words tina lee

One of Hong Kong’s most eclectic bands declines to incubate its music in any single nest.

“We just wanted to be rock stars. We just wanted to play! Even if we didn’t play good, we just wanted to play,” remembers Joul, the front man and creator of Dr. Eggs, with a laugh. The time was the mid ’90s and the band was a collection of 16- and 17-year-old French natives who had found hardcore punk. They must have had something because they landed their first gig only two months after forming. But later, between 1997 and 2000, their sound transformed and Dr. Eggs became one of the many popular ska-reggae bands in France at the time.

It was exciting, Joul remembers, “We shared the limelight with some of France’s trendiest punk and ska outfits and toured extensively through Europe, even performing in 50 jails”. “It was scary. Especially scary the first time because we just had to forget about what those people had done before. Everybody makes mistakes and we just thought that everybody should have a second chance,” says Joul. And a chance for a brief escape through the music was exactly what some of the prisoners got. “It was more difficult than a normal show because they were not really there to smile but if you are able to make them happy for just a minute then it was the best feeling.”

Joul thrives on making an emotional impact through his music and, as he travelled from place to place, he invited different musicians to collaborate with him. The spontaneity of his current music was nurtured by that excitement of playing at random places with a constant variety of artists, experiencing the unexpected, including a venue ceiling collapsing during a
live session!

After three years on tour, Joul decided he didn’t want to be stereotyped by settling into repetitions of the same old music. “My mom was Italian and my dad French but I grew up in Thailand,” he says, pointing out the advantage of being culturally exposed to the twin beats of the East and the West. He wanted exploration, and, as the era of ska-punk faded, a radical change was needed. And radical it was. Not only did he completely change his style of music but he also moved to Hong Kong in an effort to conquer the Asian music scene. Why Hong Kong? Good memories of a childhood visit with his parents.

From there on it was like a scientific experiment, testing variations of sound and creating a solution of fusion and electro, incorporating a hint of his old punk rock vocals. He formed a whole new line-up with local musicians at the end of 2005, the new sound of Dr. Eggs – fresh, original, unpredictable. “I am free to do whatever I want with different kinds of music that I like and when people come to my shows they can enjoy different types of songs,” he says. “It is like being in a club.”

With the newly completed EP Chinese Democracy, his band is trying to reach a wide range of music lovers, while stressing the importance of the union of Chinese and Western cultures. “Everybody wishes for democracy,” he says, as a kind of excuse, but predicts that in 10 years, CDs will be something of the past with the current ballooning of people’s exposure to music on the internet. Yet in the meantime, imagine taking your eardrums for a ride, starting off with an edge of punk rock quickly shifting to the sounds of electronic drum’n’bass with rap-reggae vocals eventually leading to a traditional Chinese instrumental sound. Joul admits the EP is very musically diverse but mentions that Dr. Eggs has evolved into so much more than just artists creating a random compilation of stuff. “Dr. Eggs is a concept!” he states. So what is the concept? It is an ongoing transition and collaboration with artists from all over the globe to combine different cultures and sounds in a movement leading to a new blend of music. Mmm. Nobody said Joul and his band were not ambitious!

Dr. Eggs’ EP is available to download for free online at
www.dreggs-chinesedemocracy.com or find out more information about Dr. Eggs and the upcoming 2008 summer tour on the official website: http://dr.eggs.free.fr