Wining, DJing and Noise Compaints: Q&A with Shanghai Party Guy Frau Ahead of Jul 20 Zhao Dai Set

Wining, DJing, and Noise Complaints: Q&A with Shanghai Party Guy Frau Ahead of Jul 20 Zhao Dai Set

Kyle Mullin | Jul 16, 2018 2:30 pm | Add a comment | 2661 reads

Melbourne-born, Shanghai-based DJ Frau is regarded as one of the Pearl City’s top turntable stars, in part because his sets feature an unfussy, gimmick-free approach. That being said, Frau’s broader work in Shanghai’s nightlife scene has been more eclectic, opening the now-defunct Smash nightclub and catering to the city’s grape enthusiasts with his Wine Lips party series. Ahead of his Jul 20 DJ set at Zhao Dai, he tells us more about his Shanghai nightlife adventures.

Your bio says you are "known for his varied sets, mixing together different genres with very little reliance on effects and tricks." Tell us about how you adopted this comparatively straight approach to DJing.
I’m a pretty traditional DJ in the sense that I play one song after another. I do use effects subtly like filters, echo, and noise when appropriate, sometimes cutting and spinbacks for a laugh too.

Do you think too many DJs are relying on gimmicks these days?
The amazing thing about DJing is how there are so many ways to do it. Using all the effects and hot cues, and so on can make for an amazing experience too, almost recreating new music live.

What is the music scene like in your hometown of Melbourne?
Melbourne has an incredibly strong electronic music scene and culture. It has a strong disco scene and is largely led by vinyl DJing, so early on disco and record collecting led my style. These days I’ve adapted to carve out something more unique for me as a “Frau sound” of irregular drum patterns, rave, acid, techno and “not techno” music but always with some classics and disco touches. Being led by record culture also means I play lots of '80s and '90s music because you can find such amazing records for cheap.

What do you love and hate most about Shanghai's DJ scene?
Shanghai has grown a lot, with plenty of depth and much more maturity than when I first arrived seven years ago. The most impressive thing, however, is how many more local Chinese have taken the lead in running nights, bringing international DJs, making music, and of course local fans heading to clubs. This is the only way that the scene can be sustainable and grow. There is a large expat community that fills up clubs but it’s seasonal, so all of a sudden, summer or winter would hit and the clubs would all be dead. What we’re seeing now is more consistency throughout the year. The dream now is for more and more producers and local record labels to further strengthen the local factor.

What have you learned from opening and running Smash?
Smash is closed now but running a club in China was a headache. It was also a really great experience. There are lots of hurdles to hop through and we were caught up being a little too noisy in an area that was quite densely residential. I’m glad I did it but would never open another venue in China. Instead, I just want to use other people’s venues for events.

Given that you're also a big fan of wine, and you run the Wine Lips series of wine parties, if you had to list three or four of your favorite DJs in Shanghai which type of wine would they remind you of and why?
A friend and I run a natural wine party event series and agency representing Aussie wineries. We have an online shop coming soon. We’re hoping to have an event in Beijing just after the summer so I’ll be checking out some potential venues while I’m visiting. The point of the parties is to make wine fun. Wine in China is anchored to this idea that it’s a luxury good and we’re trying to help rewrite that attitude. Wine is for the people, it’s fun, and it’s meant to get you a little drunk.

And ooof, I’m not sure I could compare them to wines, but a couple of my favorite local DJs are Hyph11E, PCJ, NMLSS, and Illsee. They’re all fun DJs, very sessionable, make you come back for more, and they don’t stink [laughs].