#008: Off-Grid Playlist
by ANKR
ex-directory is a new weekly newsletter for artists and the world’s music industry, curated by a group of friends and colleagues in cities across the globe.
This month we uncovered off the grid studios around the world and spoke with artists who seek refuge in nature for inspiration and comfort. To close the month, Taipei-based art collective ANKR share a curated playlist and speak to us about their mission to capture the symbiotic relationship between music and nature.
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At the beginning of this year, Taiwan was suffering from its worst drought in the past 50 years. Despite a history of frequent rainfall and summer typhoons, reservoirs and lakes across the country were drying up. In an effort to inspire the skies and encourage reflection on environmental conservation, ANKR traveled to the largest reservoir in Dapu, Taiwan, at the time completely dry, to film a live performance in the heart of the basin with fellow Taiwanese musician A.P.R.A.
“We felt that filming in this location was an opportunity to highlight the frequently increasing climate related issues which Taiwan and the rest of the world are facing,” ANKR tell us recently during a week of welcome rain in Taipei. “Liyang’s (A.P.R.A) compositions did a great job capturing the sense of unease our generation feels facing these existential threats.”
Launched in 2020, ANKR is a large team of film producers, sound artists, photographers and more, whose focus thus far has been on organizing live music events across Taipei and producing music videos, with a desire to expand into other artistic mediums in the future.
“Nature was one of the driving forces which inspired us to start ANKR in the first place,” producer Gazer explains. “As creative people who love the outdoors it just made perfect sense for us to combine these things together. Incorporating nature into our projects re-contextualizes art which can otherwise be seen as inorganic or foreign to some people. We also find that having this theme draws out the similarities in our collaborators' styles and can give some greater meaning to their artistic endeavors.”
Even living in Taiwan’s largest city, the environment and subtropical, humid climate is an unavoidable part of everyday life. Vast mountain ranges border the city and green foliage often spill onto the alleys and streets. “Though Taiwan might be considered quite a small island by some, it still has many different geographies and landscapes,” notes Gazer. “There are beaches, lush forests, high mountains, volcanoes, wetlands and more. Between the heat, rain, typhoons and earthquakes, sometimes the environment can feel quite hostile, but of course there are also many beautiful places to be explored and enjoyed.”
Through field-recordings, film, photography and outdoor live events, ANKR capture the local ecology of Taiwan in an effort to highlight the beauty of the country’s surroundings and inspire local and international engagement. “We hope humanity can strive towards having a more symbiotic relationship with nature,” says the group as they imagine a future reality. “Many of the things we are involved with can feel very disconnected from our natural environment, music included. The first step to changing our ways must begin with recognition that humanity can not diverge from nature. Negligence to respect our role as part of nature is not an option.”
Editors Note: If you make music, email us for a lifetime free subscription at hello@exdirectory.xyz. If you work in the industry, please consider helping us create this resource with a paid subscription.