Alex Zhang Hungtai is constantly in motion. The Taiwanese-born artist, who performs under the name Dirty Beaches, has said in interviews the idea of "home" doesn't mean much to him. He's lived in Taipei, Honolulu, Shanghai and Montreal, and is an avid traveler on top of that. This feeling of always being on the move is something Hungtai says comes across in his performances.
"I think it's important to always play what your heart feels," he says from his current home in Berlin. "If I feel like there's a sense of obligation, I might as well quit music and go back to kitchen jobs as a cook, or be a real-estate agent."
Appropriately, Hungtai talked to The Japan Times while in the process of moving into a temporary hotel before he embarks on a tour of Australia and Asia. He will play Astro Hall in Tokyo's Harajuku district on Feb. 18 and says he's excited to play his first show as Dirty Beaches in a country he's visited several times in the past.