For this season’s Minted Chaos theme, Refraction asked four DJs who have a creative relationship to chaos to explore its full spectrum in their mixes—both from a selection and technique standpoint—and to reflect on how chaos relates to their practice.
There's a philosophical bent to how Leevisa understands chaos. "Does chaos mean disorder?" she asks. "If you think so, wouldn't it be close to your socially accepted moral values? Even if the concept of being is neutral, its value changes according to the way it is perceived." This relationship between morality and chaos is a provocation and an invitation to start thinking about society differently. She continues: "We are living in a battlefield to take power, and chaos is just the process of forming a new order."
Leevisa's mix is constantly conjuring up new worlds. The urban grit of Tommy Wright III & Princess Loko's old school hip-hop burner "Street Shit," becomes glossed over by the unmistakable synth hits of SOPHIE's timeless "BIPP." But Leevisa only teases us with the catharsis of "BIPP." The track is pitched way down, so that the unmistakable cotton candy synths and romantic dreaming of SOPHIE's lyrics are almost frustratingly slow. We need patience to build up this new world, not the instant gratification of release.
Her mixing itself also represents the work it takes to build up new worlds. The gabber assault of FKOFF1963 suddenly cuts out as a series of clicks overtake the mix. Slowly, other sounds start to take shape—a drum, a synth line, a piano. If the gabber tune is music at its most intense, the following series of sounds produced by Hyder & Ribo are like listening to music come together right in front of you. "There are quite a few moments where the tracks are mixed in a flash without a mashup," she explains, "So I hope you can feel the narrative in which chaos becomes cosmos."
—-------
Tracklist:
Inga Copeland - Obsession 2
Gimisum Family - Skit
Tommy Wright III & Princess Loko - Street Shit
SOPHIE - BIPP
SCRAAATCH - FIRST FUCK EDIT
Youngnam Song - Re See
Stainus - Euphoria
Daniel Rossen - Saint Nothing
E+E - The Totaled Angelica
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Leevisa - Crush
Robert Wyatt - At Last I Am Free
Deli Spice - Chau Chau
Yung Lean - Ginseng Strip 2002 (Prod. Yung Gud)
Duval Timothy - Slave (feat. Twin Shadow)
Joel Eel - Love Infinity (Feat. Leevisa)
Salem - Frost
Leevisa - ???
Celestial Trax - Total Capitulation (Feat. Dis Fig)
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Ka Wa Mo
spekkio - celestial
33EMYBW - 冬虫夏草
Meth Math - Tambaleo (Machine Girl Remix)
FKOFF1963 - DO IT
rkss - house, electro house, club house (Produced by Hyder & Ribo)
Jockstrap - Concrete Over Water
Lotic - FORMATION (AMERICA IS OVER DECLARATION)
Bald Terror - Hardcore
7 Year Bitch - Kiss My Ass Goodbye
----------
Bio:
“I think that if you are an artist, you should let them escape from living according to their inertia, even for a moment.” is how Seoul based DJ, producer and composer, Leevisa translates the prepositions of an artist.
Her compositions are diversified outside the context of club culture, and described as a Lost in translation moment, trainwrecking head first into an after hours rave. Her recent contributions span from: an exclusive mix for Apple music, a remix for PZWorld Book (Published by IDEA), composing music for Kimmy.j FW19 Seoul Fashion Week runway and breaking into the world of film as a music composer. Bridging the world of music & fashion, as one of the rising female musicians of Seoul's underground scene via i-D magazine and DJing/modeling for notably rising fashion brand Hyein Seo. Leevisa has toured throughout the world playing for Unsound, CTM, Elsewhere, HKCR, NTS Radio, and performs frequently at Seoul’s renown club Cakeshop and Seoul Community Radio.
Links:
Artists Connie Bakshi and Ellie Pritts reflect on how AI influences their work and perspectives on storytelling, identity, and the evolving role of the artist following their curation in Livepeer x Refraction's Limitless AI exhibit in Bangkok.
