Unmute Hanoi celebrates third anniversary with three-day event
Ahead of the weekend, team members share their views on the venue, the local scene & how the city’s club culture is changing
Hanoi club Unmute will mark its third anniversary with three days of music from November 5 to 7 across two stages.
The line-up mixes artists from Vietnam and the wider region: AVR, Con.R, Emmytee, Erik Luebs (Live), Hibiya Line, Isabella Mavleeva, Kekexili, Kiki Raikkonen, Komga, Lam Dao, Nam Phung, park:ING, PH00000NG, Taofu, Tiny Giant, Underthinking, Viet Anh, YELLOWUHURU, Yasmin and YKK.
Japan’s Jiro Endo, known for curating the visual experience at Wonderfruit’s The Quarry, will be handling lighting.
The celebration actually doesn’t stop after the weekend; programming runs through November with more guests, including Pangea, Piezo, Carrier and Animistic Beliefs, and further names still to come.
Unmute opened three years ago with a musical direction that covers electronic music in its broadest sense. Speaking to Mixmag Asia, co-founder Lam Dao says the scene has changed since then. “I think the scene has become more diverse, and people are more open to different sounds and experiences.”
Music & Creative Manager Park L. describes the shift from the booking side: “What excites me most is seeing new talent emerge and discovering sounds I wouldn’t have expected to hear in Hanoi three years ago. I think it comes down to artists and dancers staying curious and being open to music outside their comfort zone.”
The club’s approach to experimentation extends to the venue itself.
Founder Hoàng Khôi points to the custom soundsystem and the room’s construction: “Our spirits have always been experimental, not only with music, but with everything else. For example: The custom soundsystem, the spring-loaded club ‘room’ (not floor; many people still think only the floor vibrates—not exactly true: the whole room you are in, with the soundsystem, is sustained by hundreds of industrial springs within a bigger room).
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Park adds onto this by explaining how new ideas are tested in the programme. “Our team shares a curiosity for exploring music and different club experiences. New doesn’t always mean bad, and having the space to try and fail is important. Open decks, free entry and special theme nights give us ways to test new artists and ideas in different contexts before bringing them into our regular club programme.”
On the balance between international and local artists, Khôi doesn’t see the two as competing: “Bringing in international artists does not interfere with the chances for the local artists.”
Park L. adds how the aim goes further than shared line-ups: “The goal isn’t just for Vietnamese artists to share a line-up with international names but to build a platform where our artists can stand on their own and gain international recognition.”
The anniversary follows closures and changes at several established venues in Vietnam. Park L. explains how the people behind the scene have kept going through them: “It’s sad to see so many beloved places close, but artists and promoters across Vietnam have shown their resilience over the past few years.”
He prefers to look at how scenes develop over time: “I think about how scenes across Asia continue to evolve through change and how platforms like ours can support that process. Scenes change, and I believe we can adapt and come back stronger.”
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Khôi identifies real estate as the main constraint. “Hanoi is undergoing a 100-year development plan. The city is changing every day and it is hard for us to find a better place than where Unmute currently is.” He also points to a shift in the crowd: “Frequent party goers go out less, but we keep seeing new faces every weekend.”
On how venues relate to one another, Dao says the audience overlaps but the spaces differ: “We may share some of the same audience, but each venue has its own identity and contributes something different.”
Khôi describes the dynamic more simply: “Sometimes we work together. Sometimes we compete. It’s just natural that way to grow.”
Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.
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