Some bands are so frivolous you can’t do a thing with them. Apart from just give them space and let them loose.

Juicy Ning is the hottest boy group around. They will tell you so themselves. And they are about to fill the gaping hole at the top of the Canto-pop music market. We have to believe them – it’s their reason for living.

“Boy bands like Sun Boyz, F4 or V6 are not good looking at all. We are so hot we can’t see why we cannot make a break in the market,” says guitarist Hong.

“Rain was so popular in Asia last year, but we have five Rains in the band,” adds White Paper who plays acoustic guitar. “He is fleshless but people still like him. We should be more popular because we are so fleshy.” Fat/chubby/muscular – or even “perfect” as Hong describes him – White Paper believes Juicy Ning will take planet pop by storm this year. “I am a star, man!” he shrieks.

Juicy Ning didn’t plan to form a band. It all started out with some random jamming on the back stairs of the Academy of Performing Arts by graduates Hong and White Paper. Hong’s brother, Him, joined occasionally, and they talked about putting a show together. But it wasn’t until White Paper signed to a trip to the UK with Chung Ying Theatre that they decided to get into action. Juicy Ning was born and drummer Lun and video artist Chris were coerced – if not shanghaied – into joining.

Ask the band what kind of music they play and you open yourself up to a barrage of ridicule – willfully they refuse to classify what they do. White Paper recalls when legendary DJ Uncle Ray aired their song Li Bai, he introduced it as “neo-cha-cha”. White Paper says the comment is ‘unexpected’. “People often ask us to classify our music style,” Him says, “but we want to try everything, even if it turns out to be bad.” And scowls at the idea of being stuck with a label. Actually the band has had countless meetings to define their music but could come to no conclusion. So, from now on, they will simply ‘define’ their style as JN.

And if they are to be believed (and why not?), a few international companies like Disney and Sony have already approached them. “If Yahoo signs us, everyone will need to add ‘jn’ when they check in for their emails,” Chris, in charge of the band’s photography and video production, says. But the monogram doesn’t mean they’re all style and no substance. JN will be a unique sound which, they are sure, everyone will follow. “Next year when you read Rolling Stone, Ricky Martin will be saying he has added a new element in his album – JN!” yells Hong. “And so will Celine Dion!”

So in anticipation, Juicy Ning recently modelled themselves on the Backstreet Boys, all come-hither dress and hot poses, for a photo shoot and music video for their latest ‘hit’, My Bone Hurts. To onlookers the video may recall Fahrenheit, Sun Boyz and F4 and in melody and arrangement the song appears as a romantic ballad, yet the lyrics are not those of a typical love song. Composer Him says the lyrics are about the pain one suffers in a high fever. The song is clearly a pop parody, which is confirmed when White Paper says context, not form, matters. “Genre is not a problem, we are concerned about the message of the songs. [Other bands’ efforts] are always serious love songs. So we tried to fit some hilarious lyrics into a ballad.”

And unlike boys from other bands who, hand-in-hand, say they will love each other forever, Juicy Ning musicians swear a mutual loathing of each other. “We think it should be a good selling point. The press will write about us because of our fights,” explains Him. Though the ploy hasn’t worked so far: “Not many papers write about us yet. But we will keep trying.”

Perhaps that’s also why they use those four-letter words… Isn’t it all enough to give the girls second thoughts, though? “Well, I can’t be too perfect. I need to make some mistakes so that people feel they can approach me,” confesses pop idol-wannabe White Paper. “It is actually very difficult for a perfect person to swear.”

All the band members are either currently studying at or have graduated from APA and, although Him took off as a social worker at first, all are now devoted to the art scene full time. “We try to share what we learnt about art in school with others,” Hong gets seriously about their mission
and vision.“Maybe next time Juicy Ning will stage a drama together.” Yes? We can’t wait. Can we?

Juicy Ning will perform at Art Stop (5/F, Bedford Road 95, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon) from March 29-April 1. Shows start at 8pm. Advance tickets are $120 and $160 at the door. Call 9478 6111 for enquiries.