「不要害羞，想辦法把自己的音樂讓更多人聽到，透過多種管道推銷自己的音樂。」
Future Funk 在世界各地刮起炫風，來自香港的音樂廠牌 Neoncity Records，就是全世界第一家正式發行 Future Funk 卡帶及黑膠的唱片公司，對於推廣 Future Funk 功不可沒。這次很高興邀請到 Neoncity Records 主理人 Davy 接受 Cassette Hunter 專訪，分享他如何與 Future Funk 結緣、如何經營一家公司。除了香港、台灣的發展現況外，我們也邀請到來自俄羅斯的 Desired，來聊聊 Future Funk 在俄羅斯的風潮。
Future Funk is dazzling all over the world. Neoncity Records, a music label from Hong Kong, is the world's first label to release Future Funk cassettes and vinyl officially. It has contributed a lot to the promotion of Future Funk. This time we're very happy to invite Davy, the director of Neoncity Records, to accept an interview with Cassette Hunter, and share how he connected with Future Funk and how to run a company. In addition to the current development of Hong Kong and Taiwan, we also invited DJ Desired from Russia to talk about the trend of Future Funk in Russia.
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Neoncity Records：以下簡稱NR(主理人Davy受訪)
Desired：以下簡稱D
Cassette Hunter：以下簡稱CH
感傷唱片行主理人──游璨賓：以下簡稱賓
卡式帶：以下簡稱卡帶
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2017 年 Neoncity Records 主理人 Davy 拜訪感傷唱片行香港快閃店 In 2017, the director of Neoncity Records Davy visited the Kind of Blue Reocrds pop-up store in Hong Kong
CH：Neoncity Records 這次台灣巡迴是跟感傷唱片行合作，店長阿賓還擔任暖場 DJ，想請問二位主理人是怎麼認識的？
Also,this tour in Taiwan is cooperation between Neoncity Records and Kind od BlueRecords, store manger Bing was also the guest DJ for the opening. How did youknow each other at the first place?
賓：感傷唱片行曾在 2017 到香港鑼銅灣做過快閃店活動。在活動前，就收到 Davy 的訊息，他說他有個卡帶廠牌，我到香港時可以聊一下。於是我們就約在快閃店裡碰面，那天還到他最早的工作室參觀。隔年，我邀請他來店裡舉辦 Neoncity Records 的 Pop-up，那時 NightTempo 還來過店裡擔任 DJ。很酷的是他帶二台卡帶隨身聽來，全部播放 City Pop 的卡帶。這次巡迴我用卡帶 DJ 也是受到 NightTempo 的影響。跟 Davy 從香港認識之後，就一直合作到現在。
Kind of Blue Records has once visited Hong-Kong in 2017 for a pop-up store event,just right before the event, I got a message from Davy saying that he owns arecords labels for cassettes, and would love to meet in person during his stayin Hong-Kong, so we just met up in the pop-up store, at the same day I havealso visited his first workshop. The very next year, I invited him to holdanother pop-up event for Neon City Records in the store, back then Night Tempohas once been invited as our guest DJ, it was really cool that he used two cassettesplayers to play only CityPop’s cassettes, I like the idea a lot so for thistour I also chose cassettes DJ because of Night Tempo, and I’ve been workingtogether with Davy ever since we first met in Hong-Kong.
CH：Davy是何時成立 Neoncity Records，並選擇發行卡帶的呢？
When did you establish Neoncity RecordsNeon City Records and decide to release cassettes?
NR：我原本是平面設計師，一開始是純粹喜歡 Future Funk，想在香港辦 Future Funk 的活動，因此邀請 Night Tempo 來香港表演，因為當時他還沒有發行專輯的，從那時起就有發行的想法。後來留意到台灣專賣卡帶的感傷唱片行開幕 (2016/11)。恰巧不久後遇到以前家裡是卡帶製作工廠的國中同學，問我要不要買機器，就這樣開始手工製作、發行卡帶。放在國外的 Bandcamp 網站上賣，首批發了 200 張很快就銷售一空，就這樣繼續下去了。
I was a graphic designer at first, out of a pure passion to Future Funk that motivated me to put out an event in Hong-Kong, and invited Night Tempo as aguest DJ. He has not yet released any albums back then; therefore we came outwith the idea together. Later on I have noticed that Kind of Blue Records hasopened a business specialized in selling cassettes in November 2016, and thenby chance I ran into a classmate from junior high school, whose family used toproduce cassettes, he asked me if I want to take over the machinery, just likethat I started by manual then selling production, I put them on a foreign website Bandcamp, the first batch has sold out 200 cassettes in a second, so the story continues.
The director of Neoncity Records Davy
賓：感傷唱片行最近也跟 Cassette Hunter 合作出一張卡帶，決定發行數量是一門學問。我想問 Davy，當初決定 200 張是怎麼評估的？為什麼不是 100 張或 300 張呢？
Kind of Blue Records is recently working with Cassette Hunter for their nextcassette, it is tricky to know exactly the ideal amount of publication. How didyou decide the precise amount? Why 200, not 100 or 300?
NR：那時沒想這麼多，是我剛好有這些量的空白錄音帶，就全部拿去做。沒想到一下子就賣完，證明 Future Funk 是很有市場的。第一張是 NightTempo 的 Fantasy ，那時是 2017/4。在之前 Future Funk 並不流行發實體唱片，我們可以說是第一家正式發行FutureFunk 實體唱片的公司，現在除了卡帶外，還有發行黑膠。加入廠牌的音樂創作人也愈來愈多，如：墨西哥的 MACROSS82-99，還有人在現場來自俄羅斯的 Desired等。
I didn't think much, it was just that I happened to have this amount of blank cassettes so I just gave it a try, I didn't expect it would sold out so fast,which has also proved that Future Funk still owns his market. First cassettes:Fantasy by Night Tempo, was in the year 2017, before that there was almost nonepublication of Future Funk, in other words we could say that we are the firstlabel who releases actual albums for Future Funk. Despite Cassettes, we release alsoVinyl, gradually we have more and more signed composers: MACROSS82-99 from Mexico, and Desired from Russia, who’s here with us.
2017年 Night Tempo 首張 Future Funk 卡帶專輯 《 Fantasy 》 Night Tempo's first Future Funk cassette album "Fantasy" released in 2017
CH：想請問 Desired，目前 Future Funk 在俄羅斯的發展狀況？
A question for Desired, how is Future Funk growing in Russia?
D：其實俄羅斯在 90 年代時，蠻流行亞洲文化。主要是因為俄羅斯領土幅員很廣，橫跨歐亞二洲，在遠東地區和中國、韓國、日本等國家相鄰，所以我們可以從亞洲的音樂電台聽到亞洲的歌曲。近幾年由於年輕人受到潮流影響，開始接觸 Future Funk，由於這些歌曲取樣 80 年代的歌曲，所以他們也會去找日本的老歌來聽。還有一部分是受到動漫影響，如：美少女戰士、寶可夢等。他們在台灣也很受歡迎。
Asian culture has been quite popular during 90s in Russia, mainly reason was that Russia is a huge country who has a vast territory, stretched over Europe and Asia, in the middle east we are neighbors with China, Korea and Japan, therefore, we could get in touch with Asian songs from Asian radio stations.Recently the young generation got to know about Future Funk , these songs areall took examples from hit songs in 80s, which leads them to track back to Japanese old songs, in the other hand, the influence from Japanese Manga suchas Sailor Moon, Pokémon, they are also popular in Taiwan.
CH：你們認為為什麼外國人對於這兩部動漫反應會這麼大呢？
What do you think that foreigners are particularly into these two manga?
D：這些動漫都有在俄羅斯第一大電視台播放，配上俄文發音，所以知名度很高，而且不止小朋友喜歡，大人也很愛。其實這種日本動漫的流行狀況，在全世界都一樣。我想是因為周邊多吧！各式各樣的種類都有，做得精緻又吸引人，加上 Sailor Moon 角色很漂亮。在當時，日本就是很強的動漫輸出國，外國人也沒有太多選擇，想要看動漫，日本動漫就是唯一選擇。
These manga were playing on the first TV channel in Russia and were dubbed inRussian, hence, not only kids love it, event adults are crazy about it. To speak of this viral phenomenon of Japanese Manga, I think it is more or lessthe same all over the world, one of the reason might be its all kinds ofspin-off merchandise, they are all delicate and exquisite, plus all thecharacters in Sailor Moon are just gorgerous. Japan has always been the top one country for manga, therefore being foreigner we don't really have other options: if you want to watch manga, you got Japanese for one and only.
Desired 分享俄羅斯 Future Funk 流行現況 Desired shares the current status of Russia's Future Funk
CH：Desired 是從什麼時候開始創作 Future Funk？
Whendid you start writing Future Funk music?
D：我是大約從 2014 年底開始進行創作，一開始是做 Lo-Fi Hip Hop，後來接觸到 Yung Bae、MACROSS 82-99 的音樂，大約在 2015 年中開始進行 Future Funk 的創作。因 Night Tempo 介紹加入 Neoncity Records，也成為 Sailor Team 的成員。之前跟 MACROSS 82-99 這些前輩也僅在網路上打招呼、聯繫，現在居然可以一起巡迴演出，有點不可思議！
Is tarted around the end of 2014, at the beginning was Lo-Fi Hip Hop, then I have listenedto music of Yung Bae, MACROSS 82-99, later on in the middle of 2015, I firststarted my own work. Thanks to Night Tempo who has introduced me to join Neoncity Records, I now became one of the members of Sailor Team. It is almost dreamyto me to think of going on tour with these great precursors, thinking of thefact that not long ago we were just contacting each other online, it’s justincredible!
2017年 Sailor Team 首張合輯 《 Sailor Team Hits! 》Sailor Team's first album "Sailor Team Hits!" released in 2017
CH：在俄羅斯有 Future Funk 表演活動或場所嗎？
Do you have any venues or places for Future Funk?
D：聖彼得堡有一間蠻有名的酒吧叫 Diskette Lounge，裝修風格非常的 Vaporwave 。他們每週都會舉辦 Future Funk、Vaporwave 的表演。因為我住的地方離聖彼得堡滿遠的，交通的成本比較高，所以還沒機會去那表演。
In Saint-Petersburg there is a bar called Diskette Lounge, the interior designis very much Vaporwave style, they do weekly FutureFunk, Vaporwave events. Ilive quite far from this bar so it costs a lot for me just to go there; I havenot yet played there but would love to one day!
NR：其實 Desired 目前光靠自己在音樂創作上的收入，已經在家鄉買了房子。他的收入在俄羅斯算是高的，如當地的演出酬勞經評估不符成本的話，通常會婉拒。
In fact, Desired has bought a house in his hometown just by the income he made on music, which means his income is rather high in Russia, therefore he would consider more if he would take the offers.
Diskette Lounge Photo from tripadvisor
賓：可以進一步分享您如何透過創作音樂買到房子的嗎？
Could you kindly share with us how did you manage to afford a house by making music?
D：要認真對待音樂創作這件事，注重自己個人的風格並且持續創作，不斷地上傳新的作品，黏著 follow 你的樂迷。在俄羅斯也有幾位創作 Future Funk、Vaporwave 的人。可能是語言的關係，他們比較偏向將音樂放在國內的 VK，以致在國外的知名度相對較低。所以要將作品放到各個國際平台，如：Youtube、Spotify 等，增加自己的曝光度。我的音樂很幸運地被 Spotify 編輯選上，放在推薦歌單，讓點閱率及追蹤人數大增。
You need to take music seriously and focus on your personal style and never stop writing stuff, also non-stop sharing and uploading your works, moreimportantly, stick with your fans. In Russia we also have a few composersworking on Future Funk and Vaporwave music, it might because of the language that they only share their works on local platform VK, thus never get a bettervisibility. YouTube, Spotify are all great international music platforms formusic makers, these are the must-places for us if you want to be heard. I amluckily enough to be chosen by the program director of spotify, the put me onthe recommended playlist which helped me tremendously to gain a tons of viewsand followers.
Desired 分享音樂創作歷程 Desired to share his creative process
CH：能否請 Desired 給台灣想從事 Future Funk 音樂創作的年輕人一些建議？
Would you please give some advices to the young Taiwanese people who are into making Future Funk music?
D：不要害羞，想辦法把自己的音樂讓更多人聽到，透過多種管道推銷自己的音樂。之前我曾加入一個網路社團 Future Society，許多創作 Future Funk 的人會把自己的音樂放在上面，互相交流。此外，也建議可以多聽各種類型的音樂，試著從中找到各種創意運用在自己的創作中。
Don't be shy, and try your best to let your works be heard, through which everkind of ways to promote your works. I once joined an online group called FutureSociety, many people would put their works on it and discuss openly with eachother. Besides, I also suggest you to explore all different genres of music, be inspired and take those elements into your own works, make it yours.
CH：最後想請問 Davy 關於 NeoncityRecords 未來的計畫？
Onelast question for Davy, any plans for Neon City Records in the future?
未來除了 Future Funk 外，也會發行其他類型的音樂。我自己就很希望可以發行 City Pop 的合輯。另外，還想在香港辦一場音樂節，包含 FutureFunk 和其他復古類型的舞曲的音樂節，想要推廣會讓人開心、舒服的音樂。
Apart from FutureFunk, we will also publish different music styles, for exampleI would personally love to release a compilation album for CityPop. Besides ofthat, I would like to organize a music festival in Hong-Kong, which includedFutureFunk and other retro-type disco music, I really want to introduce thischeerful music vibe to the world.
關於Neoncity Records
亞洲 Future Funk 風潮推手，不只是全球第一家發行 Future Funk 卡帶專輯與黑膠的唱片公司，更致力於將 80 年代文化與音樂帶給現代人。
The first label in the world to release Future Funk cassette albums and vinyl and the important role to promote Future Funk in Asia, but also committed to bringing the culture and music of the 1980s to modern people.
關於Desired
俄羅斯人，Sailor Team 成員。受到 Yung Bae、MACROSS 82-99、Saint Pepsi 影響，創作曲風以Vaporwave及Future Funk為主，現為專職的音樂製作人及 DJ。
Russian, member of Sailor Team. Affected by Yung Bae, MACROSS 82-99, Saint Pepsi, his works is mainly Vaporwave and Future Funk. Now he is a full-time music producer and DJ.Ｃ