focus: default#20 - 23.01.2025 + default#21 - 24.01.2025, with Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, Zhao Cong, Li Song, Able Noise
In this focus newsletter, we would like to share with you more information on our upcoming program
default#20, Thursday, 23rd of January, The Grey Space in The Middle, Paviljoensgracht 20-24, Den Haag, doors at 19:30, performances start at 20:00
Tickets | €12.5 (student) / €15 * We recommend reserving your tickets in advance.
Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, Zhao Cong, Li Song, Able Noise
For the program of default#20, taking place on the 23rd of January in The Grey Space in The Middle, we are excited to host performances by three important figures from Beijing’s experimental scene Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, Zhao Cong. Joining them will be Li Song, currently based in London, who performed at default in October 2023 and whose approach with mechanical devices and portable speakers could be traced back to his time in the Beijing scene. Concluding the lineup, the experimental baritone guitar and drum outfit Able Noise – a cross-continent duo of George Knegtel and Alex Andropoulos based between The Hague and Athens – who will be performing a default specific set.
*in case your current financial situation does not allow you to visit the event, but you are keen on coming, you can mail to info@defaultdenhaag.com and we can find a solution.
default#21, Friday, 24th of January, Central Library (5th floor), Spui 68, Den Haag, doors at 18:00, program starts at 18:30 | Free Reservation
Sun Yizhou, No Performance (Li Song & Zhu Wenbo) + conversation with Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo & Zhao Cong
The concert program will be accompanied by a free program in the Central Library on the following day involving a conversation with Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, Zhao Cong, a performance by ‘No Performance’ (the duo of Zhu Wenbo & Li Song), as well as a second solo set from Sun Yizhou.
Read more information on the artists and the performances below.
Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, Zhao Cong, Li Song
For the program of default#20 and default#21, we are excited to host three important figures from the open-thinking Beijing experimental music scene. Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, and Zhao Cong have all brought forward divergent ‘music unlike music’ ideas to the post-2000 eai discourse, including performances and compositions which defy easy categorisation.
Their publishing practice under the labels Zoomin’ Night (Zhu Wenbo) and Aloe Records (Sun Yizhou), as well as affiliated concert programs, have substantially shaped the current experimental sound scene in Beijing, expanding to encompass a larger international network, with Zoomin’ Night actively adjusting to possible conditions for the past 15 years and Aloe Records being established in 2022. The activities surrounding such initiatives – organizing events, curating the catalogue, alongside actively performing and composing, as well as blurring the aforementioned as an activity itself – draws parallels to the preceding work of their friend and frequent collaborator Yan Jun, who has been responsible for the existence of initiatives such as Sub Jam, Miji Concert, Living Room Tour, Waterland Kwanyin.
The movement Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, and Zhao Cong are affiliated with has in the past been described as ‘non-music Beijing scene’ by themselves and others. The confronting engagement in the spatial and political dialogue with contemporary life in Beijing, both a ‘reflection of’ and somewhat of ‘a radical reaction towards’ reality, can be considered a lineage, creating what can be called “a low music for a low life”, as has been described by Yan Jun. The lack of access to venues with in situ sound systems, and, consequently, the use of unconventional venues with hard restrictions on loudness, or spaces with no electricity plugs – like outdoors or public underpasses (as in Zhu’s more recent “Underpass concerts” series) –, encompass the conditions and inform the aesthetics considered central to experimental sound in Beijing. This pushes artists to use “simple” things for performing and to not rely on a sound system, as described by Sun Yizhou in his interview with Daryl Worthington (“Revolution of Everyday Life”, The Wire - December 2024, Issue 490).
While an interest in electronic devices and daily objects may be a common ground, often here the concept is more important than the tools; exploring situations, rather than predetermined outcomes. Various performances are documented on Sun Yizhou’s & Zhu Wenbo’s YouTube channels, and an extensive amount of works from Sun, Zhu, and Zhao have been released via their own and other labels – showcasing the variety in practices and approaches they’ve developed over the years.
As part of their first European tour, Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, and Zhao Cong, will be performing at default in different formations. Alongside them, the London based artist Li Song will accompany the program, whose approach with mechanical devices and portable speakers could be traced back to his time in the Beijing scene. He is also a member of the computer network music ensemble ‘[ _ _ _ ]’ together with Shuoxin Tan and Jia Liu, with whom he played at default in October 2023.
In celebration of this occasion we are highlighting a selection of our favorites from their discographies:
‘No Performance’, the duo of Zhu Wenbo and Li Song, present compositions with a focus on acoustic instruments, environmental sound, computer algorithms and random sequence on ‘Text’ (2021, Zoomin' Night). Zhao Cong’s solo works ‘Rotating, Rotating’ (2019, Hitorri), ‘fog and fragments’ (2020, presses précaires), and ‘55355’ (2023, Aloe Records) – on which Zhao’s car recordings “produce something that is ‘electric’ music, but not electronic music at the same time”. Zhao Cong and Zhu Wenbo’s tape collaboration on ‘were some sound days, one separately be placed’ (2022, Ftarri), Zhu Wenbo’s tape-blues explorations with Zhu Songjie on ‘Magnet Blues’ (Notice Recordings, 2023), and his solo tape ‘Four Lines and Improvisation’ (2022, Aloe Records) – showcasing his music as hallmarking Lo-Fi experimental, sensitive in nature, mixed with his clarinet playing. Hiroyuki Ura’s and Zhu Wenbo’s tapeloops on ‘Jyunishi 十二支’ (2024, Aloe Records), and his collaborations with Yan Jun on both ‘twice’ (2021, Erstwhile Records) and ‘Yu Yan Lao Gong’ (2021, tsss tapes). Sun Yizhou in collaboration with Yan Jun on ‘the first day of the history’ (2023, Infant Tree) and with /guibog on ‘RECueil’ (2024, Zoomin’ Night). His improvisations with Kevin Corcoran on ‘rooms and shadows (1 and 3)’ (2023, Ftarri), his use of indeterminacy on ‘typewriter in the rain’ (2024, Aloe Records), and his noisy exploration of electronic circuits on ‘毁了 (Ruin)’ (2022, Brachliegen Tapes), as well as ‘110v, 220v’ (2024, Hitorri) – where he plays with the difference of main electricity voltages in China and Japan. The collaboration between Zhu Wenbo and Sun Yizhou on ‘Responses’ (2022, zappak), Li Song, Zhao Cong, Zhu Wenbo’s trio recordings on ‘3 lines and balloons’ (2024, Zoomin' Night), and – perhaps an outcast, but equally essential one in this list – ‘Steps 台阶’ (2022, Infant Tree) by Kaoru Abe No Future, the freeform No-Wave-esque band formed by Zhao Cong, Zhu Wenbo and Liu Lu.
Sun Yizhou
Sun Yizhou is working with electronic devices, body, objects, instruments, computers, feedback systems and turntables, playing one or more mis-operated appliances in real-time out of contradiction and uncertainty, in a state of irregularity or homogeneity. The movement of signals, sonic and electrical, and the many ways one can draw attention to them, is one of the many subjects present in Sun’s work. Sun founded the micro-label Aloe Records in 2022. Organizing small experimental music gigs in Beijing called 'Aloe on-site' since 2023 on a continuous basis.
Sun Yizhou has collaborated with Yan Jun, Zhao Cong, Li Song, Zhu Wenbo, Choi Joonyong, /guibog, Kevin Corcoran, Zheng Hao, Tim Olive, Manfred Werder, Jin Sangtae, among others.
Zhu Wenbo
Zhu Wenbo uses various instruments and media to engage in many different music practices, such as: electroacoustic music, tape music, acoustic music, improvisation, composition, and song writing. Zhu’s works are constructed out of materials including guitar, voice, clarinet, feedback, and tape loops. They often carry a melodic component, although conveyed in unexpected and malleable ways. He also runs the experimental music label Zoomin’ Night, which started in 2009 as a concert series and began releasing cassettes in 2015. Zoomin’ Night organises cross-regional works and recordings, introducing lesser-known musical practices to new audiences.
Zhu Wenbo has collaborated with Yan Jun, Zhao Cong, Li Song (‘No Performance’), Sun Yizhou, Otomo Yoshihide, Anne-F Jacques, Hiroyuki Ura, Zhu Songjie, among others.
Zhao Cong
Zhao Cong in her improvised music uses all kinds of everyday objects (often including balloons), which she amplifies to produce unfamiliar and unexpected sounds. Her recordings incorporate everyday objects as sound generators, a sonic practice firmly entangled with her daily life. Coming from a background of playing bass in rock bands, Zhao started doing solo improvised music in 2016. Zhao’s talents include deftly catching things in midair and accidentally injuring her fingers.
Zhao Cong has collaborated with Zhu Wenbo, Ryoko Akama, Sun Yizhou, Li Song, Dave Knapik, among others.
Li Song
Li Song performs improvised music and composes using electronics, computers, and acoustic instruments, often working with built-in laptop speakers, suspended speakers, snare drums, metronomes, and paper tape. His collaborative project with Zhu Wenbo ‘No Performance’ has in the past focussed on compositions using environment sounds, acoustic instruments, computer algorithms, and random sequences. He is also a member of computer network music ensemble ‘[ _ _ _ ]’ together with Shuoxin Tan and Jia Liu, and has collaborated with Maeda Yasuyuki, Mengting Zhuo, Conal Blake, and Regan Bowering. He currently lives and works in London.
This program is part of Sun Yizhou, Zhu Wenbo, and Zhao Cong’s first European tour, initiated by a collaborative effort between default den haag, In vitro (Brussels), Cafe OTO (London), Infant Tree, and Li Song. Other shows include Leeds, Brighton, Mechelen, Cologne, Berlin, and Paris — overview.
Able Noise
Able Noise is an experimental baritone guitar and drum duo consisting of George Knegtel and Alex Andropoulos, based between The Hague (NL) and Athens (GR). Their output is primarily focused on live concerts. Through the use of voices, tapes, and alternative methods of playing their instruments, they create a minimal and visual performance letting their music be shaped by the physicality of their playing, the acoustic and aesthetic properties of the space, and the dynamics formed between themselves and their audience.
Their recorded work on the other hand relies less on their respective instruments, and more on an assemblage of field recordings, heavily processed instrumentation, and exploratory mixing techniques. Approaching the studio as a distinct situation was further explored on their most recent release ‘High Tide’ (World of Echo, 2024), that follows up their debut ‘Recordings’ (GLARC, 2020). Adaptability to different output formats that construct a consistent whole is one of the most interesting aspects of Able Noise’s body of work.
For the occasion of default#20 the duo will prepare a specific, electro-acoustic approach driven live show. Putting their known alternative methods of playing baritone guitar, drums and voice in relation to a feedback system, which also includes bouzouki, portable playback devices and microphones.
default#20 + default#21 is financially supported by The Municipality of The Hague and the Konrad Boehmer Foundation.
About Us
default den haag is a non-profit curatorial initiative focused on the presentation of creative contemporary sound and performance in the Hague, curating and organizing their nomadic sound series with an international focus on experimental music and sound art performances since 2022, next to occasionally hosting accompanying talks and lectures. - read more