Excursions: S2 Collective on navigating Hong Kong’s creative cultural scene

Nestled within the vibrant, often frenetic pulse of Hong Kong, a collective is carving out a distinct space where sonic innovation meets immersive visual artistry.

Meet S2 Collective, a four-strong force of selectors, curators, and visual artists who are not trying to just throwing parties; they're aiming to craft experiences. Emerging from the city's underground with a shared love for boundary-pushing sounds and a desire to cultivate genuine connection on the dancefloor, S2 – comprised of DB (HØRǍÇÍÒ), Sam (1908), Joe (joesnotdead), and Sean (Gong!), embodies the dynamic "third culture" energy that defines their home.

From their early explorations in Hong Kong's clandestine COVID-19 rave scene to gracing the stage of Clockenflap, their up-and-coming explorations are a testament to their understanding, appreciation and love of their city's unique cultural tapestry.

In this edition of Excursions, we delve into the ethos behind S2 Collective, exploring their origins, their commitment to pushing creative boundaries through visuals, and their perspective on the ever-evolving club and rave landscape of Hong Kong – a city they see not as a space constraint, but as a canvas for boundless imagination.

So tell us a bit about S2!

DB: S2 is a collective of four selectors, curators, and visual artists blended into one unifying family. We also work closely with Armando Rodriguez, our event producer and advisor for all things S2.

Sam: One thing to highlight is that we are friends first and foremost as S2, meaning we genuinely enjoy hanging out, sharing cool tracks we find, discussing trends in music and the creative world, and chuckling at the occasional meme. This friendship adds to the cohesiveness of the group, and the bond only strengthens the passion we share. It feels good to know we have each other’s backs no matter what.


How did you get started? What was the root idea behind it?

DB: I discovered the underground music scene in Hong Kong about five years ago with Joe. Promoters would throw illegal raves during the pandemic when clubs had to close temporarily, and we immediately fell in love with it. It opened a whole new world to us, we began our research, and the rest is history.

As Joe was just starting his career, we teamed up to start S2 as a duo. We then realised its potential to expand and grow, and Sean (Gong!) and Sam (1908) later joined us after we recognised their potential and passion. This eventually built what S2 is today.

Sam: We also love a party, so it felt natural to try to be the ones at the helm

Joe: One of the things that Horacio and I had always connected on was music, even before being introduced to the underground scene. We noticed our taste and styles shared many similarities, and we decided to get started as a duo. Initially, we just wanted to have fun with it and party. We then took a small break from being a duo and realised we wanted to transform S2 into something bigger than ourselves.


And the name choice; any story behind it?

DB: 陰陽 in Chinese means Yin & Yang. It describes the concept of two great opposites but complementary forces at work in the cosmos. This reflected the creation of S2, working on the forces between Visual Storytelling & Music (particularly in dance music), steadily merging these worlds in a continuum.

What got you into event promotion in the first place? Any specific festival/event that made you think “This is for us”?

Sam: For me, it truly was the love of the music that got me interested. I remember going to Lamma Book Club parties (if you know, you know) as a younger person, then going to Lunar Tribe raves in such cool outdoor locations, which led to curiosity in the creation and curation of these events. Then I met the rest of the S2 crew who already had some experience in this, so it was a natural step to work on this together. Preparing for our Takeover 002 event was definitely a learning curve, but a very rewarding one.


How do you feel your presence has contributed to the party culture in Hong Kong?

DB: Our ethos has always been blending a multitude of cultures, personalities, and unity with the people of Hong Kong. We all grew up here with different upbringings, but still share a core to our unique identity. Growing up here makes you a different breed of human being as you’re exposed to incredibly different cultures, which reflects on our presence when we spin on the dancefloor.

Sam: This, in turn, makes people feel extra connected because it highlights the ‘third culture’ vibe that is very prevalent in Hong Kong. We definitely strive for a global sound, yet still keeping in essence to our identities formed when growing up in such a melting pot, which I believe people can identify with no matter where they’re from.

Joe: I think all of us are very versatile, which allows us to play with different collectives in the scene. While meeting so many different people who run events and DJ as well, there’s a mutual respect we have for each other, knowing how much work it takes to create these parties. I think collaboration is a key factor in S2; we love to involve different people focusing on different parts of the creative industry, from DJs and VJs to directors and cinematographers. For our 002 takeover, we had two DJ rooms/stages, each with its own distinct design and sound, which was a first-time experience and an honour for me to be part of.


What do you do differently than your counterparts? And what do you hope to do differently in the future

DB: We create an immersive ecosystem in which we emphasise heavy visual representation from the marketing to the dancefloor to our live sets as shown on our channels. This differentiates us from our counterparts, as most of us have a background in visual arts. We hope to explore that path further and push our storytelling into our sets, creating fun and personalised experiences for our audience in the future.

Sam: We also try to be more intentional in how we approach events. We want to do more than just have a party or a set, but create a journey that ties in with other areas of artistry.

How do you see club and rave culture evolving in Hong Kong? Both in the past and moving forward.

DB: Asia is currently an experimental music playground, and HK plays a major role in this. In the past year, a ton of local events happened, and underground artists have been booked into HK from other agencies/promoters around town, including us when we booked Disaffected for our Takeover 002 event back in September 2024. This gives the audience of HK the feeling of almost going to all of their Spotify-liked songs over a weekend, which not all cities can offer in such proximity, and we are honoured to be a part of this growing journey.

Club and rave culture are currently merging in Hong Kong because of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, most of HK was stuck on a generalised commercial sound, and the underground was always kept “underground.” After the pandemic, it bred a whole new community and a whole new audience appreciating and going out to explore artists both locally & internationally.

Gong!: I think in the near future there will be a lot more interesting and unique venues that will pop up out of the blue. Hong Kong is a small and dense city, however, throughout the years there has been a rise of new venues, one of which we recently played a set at the WanChai Harbourfront, which was by the water and I personally thought was super sick. Some may think a city like Hong Kong has a “lack of space,” but I think this is what pushes the community to make do with what we have and brings out the creativity with the venues chosen to throw events.

In terms of sound, I think Hong Kong has a lot to offer. Growing up here, it's interesting to see the evolution of sound throughout the years. Around 10 years ago when I started surrounding myself with the underground music scene, you would mainly hear stuff like Drum and Bass, Dubs, and Tech. However, now with the help of all the great collectives in the industry, we’ve pretty much expanded sounds across all genres.

What do you think are the limitations you find in Hong Kong’s scene?

DB: Space! However, as a limitation, it also allows us to find unique spaces and pushes our creativity to create something from nothing.

Sam: At times, accessibility as well. A place like Hong Kong is very capitalist, as you can imagine, so there is a lot of focus on how to make money on an event versus doing it for the main purpose of creating art, leading to higher costs for the people who want to have a boogie and see some cool sets. We try to bear this in mind with our events since we know what it’s like to have money get in the way of having a fun time!

What have been some of your highlights since you got started?

DB: Some of our highlights were watching Flowdan performing a live radio performance at FM Belowground (Big up UMAMI, Yeti Out), just meeting the don himself personally and watching him perform on the big stage was a blessing.

Another highlight is executing our Takeover 002 event flawlessly, having Elijah come over to our event after doing the talk with you all at Eaton! Having two rooms with DJs from seven to eight different collectives resulted in everybody having the greatest time, it was dope!

And of course, our recent Clockenflap Music & Arts Festival performance! Opening for Y U QT & Yung Singh was certainly another highlight for us.

Sam: We have been fortunate enough to also have been on lineups alongside some GOATs—MPH, Disaffected, Silva Bumpa, to name a few. It’s been an honour to have shared the decks with these legends as well as some sick homegrown collectives such as Yeti Out, Feed the Dragon, Dark Metaz, and so on.

How was the Clockenflap set? How did that come about?

DB: Shoutouts to Cookie for believing in us! He came to our 002 party and told us the good news! When we received the news, we spent a good chunk of time prepping our set, designing our custom memorabilia jackets, and working with Neo (our friend who is also our VJ on the night, curating the visuals) to create the staple performance of our career so far.

Joe: The crowd energy was amazing; I was incredibly grateful seeing our friends and family supporting us. Getting that Clockenflap slot took some work. I remember Horacio and I preparing a proposal to send to Cookie. We didn’t get it that year, but the year after at our 002 event, Cookie told us the good news. Being able to play at one of Hong Kong’s biggest festivals was an incredibly gratifying and inspiring experience.


Visuals are a big part of your branding and identity; can you tell us about this?

DB: Visual Storytelling has always been a core of our DNA. Before S2 started, Joe and I were students at an Art School, always experimenting on school projects together, hanging out and chatting about nothing but creative things and the occasional memes.

A fluid transition from our conversations from University to the collective, our first example of that visual identity was when we did the tram video showcase, using a very specific camera and lens to tell our story using the transportation unique to the city we live in.

Now, the four of us continue to strive in this form of storytelling and continue to push boundaries with more expansive narratives.

Money no object, what would the dream S2 event look like?

Sam: A mix of local legends and international heroes on the lineup, ideally for them to push the boundaries of their typical sound, as that is what S2 is all about. For instance, trying an ambient set if their sound is typically fast-paced, bass-led, etc.

Another thing would definitely be interactive decor and visuals, something we find is lacking in the Hong Kong scene. We are very inspired by Wonderfruit, which has so many thoughtful and spontaneous moments as part of the festival experience, so we would love to encourage exploration of all of the senses as part of our event.

Joe: Definitely would like to create more immersive experiences in the parties, collaborating with artists to create art installations that would complement the music and create a whole new atmosphere and experience. Also, collaboration with Soulection, a LA-based collective, would be incredible; I personally think we share similar vibes and sounds.


What’s one thing the world doesn’t know about Hong Kong’s music scene?

DB: A giant melting pot of all the genres & sub-genres! The city has mixed into a massive variety of events each week; sometimes it’s hard to catch up! If you want jazz, you have Salon 10; if you want underground bass, you have Social Room; if you want techno, you have Mihn; so forth and so forth.

Partying here is as fast as we are working! A fast-paced global metropolis with no breaths in between!

Gong!: As mentioned before, this city pretty much has collectives throwing events that range from many genres. You want to go for a night of drum and bass? We got it. Feeling like going harder at a psytrance rave? We got it. Techno? We got it. The list goes on.

You work closely with quite a few others in the local scene. Would you like to shed some light on the others leading the way?

DB: Absolutely! One of our goals this year is to help other collectives in the scene and push our soundscape with others onto the dancefloor, as well as using our skills in the visual department to help film, photo, or edit for other collectives to push an industry standard together.

Sam: In the COVID-19 era, with rave culture becoming more prominent and really one of the very few ways to meet people and go out, this led to making more friendships and connections by seeing the same people at different events. Also, ultimately, we’re just really chill people, so I feel like that draws people to want to work with us. So be chill! Shoutouts to Dark Metaz, Feed the Dragon, Y2K, Yee., Umami to name a few of our favourite crews so far.

Joe: Personally, I think Feed the Dragon never fails to deliver banging events; their promotion and execution is always 10/10. I always get excited to play a set for their events. Big shout out to Mengzy and Fu!


What have you got in store for the rest of 2025?

DB: For the rest of 2025, we want to blend a lot more experimentation, exploring different realms and emphasising bridging the world of visual and music storytelling. Building a stronger network and bonding within communities to continue our journey in the thriving scene in Hong Kong.

Sam: More tunes, more dancing, more connection, more fun times for the masses! Locally and hopefully internationally as well.

Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.

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