#5: Our first collaboration with Ancienne Belgique
What started as a simple promo collab quickly turned into something much bigger.
When Ancienne Belgique (AB) first approached us about promoting the show of Japanese fusion band Mitsune, we were excited to help spread the word and hand out a few free tickets. But soon after, they asked if we could also boost visibility for their Min’yo (Japanese folk music) workshop that same afternoon. And just when we thought that was it, they asked us to suggest a support act.
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What A Night
We knew immediately: this was a chance to bring an Asian artist to one of Belgium’s biggest stages. So we searched far and wide and found Baozi.
Baozi is 23-year-old French musician with roots in Hong Kong. She is a classically trained pianist turned fierce electronic producer. Her music is a fearless mix of introspection, edge, and emotional clarity: imagine Yaeji meets Billie Eilish with a Parisian underground twist. Her debut EP Overstepped explores transformation, vulnerability, and power through genre-bending sounds that demand to be felt.
Mitsune combines traditional Japanese folk with jazz, eastern blues, rock and dance beats, as well as wild, cinematic and psychedelic sounds. The heart and soul of their music is the tsugaru shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese lute, once the favourite instrument of itinerant blind musicians in yesteryear Japan.
Mitsune honours and modernises the shamisen tradition, bringing to life folkloric, personal and cultural narratives through this centuries old instrument. Led by two female shamisen players, complemented by percussion and bass, the Berlin-based foursome serves up modern folklore with rousing beats, raw emotion and decidedly decadent costumes.
From backstage laughs to Baozi and Mitsune lighting up the crowd with their energy, it was a night we’ll never forget. The AB team, the artists and even the audience brought nothing but warmth, love, and openness. It was especially fitting, since it was also Pride in Brussels.
We Need More Asian Music Talent
Baozi came from France, because we still don’t have enough Belgo-Asian musicians in our network and we know you're out there. That’s why we’re actively growing our Asian Talent Pool for future shows and collabs like this.
🎤 Are you a singer, rapper, instrumentalist or in a band?
Let us know, whether you’re just starting or have a full live set ready, we want to hear from you.
👉🏾 Sign up to our Asian talent pool
Let’s put more Asian artists on Belgian stages, together.
Photos by Joni Sheila
