电子舞曲、蝴蝶、奶油蛋糕和孤独症谱系障碍
Electronic Music, Butterflies, Cream Cakes, and ASD

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我将叙述一些电子舞曲 、蝴蝶、奶油蛋糕和ASD（孤独症谱系障碍）之间的联系。

第一次接触电子音乐派对是在两年前的夏天晚上，在产生了某些感受之后——我在当地俱乐部睡觉，作品叫做《睡觉的baby》，因为在club会感到无法言说的安全和幸福让我安心到睡着，也想表达一些整合的思想。

Johannes Eurich（尤里克），德国海德堡大学 （University of Heidelberg）应用神学（Practical Theology）教授的2003研究论文《流行音乐与宗教的社会性和仪式性类似》以宗教社会学的视角对西方年轻群体流行音乐文化中的“类宗教”现象展开研究。

Eurich对年轻人在摇滚乐和电子流行音乐中获得的一种类似于宗教性的体验进行了描述， 以电子流行音乐( " techno music " )的仪式性这一实例，分析并且揭示了这种具有高音量和强烈节奏感的群体性音乐对现场参与者的感知系统的影响和作用。结论中指出，流行音乐对于年轻群体的重要性在于它是人们寻找意识及认同的一种方式。但它不能起到传统宗教仪式的社会功能——宗教借助象征符号体系来向人们解释欢乐 、忧伤、希望和恐惧，它带给人们一种超越日常经验的体验；而摇滚乐则只是通过音乐直接将人们带入忘我的境界。不过我不是这么想的。  

当下国内环境里俱乐部文化、电子舞曲、独立音乐都是与社会紧紧关联着的，活跃在2000 年上海地下场景的作家棉棉说过“每个中国人在胎盘里就流淌着underground的血液“，中国需要地下场景，因为一切需要在一种平衡之中，地下与独立音乐维持着社会的平衡和稳定。

所盼望的景象是可以触及更多人，社会中的人，不同年龄、文化群体的人，当音乐可以回归音乐精神本身，融入心和生活时，限制被突破，音乐可以不再显得割裂，艺术和文化总是可以反作用于当下社会。

在自己的DJ学习中，有时会把音乐比喻成甜甜的蛋糕，蛋糕是甜的，让烂的生活变得甜，等到蛋糕足够甜，甜的感觉可以像蝴蝶一样飞起来。所谓独立是一种精神，就像恋爱，是独立的个体，但我们还是在相爱，在独立中依赖和爱，就像我是需要你的。

如今中国的独立音乐生态有时会笼罩着西方文化的话语权影响，他们的精神文化和硬件设备，容易造成国内音乐人身份的迷失和文化不自信。例如中国电子音乐内有所谓“土嗨音乐” 的说法，指一些商业酒吧播放的中国音乐舞曲，这本质上是反映了一种缺乏信心。音乐不应该迷失在这样的准则里，也不应当只是一种氛围和感受，它往往非常生动和自然，就是长在我们的生活里，只有这样才是生命力和发展的，文化和艺术也是包容和具备关怀内心的。对于社会中只能接触商业酒吧的人们来说， “土嗨音乐”里的舞蹈和心情、迷失也同样是真实的，他们同样也是在表达和反抗。

另外一方面，由于我之前的工作经历是在一家自闭症疗愈机构做编辑，了解到相关专业知识，患者往往是对重复的事物有依赖的心理，这让我联想到 2020年做的睡觉行为和电子舞曲重复节拍，思考其中是否存在某种关联。查阅到国外自闭症谱系音乐人Ne10的相关文章，Ne10作为一名自闭症谱系障碍，正在用电子音乐表达自闭症患者内心的世界，让更多的人了解。不难联想到， DJ群体中也许还会有更多的ASD患者，其实很多隐匿在社会中的人都有可能身在谱系障碍之中，而且往往具备一些敏感的艺术天赋。因此我也幻想着电子音乐的功能嬗变，不仅仅是活跃在地下俱乐部里的蝴蝶，还可以飞到更多的文化里、或者疗愈机构里。

我现在在自己练习DJ，和朋友运营电子音乐厂牌，默默关心中国各地的俱乐部文化发展。 前几个月去了奉贤区的工厂工作，想感受一些真实的中国工业、中国噪音和实验。 每天活在庞大的机器声响中，锻炼一些工业品质。切实地经历了工人的生活和感受，因此希望有机会可以放一些甜的或者不甜的音乐和写一些乐评表达。然后音乐可以飞，在城市里飞来⻜去，再飞出城市，飞到郊区，也可以飞到中国外，更多的人可以感受到；音乐是一种神。

I'd like to talk about some connections between electronic dance music, butterflies, cream cake, and ASD (autism spectrum disorder).

The first time I experienced an electronic music party was on a summer night two years ago. The emotions I felt at the party inspired me to created a performance art piece -- sleeping at a local club. the piece was called "Sleeping Baby", because at the club, I could feel an ineffable sense of safety and happiness that helped me fall asleep comfortably. I also wanted to cohesively express some disparate ideas I've been ruminating on.

"Sociological Aspects and Ritual Similarities in the Relationship between Pop Music and Religion", a 2003 paper by University of Heidelberg practical theology professor Johannes Eurich, investigates the phenomenon of quasi-religious behaviours within Western youth music subcultures from a lens of someone studying the sociology of religion. Eurich describes the quasi-religious experiences felt by young people in rock and electronic music circles. By studying techno music events, he analyzed and described the effect a collective experience of the music's high volume and repetitive rhythms had on the perceptual system of concert attendees. His conclusion was that while popular music is an important avenue for the development of social awareness and identity formation in youths, it lacks the social functions found in traditional religious rituals. "It is fundamental for a religion to provide resources of symbols which help to express bordering experiences like happiness and sorrow, hope and fear… [but in popular music], what is sought is changing of the state of mind by the musically aroused intoxication." However, I disagree.

Underground club culture, electronic dance music, and independent music scene is closely tied to society in today's China. As Mian Mian, an underground writer active in Shanghai's underground scene in 2000, once penned, "every Chinese person had the blood of the underground flowing through their placenta." China needs an underground scene, because everything requires balance, and underground and independent music maintain the balance and stability of a society.

The ideal scene we are striving towards is one that can reach more people, people in society of various ages and cultural backgrounds, where music can return to its original essence, integrate into our hearts and lives, where restrictions are broken, where music scenes are no longer fragmented, where art and culture can react to current society.

In my own time studying DJing, music is sometimes likened to cakes. The sweetness of cakes can turn a rotten existence into something sweet. When a cake is sweet enough, the taste of sweetness can feel like the flight of a butterfly. What we call independence is but a spirit. Similar to when we're in love, while we are our own individual being, we still love each other, relying on each other and loving independently, just like I need you.

The independent music scene in today's China is sometimes enveloped by the influence of Western cultural discourse. Their spiritual culture and established infrastructure can easily lead to a loss of identity and to feelings of cultural insecurity in domestic musicians. Take for example the term "tuhai music" (loosely translated to unrefined party music) in Chinese electronic music circles, a pejorative term for Chinese electronic music played at commercial clubs. In essence, this reflects a lack of confidence. Music shouldn't be lost in these guidelines, and music shouldn't just be seen as a merely a vibe. Often times, it can be life-like and natural, as if it was growing in our lives - this is the only way music can have vitality and development, when culture and art is also inclusive and caring. For those in our society who have only experienced commercial clubs, there is a realness to the dances, the moods, and sense of loss in "tuhai music" - to them, they are also expressing and resisting.

Approaching from another angle, owing to my experiences working as an editor at an autism support organization, I learnt that people with autism are often psychologically attached to repetition (stimming). This reminded me of my performance art piece where I slept at the club and the repetitive rhythms of electronic dance music, prompting me to investigate whether there were some connections. I came across an article about a musical artist, Ne10, on the autism spectrum. As a musician on the autism spectrum, Ne10 uses electronic music to express the inner world of someone living with autism, to help more people understand. It's not hard to extrapolate that within DJ circles, there may be many on the spectrum. Indeed in society, many people live with autism unbeknownst to themselves and those around them, and often have sensitive artistic proclivities. Therefore, I also imagine the transmutation in the function of electronic music -- a butterfly that's not only active in underground clubs, but able to fly into more cultures and healing institutions.

Currently, I practice DJing on my own and run an electronic music label with friends, all while quietly doting on the development of club culture across China. A few months back, I went to work at a factory in Fengxian District. I wanted to experience some real Chinese industrial, Chinese noise and experimental. I lived everyday amidst the sound of huge machines, working on industrial quality. Having actually experienced the life and feelings of industrial workers, I now want to have the opportunity to play some sweet or not so sweet music and write some music reviews. And music can fly. Flying around in the city, flying outside the city, flying to the suburbs, flying outside of China, so more people can experience it. Music is a kind of god.