Annika is from South Africa, she likes MUSIC, PEOPLE and YOGA (she is an avid yoga practitioner)
During the day, she makes custom fitted jeans and fight for sustainability in the fashion industry.
A little Q&A with Annika
Hi Annika!
DS: You are a multi-talented person and love creating many things!
Can you tell us what are your passion projects?
A: DJing is definitely a passion project! Since it is not my day job (I actually work in sustainable fashion for a start up denim brand). Another passion of mine is yoga – I grew up dancing and singing in the choir, so music and movement have always been a critical part of my life.
DS: We learned that you just debuted not long ago and the set at Drastic Social x puurr.hk last month was probably the first in a music club night was it? How did it feel to be playing at 宀 ?
A: Wow, I was quite nervous! But when the music started playing I was in my element, I am really flattered that Laura Zhang proposed me and the 宀 peeps said yes [I guess it helps that I have been hanging out at the club since it opened 😄 it’s one of very few places for great music in HK at the moment so I am super happy that I could be part of it]
DS: What kind of music do you love playing the most?
*Haha, I am a bit of a musical chameleon at home, I appreciate all kinds of music [depending on my mood], but in a club or festival setting I like to play music that makes your booty shake – so ranging from housey, to electro to techno to dark disco and dark wave 🌊*
DS: This time at #DrastixPuurr, we talk about imposter syndrome and negotiations. Would you like to share your opinions about these subjects?
A: I think that everyone suffers from imposter syndrome sometimes in different situations, and it’s due to insecurities. But we should realise that everyone feels this way in some setting, because we are all different, and that should be celebrated*
On negotiation, I really suck at it for professional things haha, this is something I hope I can improve as I further my career.
DS: What do you want to see improved in your workplace/working environment/sector?
I am pushing for a more sustainable and inclusive fashion future through the work that we do at unspun @unspun.io – there are many social and ecological issues that we’re trying to solve.
Drastic Social x Puurr collaborates on an intersectional femme-centric event, curating a special program of art, music and conversation.
Starting at 4pm with “Bodies” Zine + Art share from @SoftDpress followed by group discussions on navigating the creative industry and a panel discussion with Ellie Suh, Una Mangus and Olivia Ho.
Ani Phoebe will be spinning an afternoon set while selling records as part of Bad Times Disco. A record corner with listening station will be set up near the DJ booth, Ani is passionate about encouraging more women, non-binary and diverse individuals to get into record digging.
At 7pm the volume will turn up with a booty-popping 宀 club debut from annnikafizzer followed by raising star from the Otaku Girls, DJ Ditto.
Both DJs are veteran music lovers and party-goers, but only recently started taking control of decks. Puurr’s line up intends to diversify the scene by nurturing emerging DJs.
1600-1900 Ani Phoebe showcases her vinyl collection from Bad times Disco
1630-1700 “Bodies” Zine + Art share with @softdpress – Siu Ding exhibits her collection of ‘Bodies’ zines and books and tell us about her #bodylibraryhk with Bertha Chan
1700-1730 Group Discussion – notes and stories for femmes covering the topics and questions:
What do you want to see improved in your workplace/working environment?
What are you good at doing but always afraid to take up space for?
When fighting for your own rights, what past experiences have you learnt from?
1730-1830 Discussion Panel with Ellie Suh @suhellie.studio, Una Mangus @unawashere and Olivia Ho @liveysnothome, host by Bertha Chan @berthachandotcom
How do we navigate the creative industry in Hong Kong?
Topic 1 — Imposter Syndrome — things we experience as femme creatives in HK, tools to deal with challenges, false invitations, inappropriate questions, how do we protect ourselves, things to be aware of, stand your ground, knowing your worth
Topic 2 — Negotiations — knowing your worth, knowing the industry, how to be well informed, be bold when setting offers
Puurr is an intersectional femme-centric art and music collective powered by 宀 club. Founded by Laura Zhang and Bertha Chan one night when they met at 宀 club, over a conversation about why there isn’t any dedicated environment for femmes in the electronic music space in Hong Kong, they initiated the idea of Puurr with a collective of their friends and have been collaborating on making events since 2020.
宀 is a music venue in the very heart of Hong Kong focused on bringing people together through carefully selected electronic music acts and cultural activities. The 100-capacity venue will bring a roster of leading international performers while nurturing local and regional talent. 宀 is the Chinese Radical 40 with a different pronunciation according countries. It has no literal meaning but can be likened to a roof or shelter. This is a place where you can express yourself freely. This place is for dancing. This is a place to learn. This is safe space where you will not be harassed, discriminated, criticised or harmed emotionally or physically. This is a place where all Races, Genders and Sexual identities are welcome. To safeguard this vision, there will be a no-photo policy applied inside the club. 宀 has been imagined by a group of music and audiophile enthusiasts who have chosen a Funktion One soundsystem in a room carefully engineered by one of the region’s leading experts in acoustics.
Siu Ding is an artist and book designer. She’s a body Autonomy advocate.
“Showing everybody the body is our instinctive art element and art is everywhere in our everyday life. Nudity is not a statement, but only a choice in life.”
Olivia Ho
Olivia is a creative producer — full time planning digital campaigns and events for fashion and lifestyle brands , part time collaborator doing projects that celebrates her love for food, music art and most importantly, the people 🙂
Una Mangus
a mysterious being, meet her yourself at the event
Ani Pheobe/Bad Times Disco
Bad Times Disco is a new online record store, pop up party, and radio show in Hong Kong made up of two committed diggers, Ani Phoebe (NYC) and Death M.K. (Japan). Together, they dig for the city’s forgotten records – rare Asian grooves, dubby disco, soul, experimental electronic music, 90s techno and more. Their party launch at Potato Head Music Room will regularly feature underrated diggers from across the city and abroad, showcasing talent that focuses on music research, history, and digging culture. Born in New York City, currently Hong Kong based by way of Rio de Janeiro, Ani Phoebe aka Phoebe draws from a multicultural and multilingual background in her sets, especially influenced by the sounds produced during the 80s and 90s and new, underground productions from different local scenes. Leaning towards obscure, oddball and cosmic synth sounds, she plays across a range from downtempo 80s records to underground techno.
annikafizzer
annikafizzer performed her first official set only a few weeks ago at an outdoor rave. She has been a radiant supporter of 宀 since the beginning. She’s always had a love for music but in the past year she’s refined her unique style at house parties and around friends. Now she’s taking control of the club for the very first time with a one-and-a-half hour set of upbeat booty-shaking house beats.
DJ Ditto
DJ Ditto is a HK based Korean DJ who has been playing regularly at 宀 club, 18F and Eaton Radio. She’s Deeply in love with ratchet / hardcore music and anime especially Evangelion but you will be surprised by the extent of her music.
Join us this Wednesday for a Drastic Social X Puurr event exploring SEX, GENDER & IDENTITY at 8pm! Program below from 8pm till late- Introduction by Beatrice Wong (Misty Penguin) – Panel Intro by Siu Fung Law (LGBTQ+ and gender fluid advocate) – Discussion Panel w/ Siu Fung, Vita Starkin, Rose Rage, Natasha Arce and Nyx. – Natasha Arce – A representation – Rose Rage – Stand up Comedy DJs Momo and Marie-Jo Address: 4F, 279 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Time: 8pm – Late Price : 100$ (tickets available on eventbrite & door)
Have you recently attended any pride month events or repost resources to help the LGBT community be normalised and be seen? Yes? That’s great! No? May we ask why? Also, you must then come to this one.
Do you have some burning questions you dare not to ask at the events or on internet space simply because you don’t know how to approach the subjects? Or is it because in your circle, you do not know too many people from the LGBT community?
Whatever the reasons are, we are here to help.
We exist to create an inclusive space for all of us to thrive in, therefore, the first step is to learn to talk about diverse subjects.
This coming Wednesday, you can witness the first Drastic Social x Puurr event, as we build things from the ground up.
How? We uplift the people in our community who needs support and attention the most, so we make space for them first.
Who am I referring to? It’s our friends in the LGBTrans community. The bias and prejudice many of them are facing daily is hard to imagine, for some of us cisgender or binary folx. Also, do you know that, when it comes to gender, some trans folx are binary and some non-binary?
Do these things sound very foreign to you? What are these terms I am using?
As we are embracing diversity and inclusivity in 2020, it’s the best time to come and learn about it.
These terms are very simple, they are created to make everyone feel visible so we can learn to live in unity by respecting people’s sex, gender and identity.
Let me introduce you to our guest speakers, performers and volunteers of the night we are honoured to have. Also, the rundown.
8:15 Introduction by Beatrice Wong 8:30 Panel Intro by Siu Fung Law 8:40 Discussion Panel w/ Siu Fung, Vita Starkin, Rose Rage, Natasha Arce and Nic. 9:30 Natasha Arce – Their Story 9:50 Rose Rage – Stand up Comedy 10:30-00:00 Puurr club night DJ Momo and Marie-Jo
Special thanks to A.for.trans.hk – Volunteer for Cantonese material translation
Now, please have a read of below, to get to know our collective a little 🙂
“Misty Penguin plays around with the Yin and the Yang in her, her sunny outlook and life attitude pushed her to become ‘Yang’ Misty, playing sensual positive grooves to jack your body. And only when she relapses into ‘Yin’ Misty will she occasionally play an intense set, letting people temporarily escape reality and indulge in the cosmos of electronic beats. Find her at Mihn, Oma, Eaton of the sorts.”
“I am Siufung Law from Hong Kong. I identify as genderfluid and is actively promoting gender inclusion and diversity in Hong Kong and Asia. I lecture publicly on gender and transgender studies in universities, community colleges and high schools. I advocate on gender fluidity in local and international media, in corporate companies and various NGOs. I am currently an Ambassador and Sports Lead of Gay Games Hong Kong 2022 and I was the finalist of 2018 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Awards. I am also a professional female bodybuilder who has been competing since 2015 and have won several international champions.”
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Rose Rage is a transgender comedian, composer and conductor who taught music for 30 years in Hong Kong while presenting as male. A founding member of People’s Liberation Improv, Hong Kong’s longest-running comedy improv troupe, she has performed with them in Beijing, Seoul, and Manila. A trans-media artist, she also works in painting, sculpture and computer graphics. She is the author of the article Creativity, Comedy, and Composition. Her CD Multiple Worlds is published by Ablaze Records.
Natasha Arce – Guest speaker
Natasha is an international librarian that has lived and worked around the globe.
As a non-binary person it is important to Natasha that people not be judged, devalued or dismissed based on their pronouns or presentation.
Ultimately, Natasha feels that society should strive towards gender neutral speech and education to remove gender-related expectations from skills, emotions, and relationships.
Vita Starkin is non-binary and has been out for 8 years. A musician and creative director, born in London and based in Hong Kong. They are trained in Piano and Organ as a teenager before delving into Cabaret and Rock Music.
Vita is also a creative director, their company “Light of Prometheus” specialises in producing films and other digital content for brands in Asia, Oceania and Europe.
Nyx – Guest speaker
Nyx is a non binary traveller from the UK. They are an active organiser of the polyamory scene, both in the UK and Hong Kong. They founded and co-admin Hong Kong Polyamory Group – a polyamory support group, at the same time co-admin a regional polyamory group in UK.
They are passionate about creating communities and safe spaces for polyam/lgbtqa+ folx, whilst running fun events. They like to experiment with a variety of performance art: hooping, poi spinning and a dash of burlesque.
Allies for Trans HK🇭🇰🏳⚧👥我地係一班關注跨性別人士嘅香港人🇭🇰 🏳⚧希望透過呢個IG令大家增加對跨性別嘅認識💬 👉🏻咩係跨性別？🤔 👉🏻跨性別同其他性小眾有咩唔同？🤔 👉🏻我地要點同跨性別人士相處？🤔 🙆🏻♀️等我地一齊認識下啦！🙆🏻♂️
Allies for Trans HK – We are a group of Allies from Hong Kong who cares and provide supports for our trans friends. We hope to raise awareness about the trans community with acknowledgment through our IG!
What is the different between T and the rest of the LGB+? How do we learn to communicate through our differences? Let’s find out together!
Event info:
Date: 15 July 2020 Time: 8pm-12am Location: 宀 (Mihn) Club – 4F, 279 Des Voeux Rd Central, Sheung Wan
A collaboration with Purr by 宀 (Mihn) to create an intersectional femme-centric space in Hong Kong.
At the Stardust art exhibition, I was introduced to Laura, who is the art curator at宀 gallery. We talked about how we both wanted to create an alternative space for our femme centric communities and form an inclusive collective of music and culture enthusiasts in Hong Kong.
The idea of Puurr was born. We then recruited a few talented friends to drum up the basis of Puurr, and we have been actively discussing how to expand on the idea since...
What is PUURR?
“PUURR” is an inclusive cultural collective empowered by 宀.
We are an intersectional femme space focusing on activities that unite us together. There have always been limited spaces that support marginalised groups in our society, and we are here to make this space for all to safely express ourselves.
This is the PUURR Manifesto,
“We are them, They are you,You are all of us.Together we are whatever we want to be!
We donʼt know where weʼre going, and itʼs okay.
We keep dancing and moving forward to expand the boundaries of space.
For us, for them, and FOR ALL.”
Who are PUURR’s core members?
Laura Zhang – Art curator of 宀 Gallery, Co-Founder of Puurr
On the 1st of March, before the COVID-19 started affecting us locally, we organised a focus group meetup to ask 30 individuals in the music and creative space.
We opened with a teaser by showcasing some of our collective’s passion projects
Stephanie Teng – Photography for Madame Figaro: Louis Vuitton Editorial with Model Shawn McRae
Tiffany Huang – Spill Stories
Alison’s Tan – Art performance: The Complimentary Waffles
Megan van Wyk, Singer-songwriter – Song: “Safe Space”
During the event, we also discussed 2 important issues that give us some direction for inclusivity to develop some ideas and guidelines for future events.
1.What are some of the issues with the current clubbing culture?
Attitude: Toxic Expat Entitlement, “Ladies Night” Culture, Sexualising womxn for financial gains, No real connections
Intersectionality: Lack of space that draws in both locals and ex-pats, LGBT spaces generally caters to G only
Environment: In general gross-ness of clubs, need space for conversations, spiked drinks, and groping problems
2.What do you want to see in an inclusive club space?
Music: Different types of Music – Disco, the 80s, House, Hip hop.More local talents, Femme and POC (People of Colour) DJs.
Event Ideas: Sober Nights! Dance night without alcohol Liberating Events, Dress Up nights (All Puurr events are dress-up nights!), Drag Brunch, Cabaret with a diversity of genders, nude talk + drawing, Day Waves, Earlier parties, include men, 宀 cuddles, Celebrate Trans/Non-Binary identities, featured artists
Space: Sex inclusive + exclusive toilets, female bouncers, wheelchair accessibility, safe space policy, visual contents, installations, footwork, More femme/ POC DJs
Food & Beverage: Food! Bread <3, variety of non-alcoholic beverages, CLUB MATE lemonade, Tea! 宀 Brunch, Water fountain / Cup deposit
Whats next?
We have gathered this information to design our next event, exploring different subjects and create together with our collective an inclusive environment to discuss different topics. After 5 months of corona time, we are finally able to launch our first event next week on 15th July.
If you would like to be a part of Puurr collective and attend our community events, please subscribe to our newsletters and we will see you soon!
at 8pm!
DJs Momo and Marie-Jo 
Drastic Social 
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