From Gallery to Records, Enso keeps Hong Kong’s XXX flame alight

A San Francisco native who calls Hong Kong his home, Enso has been one of the biggest contributors to Hong Kong’s underground music scene over the last decade. Together with like minded partners, he successfully ran the infamous and hedonistic club space XXX Gallery in two different locations, the elementary space being on Hong Kong Island and the second rendition was set up in Kowloon. XXX Gallery embraced the true local underground movements in Hong Kong with a vastly comprehensive music programme.

XXX Records was founded in lieu of the vacated space, and Enso is the creative source behind it. The first release was his own ‘Palimpset EP’, an abstract exploration into hip hop and dub-orientated vibes. ‘All Evolutionz’ is the second outing on the imprint and it is far more conceptual with spacious piano and strings arrangements, with a stunning touch of Japanese language vocals courtesy of Yo Zi on ‘Do U Worry 心配?’ — the same single has an English version where he ran the vocals through Vocaloid, a Japanese synthesised voice software.

Despite his reputation as a bass music club DJ, Enso cites some surprising musical influences, “I love artists such as James Blake, but I actually listen to a lot of film scores. I am most inspired by the composers Clint Mansell and Max Richter, and have actually made a ritual of listening to Górecki’s third symphony each year on my birthday, since I was a teenager.”

Back in 2007, Enso produced the audio score for independent film Close to Perfect by Akit Fong, and has always ventured into traditional Chinese vocalists and instrumentalists for a variety of productions.

Enso "All Evolutionz" EP is out on XXX Records November 13th, and you can pre-order it here.