On friendship and transience – between Fuji, Unsound and Making Time

It is 12 September 2025 and I am dancing. It is not just sweat running down my forehead and elsewhere during DJ Sprinkles’ (Terre Thaemlitz) four-hour set, it is also tears of joy. After months that felt like years, I trust my legs again to carry me through the night – or at least through four hours like this one at the Socore Factory Club in Osaka. I’ve written about it elsewhere on kaput, and I’ll leave it at that for today. Just this much: we always take it for granted that we can move around and share social spaces with others, but it’s a gift that cannot be appreciated enough.

I have been fortunate enough to have experienced two handfuls of sets by Terre Thaemlitz in my life, including four Sprinkles sets. But the one that night, as part of the Unsound Festival, will remain in my memory forever, second by second. A single great wave of joy. At this point, I would like to salute the club operator, whose exuberant euphoria should be the benchmark for everyone involved in nightlife.

Rewind. October 2022. Unsound Festival in Krakow. To my shame, I must admit that this was my first ever trip to Poland and therefore also my first Unsound. For years, it ran parallel to CMJ in New York, then I ran out of excuses – but this autumn, I travelled to Krakow with my friend Oli Isaacs. To cut a long story short: it was a fantastic weekend full of memorable encounters and equally memorable performances; naturally, I documented it in detail for kaput.

» read more