Taste the Mochi
Mochipet — the ever-fruitful laptop lothario. BY KIMBERLY CHUN
“SONIC REDUCER “If you build it, they will come!” A few famous first words from David Wang — otherwise known as the ever-fruitful laptop lothario Mochipet — when we spoke recently, and something to ponder as I gazed around his so-chill, so-frolicsome, and oh-so-free Fourth of July barbecue bash in Golden Gate Park. In a green, leafy nook near the fields where the buffalo roam, a DJ tent is up and housing such pals as Phon.o and Flying Skulls. Funk ‘n’ Chunk fire the grill with impressive flamethrower action, and Christian of the Tasty crew plunges fish-sauce-marinated chicks into the hot grease for Filipino fried chicken. Throw a Tecate on the whole thing, pet your mochi, and call it an awesome party despite the fact that, as Wang confides, “we did get started a little late because there were some rangers sniffing around.” Wang is accustomed to building where few have ventured before — and as a collaborator extraordinaire who has worked with everyone from Spank Rock to Ellen Allien, he’s brought together communities of sorts in the most unlikely of locales (hence the name of his label, Daly City Records). Earlier that week we chatted by phone in lieu of digging into Hong Kong deep-fried pork chops and a sweet, cheap Filipino breakfast (“It’s like soul food for Asians — everything’s either deep-fried or smoked”) at Gateway restaurant near the literal and spiritual home of Daly City Records. The occasion is his forthcoming Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival, an improv-y and likely collaborative performance, as well as a whopping release show at Club Six for his latest disc, Microphonepet (Daly City). A formidable gathering of all of Wang’s work and collaborations since 2001, Microphonepet overwhelms with its awesome sonics, roving from “Tangle” with Salva and Epcot and “Get Your Whistle Wet” with the Hustle Heads, to “Vnecks” with 215 the Freshest Kids and “Lazy Days” with KFlay. Where has Wang been hiding his crazily deep-fried, deliciously bleepy hip-hop production skills all this time? “Guess it got to the point where last year I got 20 tracks, so I just put them out as a record, because some of them are really cool,” he explains. “I thought they were really diverse and it would be a good segue to my next record.”
Wang has been pouring plenty of energy into that coming disc, which may be released on Daly City or an imprint like Ninjatune. He describes it as more personal: he’s skating progressive, jazz, and South American musical influences off trad Korean and Chinese sounds, and acoustic guitar off heavy electronics. “I’ve always written … traditional songs but I’ve never really been comfortable releasing it,” says Wang, who describes his early aural interests as veering toward jazz and salsa. “All my records before this have been experiments — me trying new things. But they haven’t been as personal as this next record. I think of it as my first record, really. I’m a slow bloomer.” *
MOCHIPET MCMF show with Yoko Solo, Patrice Scanlon, and Blanket Head
July 18, 8 p.m., $7
Million Fishes Gallery
2501 Bryant, SF
millionfishes.com
Also Aug. 9 Microphonepet release show with Raashan, Mike Boo, Cikee, Daddy Kev, Dopestyles, Kflay, and others
9 p.m., $10–$15
Club Six
60 Sixth St., SF
http://www.clubsix1.com/
