FLORIAN MELINETTE

Since 2014, French-born, Hong Kong-based Florian Melinette has championed the region’s music scene through his agency, Fufu Creative. His music festival Shi Fu Miz, which he founded in 2016, brings independent artists and DJS from all over Asia to Hong Kong twice a year. “Our only job is to gather people to dance and enjoy music,” says Melinette.

With music festivals off the table last year, Melinette decided to release a series of compilation albums titled 88 Double Happiness, with 80 per cent of profits going to One Tree Planted to support reforestation in the region.

“The goal is to plant 800 trees with each album. We chose to name it Double Happiness because people get to enjoy new music while supporting a good cause,” he explains. “Even if we can’t do Shi Fu Miz this year, we want to push the Asian underground scene, as there are so many incredible artists who deserve to be heard.”

The album 88 Double Happiness: Volume 1 features an impressive line-up of indie artists, including Go Dam from South Korea, Luxixi from China and Dazzle Drums from Japan. Volume 2, set to be released on June 16, will feature Joi Lau from Hong Kong and Saint Guel from the Philippines.