Eternal Bliss
words john lok, kevin mao

Imagine this – a barn on a hill, the wide doors open, framing fields, hills and a rising sun. All is quiet apart from a distant mooing cow. Then suddenly, ambient rock/battlefield music rings from its gaping maw, the sound startling the sleepy countryside into wakefulness. And now you have Yndi Halda on your mind. “We are rural young men,” says James Vella, guitarist with the band. It could be difficult to visualize some of our metropolitan bands putting up with the insects, hay and unconditioned air. But a barn is musical home for these five musicians who have managed to make something as mundane as instrumental music could be into a completely new genre with a combination of contemporary and classical instruments.

The band formed six years ago in the small English city of Canterbury. “A place where most people haven’t travelled outside of where they live,” says James. And then, distancing himself from such parochialism, he adds, “It’s exciting being in a band because you get to go to a lot of cool places you wouldn’t otherwise go to.” Though the band has hardly had a chance to become world weary – their concerts in Hong Kong and Beijing will be its first excursion outside of Europe.

Apart from James, the band is percussionist Jack Lambert, guitarist Brendan Grieve, Daniel Neal who plays the violin, and Oliver Newton, a dab hand on the drums. They all met in their teenage years and have stayed together since – no mean feat in a music world where bands form and reform as easily as milk becomes custard. At first the band found no label was much interested in signing them, so to fill in time they ventured into the business of self-production – of album covers. For other bands. “We only made a couple at first but then it really began to take off,” laughs James. “There was a time where there was a 10-month waiting list, and we couldn’t get out [of the studio] for making covers.”

But in due course, Yndi Halda perked the interest of labels like Big Scary Monsters, Burnt Toast Vinyl and XTAL – names as eccentric as the band’s own – and the group started performing outside their hometown. And James tells a particularly amusing anecdote of a trip to play a concert in Liverpool. On the way, the band’s truck carrying, of course, all their equipment broke down. Time, as is usual in such situations, was short. “We only had one car and five people to fit in it – we couldn’t have got any of our backup equipment in,” remembers the guitarist. So began a race against the clock to get to a music shop to buy a whole new set of equipment. “I went a few thousand over my credit limit – still paying it back today,” James says with a chuckle. That’s called commitment to your fans.

Then, going back to weird sounding labels, where did that band name come from? It means ‘Enjoy Eternal Bliss’ (which is the moniker of their debut album) and Yndi Halda is the language of the Edda, a 13th-century collection of mythological Norse poetry.
13th-century Norse poetry? Are you serious? Yes, and that is the clue that yields a key to the band’s music. Yndi Halda are literature and film people who compose with movies on their minds – like Amelie and On the Road. And that is why James must admit, “We’re working towards composing a soundtrack.” Of course – listen to Dash and Blast or We Flood Empty Plains and it is easy to see where the band is going.

So, don’t be surprised if someone – Martin Scorsese, are you listening? – decides to make a film about Baldr, heroic Edda god of innocence, beauty and peace, and Yndi Halda become famous for the soundtrack. But no need to wait, hear them before that – be at the IMNet Music Centre at 7pm on July 26. Tickets are $250 [advance], $300 at the door. Get your advance tickets at Kubrick-bc, Phone 2384 8929 or White Noise Records, Phone 2591 0499.

Legendary Cure
Legendary post-punk/alternative rock band The Cure sure have come a long way since they were known as Easy Cure between ’76 and ’78. We’re not only talking some 12 studio, 10 compilation and five live albums but also an estimated 34 million records sold – and who knows how many live concerts performed – the world over as of 2007. So some might consider it high time Hong Kong will finally be treated to A Night with the Cure. Have you got your tickets for the July 30 concert scheduled for 8pm at the AsiaWorld-Arena? If not, note they still are to be had for $780, $580 and $380 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.