Since they were founded in 2018, EASTERN MARGINS has become a prevalent name for creating space for East and South-East Asian culture to be celebrated in the UK and beyond. Through their platform and by creating opportunities - they have been vital in building a community for the East and SE Asian community to share, collaborate, network and create together from stages at Glastonbury Festival to sold-out events across the country. Now, EASTERN MARGINS are ready to present MARGINS UNITED - their first ever festival concept taking place at EARTH HACKNEY on September 28th 2024. Featuring music, visual art, food, installations, workshops, talks and more - EASTERN MARGINS will be a history event in the history books and redefine how East and South-East Asian culture is understood and recognized in the UK.
In line with the EASTERN MARGINS philosophy to champion all things left-leaning and underground, the precisely curated line-up of creators and musicians at MARGINS UNITED will rep a melting pot of sonics and scenes that encompass the Eastern Margins family. Gothic glitch Princess yeule returns to Eastern Margins. Having performed at the first ever Eastern Margins show in a derelict basement in Shoreditch, yeule returns 7 years later for a one-off DJ set, coming home to a crowd and community that’s grown with them. Fashion Maverick turned singer Soo Joo plays her UK debut, fresh from collaboration with legendary producer Hudson Mohawke. Soo Joo will bring her ethereal, dark, dream pop sound to Earth this September. Also joining will be cult figure and selector supreme DJ Love, who will be performing outside of his home country of the Philippines for the very first time. An advocate and character, DJ Love is the originator of viral Filipino electronic subgenre, Budots, having earned his name across 2 decades of tireless innovation and organization in the genre. Recent global attention has come via Manila Community Radio, Boiler Room and more - this will be a set not to miss.
The enigmatic beatmaker Onra will play as part of the MARGINS UNITED bill. A producer who hasn’t played on UK soil for over 2 years, Onra is the OG’s OG, having been one of the earliest electronic musicians in UK & Europe to prominently incorporate ESEA sounds in their work. Onra’s set at MARGINS UNITED will continue to fuse elements of traditional Eastern influence with soul, jazz, rap, hip-hop and more.
Hong Kong born and Bristol based gyrofield eludes single descriptors with their work born from an interweaving relationship with electronic music. The results speak for themselves with a slew of releases across labels, such as VISION, Field Research and Deadbeat, and a driving high-octane Drum & Bass mix for BBC Radio 1 exploring their inimitable take on all things dnb. On the 28th September 2024, they bring their infectious energy to Margins United as we journey into gyrofield's effervescent world of 160BPM.
Another heavy hitter is the genre-bending Malaysian artist Shelhiel, who’s been flying the flag for the electronic mutations of his native Kuala Lumpur, blending local sounds such as Manyao with Hyperpop, Nightcore & more. No Rome, the London-via-Manila Alternative RnB star, also delivers his first UK DJ set of 2024 for MARGINS UNITED.
At the core of MARGINS UNITED is the community of ESEA creatives in London that make up EASTERN MARGINS’s essence. For the occasion, several artists have created bespoke one-off concepts specially for the festival - visual shows, experimental performances and more. MEYY will deliver a bespoke multimedia show, a mix of spoken word, immersive crowd-based choreography and performance: a Wedding at the Theatre. LVRA and Soda Plains come together to debut a brand new project, performing it for the first time exclusively for Margins United. Meanwhile, South-London legend Jianbo brings together an exclusive ensemble of heavy hitters from across his cinematic universe. A family affair.
Across the day to night programme, the MARGINS UNITED concept will include a daytime segment that spans everything from workshops, installations, talks, conferences to supper clubs. Margins United aims to unite all the different facets of East & South-East Asian culture under one roof, and that expands beyond just music. During the daytime, we will have a design workshop from Baesianz (an arts collective for artists of Asian heritage), a custom installation from Lawrence Lek (a Malaysian-Chinese multimedia artist), a talk by ESEA Music (a body of music industry participants of ESEA heritage), and supper clubs from Ginn Khao x TinTin (a collaborative supper club fusing Northern Thai cuisine and modern Filipino Food) and Eat Drink Hui (exploring food as Medicine).
Founded almost seven years ago by DAVID ZHOU with the intention to showcase Alternative Asian Culture, EASTERN MARGINS has grown into a vital force, community and space for artists, creatives and members of the East and SE Asian diaspora in the UK and beyond. Through their extensive work with parties, events, community and more, they have been redefining the way that Asian culture has been understood in the UK, especially within arts, music and creative circles. EASTERN MARGINS also authentically understand how Asian cultures have influenced and grown in the UK.
David Zhou, Founder of Eastern Margins -
"Margins United is the culmination of 7 years of community, collectivism and belief. We're so proud to have seen our scene develop, from unlicensed raves in Basements to a Theatre stage. We want to celebrate all the aspects of East & South-East Asian creativity, in defiance of the underrepresentation and inequity we still face in the UK & European music landscape. We want to celebrate the Margins."
MARGINS UNITED :
A HOME FOR ALTERNATIVE ASIAN CULTURE
YEULE, ONRA, NO ROME, DJ LOVE, GYROFIELD, SOO JOO, MEYY, LVRA x, SODA PLAINS, ONRA, JIANBO & FRIENDS, SHELHIEL
+ SUPPER CLUBS, VISUAL ART, WORKSHOPS, NIGHT MARKET + MORE
for all press and media enquiries contact love is the message
dresden@lovethemessage.com
zine@lovethemessage.com
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Eastern Margins Presents ‘Margins United’ Day & Night Festival
