Palestinian, Lebanese & British DJ Kamar (pronounced Ah-Mar) presents Tealeaves, dedicated to exploring sound through migration.
In each show, Kamar highlights music made by artists who have migrated, both new and old, from a plethora of time and places, zoning in on their culture, community and influences, exploring how the movement of people has intersected with music and sound.
This month, Kamar welcomes Fauve Record label head Romain FX. Born in France, but raised in Hong Kong, Taiwan & USA, Romain’s rootless background has contributed hugely in cementing his status as a key figure in the East Asian music and club scene. An incredibly prolific producer (amassing well over several hundred productions and edits to his name), he’s played and organised events at some of the most iconic venues & events such as Panorama Bar/Berghain, Fabric London, REX Club, Lux Fragil, Sonar, Wonderfruit and Nuits Sonores for his Live performance debut alongside Laurent Garnier.
His musical productions have been embraced and loved by renowned artists, who have showcased them at prestigious venues such as DJ Harvey at Pikes, Marcel Dettmann at Berghain, Massimilliano at Funk Club, Orpheu The Wizard at Dekmantel, Skatebard at Igloo Festival – cementing his position in the industry and giving him the opportunity to sharing the stage & line ups with some of the most renowned international artists including Jayda G, Paramida, Move D, Habibi Funk, Yu Su and many more. With nearly two decades of crate digging experience resulting in a remarkable collection of over 3000+ vinyl records and CDs, Romain possesses an extensive knowledge of both classic and obscure musical gems.
In this Tealeaves installment, Kamar joins Romain to broadcast from his sun-filled apartment in Almada, Lisbon, which Romain has called home for the past 3 years. They discuss his migratory experience having moved across 5 countries and 3 continents, the musical influences he absorbed growing up in Hong Kong, and the wider Cantopop movement that emerged in HK in the 70s, only to grow, expand, deepen and develop over the course of the end of the 20th century.