Canadian hardcore band Comeback Kid bring their latest tour to Hong Kong on the 15 March at MOM Livehouse.
Formed in 2001 in Winnipeg, the band currently consists of vocalist Andrew Neufeld, guitarists Jeremy Hiebert and Stu Ross, bassist Chase Brenneman and drummer Loren Legare.
Comeback Kid’s mould-breaking second album Wake the Dead (2005) attracted fans across the globe and influenced a new generation of melodic hardcore groups. Their seventh studio album, Heavy Steps, was released in January 2022.
Ahead of their concert to promote their new EP Dust, bc magazine spoke to TYNT‘s Rothchild Wong about the band and their new music.
For those readers who don’t yet know TYNT (why not?), can you introduce the band? Hello! We are a 4 piece music group formed in 2018 and still going strong. Hanz sings beautifully, Bunny plays guitar as Ruff and Steven stroke, twiddle and caress our synthesizers.
Covid has been difficult for Hongkongers, as a band how frustrating has it been not to be able to play live? Being in a band and working in the music scene in general over the last three years has been incredibly frustrating, though it is just one of many industries that have been ruined by the pandemic and lockdown procedures.
While artists have been able to focus on creating their music for a while, the music infrastructure like venues and promoters is still struggling with restrictions. Bigger venues like Macpherson, EMAX and West Kowloon are now able to host covid restricted concerts, but smaller music venues have long been out of work and business since 2020.
As a band, it is definitely frustrating that playing a show is so difficult these days, but in the grand scheme of things we are just one small piece of the whole puzzle.
How did the new EP Dust come about? Why Dust? Dust came about as a natural progression from our first album Symbol (2020). We had a few of these songs down a long time ago even before we completed Symbol, but the entire process got delayed multiple times these past years.
We thought that while these tracks sound like a new direction for us, we also see that the 5 tracks have a lot of our older identity, so we want to release them as an EP; a sort of transition before our next evolved form during the next album.
We came up with the title, because Dust seems to reflect the fleeting nature of time, and is always what is left at the end of the day. We thought this sentiment would fit this EP, which signifies a stage of development for us.
Talk us through the five tracks and the inspiration behind the songs? While our songs are usually developed after a spontaneous process of trial and experimentation, we do retrospectively look back at the work and find some references and inspiration to further complete the picture.
While not specifically referencing any artist in any certain song, we have been exploring more electronic/synth-based tonalities similar to those used by artists like Caribou and Baths.
Dust is a lot less dark/depressing/post-rock compared to Symbol, but it does have some dark and moody elements in Dogeyes and Hurtlocker. While Dai Mond and Freak are tracks where we have begun to experiment and incorporate other elements.
Where can readers buy Dust? Digital copies will be on sale at our TYNT bandcamp page. When the physical copies are ready, they will be available to purchase at most of HK main independent record stores.
Follow our instagram and facebook pages to find out more!
What next for Tynt? Hopefully after the show, we will have some time to work on our new songs. We will have a slot at the Tone Music Festival in October, but looking forward to playing more shows when things hopefully begin to open up even more!
Music and lyrics by John Laudon
Backing vocals by Michael Luk and Renee Chan
Video edited by [email protected]
People mountain, people sea
soaring towers and crowded streets
from the harbour to the mountain peaks
This is a city truly unique
I have lived here since eighty-five
through the sunshine, and through hard times
but it holds me, like a love that’s torn
that will stand strong through every storm
Chorus:
I’ve climbed the mountains
I’ve walked these streets
this town this village that never sleeps
So many faces both young and old
This fragrant harbour
this is my home
This is a city that’s a sea of lights
it still shines on through the darkest night
just like a candle an eternal flame
I know this city has called my name
Chorus:
I’ve climbed the mountains
I’ve walked these streets
this town this village that never sleeps
So many faces both young and old
This fragrant harbour
this is my home
Bridge: We’re filled with hopes and dreams
to live our lives in joy and peace
I will stay here I will not go
Because I’m proud to call this place my home
This is my home
Chorus:
I’ve climbed the mountains
I’ve walked these streets
this town this village that never sleeps
So many faces both young and old
This fragrant harbour
this is my home
through the good times, and through the pain,
through the sunshine and through the rain
this is the home where we belong
And I have faith we will stand strong
Yes I have faith in my Hong Kong
The Wanch Reopens… Or rather a new incarnation of The Wanch, which sadly due to current covid restrictions is without live music – just food and drinks.
The new larger location is the old Uptown 90, on the corner opposite Joe Bananas and the entrance is next to Amazonia with their popular cover bands.
When live music eventually returns will the ‘new’ Wanch be able to step beyond the legacies and memories of the old location and boldly go where no large-sized original live music venue has gone before…
Singaporean artist Ming Poon, aka Ming Apur, likes as he puts it to use choreography as a “tool to interrogate, disrupt and re-organise the social and political relationality of the body in time and space.”
Poon’s latest work is Project June 4th a 24-hour online commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that looks to use dance to speak out against state censorship of peaceful dissent, criticism and the erasure and rewriting of history. For as Poon says “Once we forget, history repeats itself and the oppressors become emboldened”.
On 4 June 1989 the peaceful mass student protests in Tiananmen Square were ended by military force. Although more than 30 years have passed, the Chinese government still suppresses any mention or acknowledgement of the incident.
On 5 June a single man stood against a column of tanks… Project 4th June commemorates those who were murdered, the movement and choreography of Tank Man represents as Poon puts it “the potential that lies within ordinary persons to stop the machines of violence and oppression. It is also a call-out to stand up against injustice, no matter how small we think we are and how insurmountable we think the task is.”
6 dancers will take turns performing Tank Man throughout the 24-hour commemoration. Each will attempt to interpret the choreography in a way that expresses their individual thoughts and relationship to the Tiananmen Square incident, state censorship and the fight for human rights and democracy.
The 6 dancers are:
1. Pink Tank: “Watch out, the world is not behind you.”
2. Tank Ghost: “Of Ghosts and Shells”
3. Tank Zheng: “No Tank On Rainbow”
4. Tank Sexy: “The Days Without Cigarettes / 沒有煙抽的日子“
5. Tank Plant: “Planting the Reality”
6. Tank Critique Critique: “Which Tanks Do You Need To Stand In Front Of?”
If you want to watch, join or participate (see the video above for the choreography) in the commemoration Poon has an event etiquette to help make it safe for everyone. Keep your identity, as well as others’ anonymous!
If you turn on your camera during the commemoration, put on a mask before doing so. Also, make sure that your background does not reveal any personal information, ideally sit with a blank wall as your background.
Microphones will be turned OFF by default throughout the commemoration, to avoid voice detection.
Before entering the commemoration room, replace your display name with an alias. Your alias should be written in the following manner: Tank ___ (e.g., Tank Person, Tank ABC, Tank 123, etc,). Do not include any personal information in it.
Project June 4th
Date: 4 June, 2022 ( Venue: live stream on Zoom and Youtube Tickets: Free More info: www.mingapur.com
live stream on Zoom and Youtube
The final concert of David Bowie‘s Serious Moonlight Tour was in Hong Kong at the HK Coliseum on 8 December 1983. It was also, sadly, the third anniversary of John Lennon’s murder and after performing Fame Bowie and spoke to the audience about Lennon.
“I co-wrote that song with John Lennon.And I asked him one day ‘How do you write your songs’, and he said ‘lt’s easy, you just say what you mean, and you put a back-beat to it’.
I said ‘What do you think of my kind of rock & roll’. He said ‘It’s great, but it’s just rock & roll with lipstick on’”.
Bowie pauses for a moment, as the audience cry out, “Last time I saw John Lennon was in Hong Kong, we went to a Hong Kong market and there was a stall that sold old clothes, and there was a Beatles jacket on the stall, and I did something that is not usually in my character – I asked him to put it on so that I could take a photograph, I took a photograph, and I’ve still got the photograph. The jacket doesn’t fit properly, it looks like John had outgrown it”.
Bowie then performs a beautiful version of Imagine in honour of his late friend. An upgraded 4K version of this iconic performance has been uploaded to Youtube – enjoy.
