Reggie Ba-Pe III

My guest today is Reggie Ba-Pe III, the founder of creative venture studio AWZA, and one of the great minds behind Shanghai’s nightlife scene in the mid to late-2010s.

Reggie is a Burmese-born Australian creative entrepreneur living in Melbourne with an incredible catalogue of entrepreneurial pursuits in Asia.

After a spontaneous decision to work in Shanghai as a music producer in 2006, Reggie saw an opportunity to bring a different type of music and nightlife culture to China’s youth. He kickstarted his 13-year stint in Shanghai with the groundbreaking promotion company STD and eventually gave birth to one of Shanghai’s legendary underground hotspots, Arkham.

Reggie’s Clout is about injecting diversity into Shanghai’s creative scene through music. He brought in underground music influences from Australia and elsewhere in the world and helped foster the evolution and identity of Shanghai’s youth culture.

We talk about Reggie’s personal creative inspirations, take a nostalgic walk back to 2015 Shanghai, and his advice on how Australian creatives should think about collaborating with and leveraging Asia today.

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Yangong • Rockhampton/Brisbane • Tokyo • Shanghai • Melbourne

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FOOD: Awzar - Burmese custard apple

MUSIC: Trent Reznor/NIN

MOVIE: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

PERSON: Björk