Friday, December 12, 2014

Time Washes Everything Away



My last video as DB, shot and directed by my friend Loic Zimmermann on location in Lisbon, following my daily commute to work at the studio, and my routine walking breaks in Casilhas, across the Tagus river. Special thanks to Andre Goncalves, ADDAC studio and the many friends that have helped me made Lisbon my home this past year.  The new year is around the corner as my Europe chapter comes to an end.

Can't wait to be back on home continent soil.

North American, and with scattered spirits
we venture on.

To be continued...


With Love,

Alex
   
Berlin, 12/12/2014

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

"Stateless"



Stateless is now out via ZOO MUSIC. 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The Last Lizard/ RIP DIRTY BEACHES 2005-2014



Thank you all for the years of support, it really meant a lot to me. From kitchen dishwasher to globe trotting troubadour, I owe it all to the friends and allies that have housed me, helped me, inspired me, and driven me to the place where I am now.  But most importantly, your support got me here today and I want to take this moment and thank YOU.

I know its not the smartest move...and a painful one as well.  But sometimes, you need to let go in order to grow and move on.  I wanna thank my family, my friends, all past DB contributors for their help and friendship.  It's been a fun and crazy ride...RIP DIRTY BEACHES 2005-2014.

Rest assured there will be new projects and new music COMING SOON 2015. Stay tuned. I will post info up here or twitter/instagram when there is solid news.

Love,
Alex

ps.

Can't wait for what the unknown holds ahead.

Monday, October 27, 2014

STATELESS

Dirty Beaches - Stateless from Alex Zhang Hungtai on Vimeo.

Stateless is out Nov, 4th, 2014 via ZOO MUSIC. Now available for an advance streaming here: http://pitchfork.com/advance/579-stateless/


Friday, October 17, 2014



Stateless is not out yet, but this is something new that I'm working on as LAST LIZARD, slowly compiling all the tracks now...More to come SOON! 2015!!!

-Alex

Tokyo, Japan.

Friday, July 25, 2014

STATELESS

STATELESS trailer by Dirty Beaches from Alex Zhang Hungtai on Vimeo.

Hey guys I made a trailer for the upcoming DB instrumental album STATELESS
due November 2014 via Zoo music.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

DIRTY PIGS



Live in Tokyo, with P.I.G.S. !!


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Lisbon Diaries

Lisbon Diaries from Alex Zhang Hungtai on Vimeo.

What time is it across the Atlantic?

Exercise 1.  Cell phone demo recordings series 1.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Ideology

Every group has an ideology, whether its represented unconsciously or consciously.  Each group consists of members that come from a certain socio-economic background, sometimes through a variety of sorts, sometimes not.  It mirrors the current societal movements and systems it corresponds.


I hereby declare:



DB is an entity

in which its members hold no loyalty to no particular state or country.  

He/She is a country of one, sometimes of many origins, sometimes not.  

We encompass ALL qualities of where we come from: Born, raised, nurtured, hardened, LIVED.

Home is a collage of landscapes and places.  Home is where the heart sleeps at night.  

It is a temporary rest stop,

a harbor, a train station, a motel, an oasis,

amidst the desert of one's mind.



If you feel displaced from the place where you come from, 

then this is the right place for you.


The SEA is our religion.


Our members seek beyond the unknown,

from the uncharted waters of your mind to the pyramid of your ego, ALL LANDSCAPES were meant to be remembered and forgotten, until they become a fractured image of multiple visions seen in various angles.  

It is then reassembled from the ashes, and glued back into one cohesive image.


A passport of collages.


The spirit of running horses.


The waves of the ever receding tides.


Your identification card in a folding hologram of multiple colors and dimensions, like a neon blazing through the night.


Beyond any border,


beyond any social economical or political background.



I am my own country.




Alex Zhang Hungtai

Shanghai, Feb 20th, 2014






奔馬般的思緒

萬碎過的意念

一生的奔忙

哪怕是一瞬間,海市蜃楼與否

至此

一襲明瞭。



孤獨國,在此成立


Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo








Tuesday, February 4, 2014

My heart was meant to be burnt into black coal

My heart was meant to be burnt into black coal.


Baptized by hellfire,


and contort like plastic,


deformed in water.



Let all the good bleed out of you,


until there is nothing left.


The gods will open that door


and answer upon your prayers,


for you were meant to be


born


and live this way.




A pure


black


entity

of freedom  


like


holding


hot


tar,


feeling it


melt away


your sense of grasp.


Until theres nothing left.




Then you will be free to do whatever the fuck you want.



Sunday, January 5, 2014

DB next Europe Chapter: LISBON

2 weeks in Treviso, Italy went by.  Usually, I'm scared of small towns because I always feel like theres some hidden ancient bad shit underneath the surface and I can somehow feel it.  And I also know small towns usually don't like outsiders like me.  But I have to thank my friend Vittorio for being a real pal, housing me and teaching me some very basic classical music exercises that have already helped spawn some early sketches for the next release.  Special thanks to Federico, Chiara, Elisa and the Demarin family.  Thank you all for all your hospitality.  I feel lucky to have friends in this part of the world that will lend out a helping hand when you are a stranger in a new town.  I've always hated transitions.  They feel like limbo, a never ending hell of some sort where all you can do is wait.  and wait.  and wait.  Like burying your head into some imaginary opponent who is twice as big as you, and you just lay it out on him the best you can, meanwhile not even fazing him, until you run out of breath and feel that impending doom of defeat and helplessness.  I'm incredibly impatient and waiting can sometimes really fuck me up.  Doubts start to surface.  Old blood and bad shit that lies beneath the surface.

Its now 5am, the sun is about to rise in Lisbon.  Upon arrival tonight at midnight, my friend Sergio picked me up from the airport, and we proceeded to the old town where ZDB is.  Natxo, originally from Barcelona has a beautiful house next to ZDB thats only 500 eu/month.  fucking amazing...
I took Natxo's advice and went to a neighborhood bar, the only one thats open late around here.  He said, "there, you won't find anyone there at this hour on a sunday, maybe the occasional journalists or some guy writing, drinking and smoking, yapping about politics and what not.  Go have a steak and treat yourself a drink.  You look like you could use one.  Go have a proper meal." I followed his directions and ended up there, a mysterious wooden door (locked) but looked obviously open as it was the only shop with lights on.  I rang the bell, an older Portugese man answers the door, I ask: "are you still open?" "Yes" he replies.  I sit down, looked over at the menu, ordered a steak with egg and fries and a glass of beer.  I'm happy as a pig in shit at this point, its cooked rare.  Then the waitress comes over, and asks me if I would like some dessert.  I asked her what it was and she replied "pudding, flan pudding"  I almost died. I ate it in 40 sec or so.  Smoked a cigarette, pounded my 2nd beer and paid my bill (20eu) and left a 2 euro tip.  I'm retracing some memories of walking here from my last two visits here playing at ZDB, but somehow this time I can feel the wind of the city, of the old walls speaking to me, the dim street lights and narrow alleys, completely empty.  I know on weekends this neighborhood is like a warzone full of drunk kids and foreigners but at this very moment, I can feel new life being breathed into me, reviving me from the fatigue of last year and showing me a path that will kick start this new year.  Not to mention its 15 degrees celsius outside.  I'm grinning.  This will be the perfect place for me to digest all that I saw and lived in Berlin, and counter all that craziness from last year's what seemed like at the time a never ending tour.  I worked myself and the boys to death.

A new chapter begins.  33, ready to take on the world.  Growth.  Spirits and shit.

Pacific boy

Jan 6th, 2014 - Lisbon