Cloudy Ku

Hi Cloudy! You recently celebrated three years of HER 他. Could you take us back to the first edition?
The first edition of HER 他 was in my home country, Taiwan. The idea of this party was to show that music is within all, not just DJs or musicians. I organised a full female line-up, including creatives who were not musicians, and I taught them how to DJ so they can share their musical journey with an audience. We also included a gallery space with photography from the team at KEYI Studio.

The first Naarm edition of HER 他 was a special event that took place days before the first COVID-19 lockdown, on International Women’s Day. It was a 12-hour day rave starting at 10 AM at the now closed-down institution, Crazy Arms. The line-up included many local acts that are not only incredible musicians and DJs but also good friends of mine. We also organised some Butoh dancers and performance artists, including one who wrote the Buddhist Heart Sutra on tapestry in traditional calligraphy. The event was truly beautiful and the fondest in my memory. 

At this edition of HER 他, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to and become friends with some really cool people within the deaf community. Meeting them helped me see that what I am doing is important, and made me want to focus on how I can create a better and more safe place for everyone within these types of events. Typical spaces such as clubs and bars can not always be the most comforting or safest of spaces, and this is something I am always thinking about and trying to overcome. I’m forever grateful to have met and learned from them.

HER 他 strives to promote equality while exploring issues of gender and intersectional feminism through music and arts. The strive for gender equality is reflected in the name of the radio and event series. What does the name signify for you?
The idea behind HER 他 comes from my experience in the global electronic dance music scene, drawing from experiences and difficulties faced during my time in Taiwan and Australia. It is hard for anyone who hasn’t experienced life as a minority, ESL, or female, to understand the additional challenges one faces while trying to build a career. I decided from these difficulties, frustrations, and general unpleasant times, that it may be easier to do it all by myself. So that’s what I set out to do with HER 他, using my experience to change whatever I could and make something that supports, encourages, and makes things easier for people like myself. 

As stated in our bio, HER 他 strives to promote equality in the community for local and international musicians and artists through discourse and dance parties. Furthermore, HER 他  explores issues of women and gender equality and supports all who contribute to the music and art industries. The name HER was chosen because we strongly focus on supporting females. The Chinese character 他 (Ta) was chosen to extend our reach to include all minorities in our solidarity. The character Ta represents a genderless identity.

Regarding gender equality within electronic music scenes, what kind of change have you witnessed since you started out with HER 他 three years ago?
There has been an incremental change, especially in the past three years. It is very easy to focus on the negatives, which still exist and take precedence in the scene. But when you look at how things were just three years ago, there has been significant growth. I believe the scene overall is becoming a stronger place regarding gender equality and representation. This is partly thanks to the countless people putting in the work and taking it upon themselves to make and be the change. Without all of this power and brave Women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ members of the community taking a stance and putting in all the hard work, we could still be spinning in the male-dominate world all these years later.

How would you describe the current landscape for Women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ people working in the music scene in Naarm?
Honestly, it’s great and only trending upward. Within most cities and countries, there are many prominent labels and acts that may seem to control and run the scene – to try to break down that wall can feel like an impossible mission. But regarding the underground and smaller scenes, the change is solid and real, and there is a lot of passion involved. There is genuine care for the culture and what is being built.

In Naarm, there is a strong emphasis on community over the individual. Many labels and parties are helping make things easier for non-male artists and people within our scene. Event series like @DUTTYWORLDWIDE, @fluxxclub, @omniversal_hum, @powertrip.club, @renditionarts, @umami.collective, and @131.2limfm are helping carve out a space for minorities within the music scene and change the landscape for future artists out there.

Have you ever encountered resistance for trying to incorporate critical discourse within dance scenes?
Of course. Like most things in life, there are lots of challenges everywhere, and you deal with many different sorts of people within the scene with their own ideals, ideas, and views. When organising your own events, I do believe you can feel when something isn’t right, or someone is not the right person to work with. Identifying this and practising patience in these times is essential. It is never worth sacrificing what you believe in or want to present to work with a particular artist or venue.

SPEED 速度 is the self-described sibling of HER 他. How would you describe each of their personalities?
In running and organising the HER 他 events, I’ve been blessed to meet and come across many allies and like-minded people who support what we do. Where HER 他 is still a 100% Minority/Female/BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ event, SPEED 速度 is a little more open in curation and allows me to build relationships and education with all members of the community. 

After launching in Taipei in 2019, we held the first Australian SPEED 速度 on the first weekends coming out of lockdowns in 2021. From there, SPEED 速度 took on a life of its own. It became this fun-loving, goofy, high-energy sibling of HER 他 that takes itself less seriously but can be extremely tough and hard when it wants to be.

Initially, I wanted HER 他 always to be day parties, and SPEED 速度 was created to explore the nightlife. As many elements need to work for a daytime event to be successful, I have recently begun running both HER 他 and SPEED 速度 parties during the night hours. Initially, however, it was as simple as night and day.

h3r.live archives and hosts your weekly Transmissions Mix series, showcasing artists from around the world with a strong focus on female, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ artists. What are some of your favourite or most-memorable mixes from the series?
The Transmission Mix series was born during the harsh lockdowns in Naarm. I had just launched HER 他 with a very successful party, when all events were taken away from us indefinitely. No one knew how long this down period would be. But having lived in Taiwan during the SARS epidemic, I knew it would be a long time before things would be ‘normal’ again.

To keep the HER 他 name within the social consciousness, I began the Transmission Mix series, which gave me an excellent opportunity to reach out and meet some fantastic artists I otherwise may not have. It is hard to pick favourites here, but I will highlight a few and touch on some extra special ones below:

Naarm-based experimental guitarist Bonnie Mercer had at the time recently suffered a stroke and was unsure if she would be able to play the guitar again. During her recovery, she curated and made the HER 他 Transmission 007, which is still among my all-time favourites.

Another mix that is special to me, and to so many people in Naarm, is the HER 他 Transmission 037: DJ Brigida, which was sadly released after the artist took their own life. Through inviting her to be a part of the series, I got an opportunity to get to know her better. We shared messages of encouragement and support while we were in lockdown, while she was creating the mix. The mix she presented was so phenomenal and powerful, with so much energy and fun behind it. Alongside the mix, we wrote:

‘We want to honour not only an amazing artist and DJ but also an incredible member of our community, whose impact on our underground music scene we want to celebrate. We know she put so much thought, effort and passion into creating this. We hope that in sharing it, we can bring to you that same passion and energy that Bridget radiated each and every day of her life.’

RIP Bridget Erin Flack

Which artists would you still like to invite to partake in the series or collaborate with?
There is no one true answer to this question, and is a never ending list of inspiring and influential artists I would love to work alongside. I am constantly meeting new people and being inspired and amazed by all over again, and the list keeps growing.

To give an actual answer to this question – on my most recent tour in Singapore, I worked with a local event series called Bussy Temple. The crew were such amazing people with such an infectious and joyful energy and attitude. I will be looking to bring some of their members out to Australia to collaborate again in the coming months.

You recently went on tour through Asia. How has it been so far and are there any stops on the tour that you are particularly excited about?
I am finally sitting down to respond to these questions at the end of my tour. I played my last show in Seoul, South Korea, on April 1st and am currently having a small holiday before flying back to Naarm, to play an All Night Long Birthday Set at my favourite local venue, Sub Club. 

On reflection, the tour was amazing, and I’ve already mentioned how many incredible people I met in Indonesia, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei. Sometimes human kindness and care can surprise and move you. I’ve been fortunate to experience so much of that on my most recent travels.

Lastly, can you tell us about any upcoming events or projects?
I want to continue to make SPEED 速度 and HER 他 staple events in my home in Naarm. I want to run monthly events, pulling from both the local and international scene to curate and present incredible line-ups, where the emphasis is on having fun and being playful in a scene that can often take itself too seriously. Hopefully, with these events, I can bring more Asian artists to Australia.

With HER 他 specifically, as mentioned earlier, I was able to become friends with members of the deaf community in Naarm. We are hoping to come up with collaborative ventures to build on and support the community, with focus on LGBTQIA, BIPOC, and the disabled community. I really look forward to this opportunity to build something and work together with them. In addition, I am currently hoping to release an EP sometime in the next year.

I have so many ideas and a lot of momentum behind me. Hopefully in 2023, many of these can become a reality. I’ve just completed a month-long tour of Asia, where I brought both the SPEED 速度 and HER 他 projects to cities in Indonesia and Singapore and played some shows in Korea. I love how running such open events can help me meet like-minded people from all around the world, and this is something I want to continue to do, building communities and collaborations across the globe, with some exciting things coming up later this year in the UK and Europe.

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Cloudy Ku’s upcoming dates:
22.07.23: SPEED 速度 at Miscellania, Naarm.
July: Taipei
August: China
August – November: Europe
Booking: acidrabbitoffice@gmail.com