Delayed with...Red Pig Flower

Korean-Japanese producer, visual artist, DJ and ‘Sound of Vast’ head honcho, Red Pig Flower is slowly but surely becoming a rising star from the vibrant Berlin underground scene. The road to success was everything but easy for this multi-talented artist whose travels have spanned the globe in search of her niche. Luckily for us at Delayed, Red Pig Flower found time in her busy schedule to have a nice chat about her challenges of moving to Europe, art projects, and of course fantastic music that she makes.

Hi Red, welcome to Delayed, it's exciting to feature such talented and versatile artist. How’s your day so far? What was the first song you listened to today? 
Hey, my day’s been busy, just came back from France and getting ready for Moscow. My new release on Serialism Records is coming out this week, the premiere just went live, so the first thing I was listening to today was my own track “Desert Vampire” on SoundCloud. Normally, I start my day with jazz music but the past few weeks I don’t have that luxury. I’m feeling a bit of a pressure with my new relases cause I put my heart into it and wishing the best for how they’re received.

While preparing for this interview, I read a few interesting things about your art projects, and there was one that specifically caught my attention, it’s the one about memory so I’ll use your tools for the next couple of questions if you don’t mind.  What’s the first memory of you being exposed to electronic music, and what was ’the track’ that made you listen to electronic music? 
Hahaha, you heard about my first memory project then. It would be amazing to connect my art project with music. Hmmm, my first memory of electronic music can be tricky as there are so many, but the main idea of “first memory” is also all about the most “meaningful memories in early age” that remain in your heart. On that note I would say the track “Dog” in Moby’s ambient album. I still remember the shock when I listened to the track, it was the most minimal track I’d ever heard in my life so far and I couldn’t stop myself from listening that track again and again, without lyrics, only a repetitive beat. I was hooked on this hypnotising aspect of the track. Of course, now I have other tracks which I think are better, but for sure the track ‘Dog’ was the track that dragged me into the world of loop based music.

I’ll continue in the same fashion; we are being exposed to the vast amount of music daily, and I have to admit that I do forget some really cool tracks that I used to play out or listened to years ago. Is there a decay of memory of tracks that shaped your taste in electronic music at the beginning and how do you organize your playlists to make your life easier when performing? 
As not only an electronica musician but also a memory researcher, for me the key to retain your memory is repetition, repetition is my friend. I’ve been DJing for 15 years, it’s not a short time and sometimes when I listen to my old podcasts I have so many moments like “oh wow, this track is amazing, do I really have it?” I have way too many tracks and it seems almost impossible to remember them all, but I always try to spend enough time to review my old folder again and again, at least once or twice per month.

What is your universal memory of going to parties in Japan and S.Korea? 
I’m not sure how to express these things as a written memory. Both places are so particular. Wherever you go, there are people who love music and partying though I’ve had much better party experiences in Europe than in Asia in general. The history of electronic music is much longer in Europe and also there are a lot of drugs in the club scene which, to be honest, do make everything different compared to Asian party scene which is still pretty shallow and there are so many restrictions towards parties because so many politicians don’t understand what these parties are and what they represent. They think parties and drugs are supposed to be evil and need to be controlled, which is very sad. Of course people in Korea and Japan try their best to keep electronic music alive and try to make the best out of it. In terms of after parties I have a much better memory in Japan and Korea. I kind of hate the typical European after party with too many drugs and too many fucked up people in some random person’s house. In Asia, we go to eat after the party, all the time after the DJ set, DJ’s are gathered and go to eat Ramen in Tokyo. It’s always one of my favorite moments and what I would consider an actual “after party”.

Being an immigrant myself I would like to ask you a few questions about your move to Europe. What was the biggest challenge when you moved from Seoul to London to study? 
I think as an immigrant everything was challenging, even making a bank to register an address. When you go to the new country and you’re dealing with bureaucracy, sometimes you feel like the new country is doing its best to kick you out and deny you, and keeps reminding you that “you do not belong here”. This loneliness as an immigrant made me feel so exhausted, but my dream and desire for a new life was always stronger than loneliness. When I moved to Europe, my dream was to be an international artist who was going to be in a position to do art and music for the rest of my life. So I had to learn a lot of survival skills - be communicative, learn a few languages, find cheaper things to eat and shop, be sincere to people and, of course, work hard, harder than anyone else. At the end, all those struggles became my roots, and, of course, during this process so many people helped me. I think anywhere you go if you're a nice person and work hard there are always people who help you and that’s how I built myself so far. 

You started throwing parties called ‘Vast’ in London alongside your friend Knock which after some time developed into an internationally recognized record label ’Sound of Vast’, which I’m going to go back to a little later. How did you come to an idea to start a party series in an already vibrant underground scene such as London’s? 
Well, it was a simple reason since we had no choice. We were young Japanese newcomer DJs, nobody wanted to book us. We had to make our own party to book ourselves and started to book local DJs and some international DJs to build the European network. London is a big city, like a jungle, full of DJs and if you’re not working hard, nobody’s going to “help” you. Even though being an organiser was not my favorite thing to do, making parties and being a busy bee for years helped us a lot to become connected and get inspired.

You’re now based in Berlin, how would you compare the scene in Berlin to the one in London?
In Berlin there are so many DJs and clubs, yes in London as well, but in Berlin it seems that being full time DJ is kind of a normal thing, (still) affordable rent and a laid back atmosphere makes it possible. I feel like London is the place for the “go big or go home” theory. There’s not much room for DJs who are in the middle of their career, there are so many “hobby” DJs who struggle with no money and  few DJs who are international superstars. For me, as an artist, I need a space and time to chill and make music without too much financial pressure. London was an interesting place for me as a young DJ who didn't mind to struggle and stay busy trying to survive. Now I know what I need and don't have time for too much buzz, for me  Berlin is a better place at this moment. 

You’re an incredibly talented artist who expresses herself in various artistic ways; how much time during the week do you dedicate working on music and how much on your other art projects? Do you work on them simultaneously or there are times when the music is completely on the ‘back burner’ for example or vice versa? 
I think it really depends on the period. Sometimes I can't really do too much in general. If I’ve been touring a lot then I’d rather take a break and maintain my health, DJing is an exhausting job. During tours my focus is more like trying to find time to go to the gym in between and promote my tour. Of course, sadly, there are some months when I have less gigs and tours. During that time I focus on the studio and my artwork like a “normal worker”, I have my time table, it goes like  “wake up, breakfast,study, writing, creating (I also studying languages or other useless knowledge of the world), lunch, studio time for a few hours, dinner,studio, bed). For me it is very important to work 7-8 hours a day on music, because I believe if someone is a professional in something, they have to consistently put enough time for the job. Of course I am not always creative in the studio, but for me it is important to dedicate myself to spending enough time to work. Inspiration comes from everywhere and I am not searching for a “right moment” to get inspired.

Where does your main inspiration come from when working on music production? 
Everywhere for sure but these days it comes from my life. This year I had harsh break ups, I mean...not only with a lover, but also friends who passed away, who moved to other countries. My memories of those people inspire me, and also music became a tool to help me forget about the sadness, yet at the same time it became a tool to remember them forever. 

How did your style in music production change over time?
I always try to make trippy sounds but when I was younger I had no idea what the industry standard was. I was working with a lot of chaos. When I listen to my 2010 productions, some sounds are ridiculous, it is refreshing but also I laugh at myself a lot. These days I try to make music that can be played in the club. I’m getting better at mix down skills, etc. There’s still a hell of a lot of things to learn but I’m glad I am getting better everyday. 

Let me go a bit into gear that you use. What’s your ‘live setup’ look like? And what’s your favorite piece of equipment or plugin when making music? 
I use really basic gear, Ableton live and some controllers, mostly the K2 from Allen and Heath, only because it is the only affordable controller that has a built-in soundcard inside… I really don't mind using analogue gear, I mean it is a lot of fun, but the important thing is the idea, no? I don't have money and space for gear….. I control most things in live and it is enough for me so far. These days I started to collaborate with musicians who play real instruments, like saxophone and drums.So let’s see what happens. 

I read that you use a lot of field recordings in your productions, what’s the most interesting and unique recording you made and used in your tracks? 
I recorded some art performance at “Nottingham Biennale” where I participated as a video artist and not as a musician. I had a chance to see a lot of art and performances, and the one thing that drew my attention was a dancer girl who came from Syria. She was talking about war and the ignorant behavior of people throughout her dance performance. I found it interesting and I recorded her monologue and movements and used it in my tracks. 

Have you managed to combine your art installations, more specifically ‘Dance of Infinity’ with DJing? Or those two worlds are not meant to collide? 
I did it once this year in Hong Kong. I played my live set with my ‘Dance of Infinity’ video and it was fantastic. Of course, I would love to do more but the problem is finding the right venue and the right people. When you want to combine art and visuals with music, it always require more effort. Maybe I should make my own event, we’ll see…

One of your art projects is about holograms. Do you think that in the future we’ll see the hologram of DJs performing in front of audiences instead of real people, and do you think that with all this ‘computerization’ of the music industry it’s the inevitable scenario? 
Fun question...in fact I was talking about it with my DJ friends not long ago. Maybe yes, I think, if it's a big EDM concert for the super stars, but not for the little clubs where people need to feel intimacy. DJing is like making love in a way you have to share the experience and feel the vibe. I think the human fundamental need won’t change, we want to touch, we want to love, and we want to be loved. Of course, there will be a scene for heartless robots, but there will always be room for human interactions. I still believe in real love. 

What’s been your highlight performance in 2019 so far? 
Oh, I had so many amazing performances. 2019 was a blast so far but if I have to pick one, the most meaningful event was when I played at Katerblau in Berlin and Magda came up to me and complimented my set. I mean, she was my hero for a very long time and, at first, I didn’t even recognise her. I couldn’t imagine such a hero danced to my set for hours. It felt like I got a certification from someone who was so influential to my DJ career, so this was a really special moment for me.

I’ll go back to ’Sound of Vast’, the record label you co-founded with Knock. What made you start 'Sound of Vast'? 
I didn't want to finish my history with Knock after making the Vast party together. He wanted to move back to Japan, and I still wanted to work with him. I felt like our story had just started and I wasn’t ready to see it end, so we decided to continue working on music projects together remotely and running the label together.

’Sound of Vast’ is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a fantastic double EP package that features artists like Cosmin TRG, Yard One, and Cinthie to name a few. It also features your track ‘Mental Adventure’ which we had the opportunity to premiere here at Delayed. Did you make the  track specifically with this compilation in mind? 
I think Mental Adventure is a track with a very personal story. Last year  was a challenging year for me, and I had to learn how to calm down and how to deal with such incidents. To calm myself down, I had to do a lot of things like meditation, reading, and researching. I felt like I was having such a deeply intimate mental adventure, so, well... I made a track about it, haha. 

'Sound of Vast’ released a fantastic retrospective of Shinichiro Yokota’s work a few years ago. How did the idea to do that come along? 
It was a fun coincidence, we worked together before, but this year we just celebrated 5 years as a label, and he had his 50th birthday. So, we thought ‘ok, it is time for him to make an LP to celebrate his 50th and our 5th birthday’.

What’s new on the horizon for Sound of Vast, and what’s new cooking in your studio?
We will try to focus more on the disco and jazzy house side of the label next year. I think changing the label’s direction into more funky stuff can be interesting. I’m thinking of making a sub label to focus more on the trippy minimal sounds.

In the end, tell me more about the mix? What did you have in mind and where was it recorded?
I made it at home. This year I was focusing on making mixes more suitable for the dance floor, but for Delayed I tried to come back to the deeper “after hour” sound, and it was a lot of fun. I really miss good after parties with a lot of freaks….