&#91TRENDSETTER&#93‘We’re Cirque du Soleil on crack’

For someone who goes by the nickname Bunny, he has a lot of presence. On a recent Thursday night, Bunny takes over a leather seat at The View, a cafe inside the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel. Bunny’s blond dreadlocks are pulled back; his gaze is direct. Nearby, Monk, the other half of his crew, collectively called Rabbit in the Moon, and deejays Bad Boy Bill and Donald Glaude are wrapping up details. Downstairs, by the Kayagum Theater, Seoul’s young hipsters are starting to gather for the Electric Circus party.
No, this is a not a folk tale gone awry, but a party, organized by 02 Productions. Bunny’s role combines performance art and electronic music.
Rabbit in the Moon, originally from Florida, has been performing its live trance music show for 10 years. Last spring they were at Miami’s Ultra Beach, one of the hottest parties in the United States.
When deejaying, remixing the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Sarah McLachlan or performing live, Rabbit in the Moon sets the pace for parties. Actually, with their wild visual effects, costumes and virtual instruments, the two are the party.
For the past two years or so, Bunny and Monk have concentrated less on remixing and more on deejaying and their live show. Before leaving Seoul, Bunny spoke with the IHT-JoongAng Daily about Rabbit in the Moon, traveling and their next album.

Describe your show.
We’re Cirque du Soleil on crack. We’re a little more trippy than your normal gig. We have a crew of around 12 people. We usually have fire dancers, but not tonight.
The live show is the whole point of us, visually. It’s dark in parts. On stage, I’m dark. To me, performing is a way to take out frustrations.

What makes you frustrated?
Everyone has their demons. I’ve got lots of demons. But the good side’s winning now.

Your tour plan?
We did a live show at Ageha, a 3,000-capacity “super-club” in Shin Kiba, and another live show at the One Love Music Festival at Kagawa. After Korea, we’re deejaying at Velfarre in Roppongi. Next year, we’ll be at the Fuji Rock Festival.

What’s it like touring Asia?
In the States, it’s crazy how big things have gotten for us. Here, we’re starting over, in a way. Seeing people see us for the first time, it’s like being underground. The beauty of dance music is that you can pull it off anywhere. It’s the same as Germany or England, except that the crowds from different cultures respond differently.
Everyone wants to experience new cultures, see how the other half lives. I’ve learned a lot in one day. Here, it’s strange that you can only have friends who are the same age.

There was talk of shutting down Ultra Beach. What happened?
We were there with 40,000 other people. There’s too much money being made. But at the same time, fewer big parties are surviving in the United States.

What are some of your big markets outside the United States?
South America, Columbia, Brazil and Argentina are up-and-coming markets. In March, we’re possibly going to Indonesia. We had two offers from China, but they fell through. We’ve heard a lot of good things about Shanghai. We’re focusing more on the Asian market.

How did Rabbit in the Moon come together?
We started in 1993, in Tallahassee, Florida. Promoters saw us at that show. Before you knew it, we were playing Europe.

How long have you been doing this?
Since I was 18. I was hanging out at clubs and got up one day and started performing.

What can we expect from your new album?
It’s all original work. It’s more than dance music and a little bit of everything. In our show, we have electronic, house, progressive house, drum and bass. The pitfall of dance music is that people only do one thing. In the beginning, it wasn’t like that. Since DJs do that, people have started to segregate themselves, too.

Favorite club?
Depends on what year it is. Clubs open and close. Twilo was great. Sound Factory in New York is good. There are a lot of good clubs in South Beach, Miami, like Club Space.

So what’s your real name?
Just call me Bunny. Even my mom calls me Bunny.

by Joe Yong-hee