As April draws to a close, RADII’s podcast guru and all-around audio production savant Wes Chen has dropped the eighth episode of the China From All Angles podcast, which features an interview with Tom Bray (better known as Tom Yeti) to get you over the finish line and into May.
If you know anything about Asia’s music scene, you are at least passingly familiar with Bray or his Yeti Out collective and subsidiary record label Silk Road Sounds, which he co-founded in 2010 and 2018, respectively.
Born in Hong Kong but currently based in the pulsing metropolis of Shanghai, Bray is a powerhouse of creative energy — part artist manager and live music promoter, part booking agent, part radio host and DJ. Bray’s impressive portfolio covers music curator roles and design projects alongside Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bottega Venetta, Soho House, and NikeLab, among numerous others — helping to cement his position as a talented multidisciplinary in the creative circles of Asia.
Tom Yeti. Image via @yetiout/Instagram
To help achieve the goal of elevating Asian sounds and artists, Bray’s Yeti Out crew hold residencies in Shanghai, Seoul, Bangkok, and Singapore.
Being among the limited number of Asian music collectives that hold residencies on Rinse F.M and NTS Radio, Yeti’s ‘Silk Road Sounds’ program promotes a sonic exchange between cultures from both sides of the Pacific. The label’s new releases break down the walls between grime, garage, house, and 4×4 frequencies to create novel global sounds.
In this episode of the China From All Angles podcast, man-on-the-mic Chen chats with Bray about Shanghai’s ongoing Omicron lockdown before diving into his personal background, the founding of Yeti Out, and how the UK’s music scene influenced him.
Bray additionally talks about his Chinese identity, the differences between clubs in the East versus the West, how overseas audiences receive Asian artists, and the different approaches of fashion brands entering China.
This episode offers a wealth of knowledge and insight to people interested in the ever-changing creative realms of fashion, art, and music and how Asian creatives are rising and thriving on the global stage.
‘China From All Angles’ is brought to you by East-West Bank, the premier financial bridge between the US and China. Listen to the new podcast’s first episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, SoundCloud, and 小宇宙.
Cover image designed by Haedi Yue
