?
OOFB: I’d say that electronic music isn’t truly prospering here at all. It’s an illusion. With that being said, we of course hope for the domestic electronic music scene to grow. This is also partly why we wanted to make this album—we want more people to see that Chinese electronic music is something alive, something unique.
Neocha: 如何看待当下繁荣的电子音乐场景？《OUT OF FASHION BOYS VOL.1》合集希望为电子音乐场景注入一种怎样新的观点？
OOFB: 当下绝对不是电子音乐最繁荣的时期，你所看到的繁荣可能只是一个假象。我们也期待中国的电子音乐市场可以真正的繁荣起来，这也是这个合辑的出发点。我们希望更多人看到中国电子音乐的生命力，与独特之处。
Neocha: The new album asks musicians to present their perspective of the city through a single track. What are some of the most surprising ways that these producers have approached this task?
OOFG: Every producer had their own unique perspective and ways of interpreting their impression of the city. Their inspirations were often based on specific memories, so it all feels very different. Japanese producer WRACK remembers the intense flavors of hotpot, and he tried to reproduce that in his song; Dehousy’s “Eastern Sunrise” is inspired by his memory of seeing the sunrise in Jingshan Park. The frigid morning air and panoramic vista of Beijing’s cityscape were his creative springboards; he managed to translate these visuals into a mystic but melodic soundscape.
Neocha: 合辑中共连接了数位曾经造访北京的电子音乐艺人，把世界和北京这座城市连接在了一起。这些艺术家会用哪些方式来连接音乐与这座城市的记忆？
OOFB: 合辑中每位艺术家都有自己独特的视角，来诠释对这座东方城市的印象。每个音乐人都找到了自己独特的动机，这些动机就来自于他们的记忆。日本的音乐人 WRACK 把火锅对味蕾的冲击表现为音乐中；Dehousy 的《Eastern Sunrise》灵感来自景山公园的日出，他把早晨的寒意和面对整个北京城的景色转化为仙境一般的迷雾感旋律。
Neocha: Aside from music-related aspirations, what can we expect from Out of Fashion Boys in the future?
OOFB: Since we’re not a music label but a more all-inclusive collective, our members are made up of interesting folks from a variety of backgrounds: we plan to make art installations, release more fashion collections, curate exhibitions, and produce documentary films. Of course, we’ll still be organizing parties since it’s very much in our wheelhouse. We’re open to experimentation and trying anything that seems fun.
Neocha: 除了音乐，我们还会在未来看到 Out of Fashion Boys 哪些令人期待的内容？
OOFB: Out of Fashion Boys 不是一个音乐厂牌。它应该是一个更包容的团体，在这个团体里我们有各个领域有趣的人参与。装置、服装设计、展览、纪录片还有我们擅长的派对都是在未来的计划里的，这些有趣的点子都是我们愿意去尝试的。
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WeChat: OUTOFFASHIONBOYS
Bandcamp: ~/OOFB
Contributor: Pete Zhang
Images Courtesy of Out of Fashion Boys
