Five Favourites
Megan Sterling, Principal Flute of the HK Philharmonic Orchestra

What is your favourite classical music piece of all time?
Too many to choose from! I love composers such as Mozart, Richard Strauss, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Debussy... But one of the most astounding and awe-inspiring pieces ever written has to be the Bach Chaconne for solo violin, from the Partita in D minor. It makes me cry every time I listen to it.

Who is your favourite pop artist?
Stevie Wonder! He has such a natural sense of phrasing, a powerful musical personality and a voice that is truly unique.

What is your favourite city in the world?
Melbourne. Beautiful parks, clean air, great food, lovely people, and it’s near the water.‑Not so different to Hong Kong in many ways, apart from the clean air!

What is your favourite book of all time?
Very difficult to name only one! But Life of Pi by Yann Martel is very special – a kind of modern fable.

What is your favourite film of all time?
Delicatessen, by French film directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. And it’s impossible not to include the classic musicals, Singin’ In The Rain and My Fair Lady.

Symphonic Magic, a show combining magic and classical music, returns by popular demand with four extra shows. Megan Sterling will play along with conductor Henry Shek, presenter Harry Wong and dancer Wong Tak Kei on April 4 at Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium. Two shows will start at 3pm and 8pm respectively. On March 28 and 29, the show will feature soprano Ricel Guiman at Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium. Shows start at 8pm. Tickets are $180, $140, $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Dancing Shark
Formed in late 2004 and debuting on stage in May 2005, dance-rock four-piece Queen Sea Big Shark soon became one of the hottest bands in Beijing. Band members are Fu-Han on vocals, guitar and synthesizer, Cao-Pu on guitar, bass and backing vocals, bassist Wang-Jinghan and drummer Xiao-Wu. Personally they remind me of Chicks on Speed. Here are a few things you need to know before they hit Hong Kong according to lead singer Fu-Han:-

What Queen Sea Big Shark means...
“We were walking around Hou Hai (an area in Beijing) one day and we saw a metal plate with, “Who dares to move my stuff, they are our grandchildren – we are the big shark of Hou Hai” written in chalk on it by the riverside. I liked the name a lot, it is just like our music – hilarious and fierce, so we used it as our band name. We were actually embarrassed to tell the audience the name of the band at the beginning. When people heard it they just laughed, but I guess it brought us good luck. Later the name was translated as ‘Queen Sea Big Shark’ and we liked it a lot too, it is grand and fearful.”

They play dance-rock.
“Dance Rock is our motto. Our goal is to make some powerful and amazing music that people can dance to. I like playful music, but that doesn’t mean the content has to be light and easy. You can dance to Joy Division too, but their content isn’t light at all.”

Their stunning visuals and images; Fu Han’s mirrored dress.
“I did the design of the album’s sleeve. I wanted to create a ‘glow-in-the-dark’ feeling. Skeletons, roses and pistols are not commonly used in designing rock albums anymore, but we just like this old-school style. It is purely rock music, powerful and evil.”

Influence of Hong Kong Cantopop.
“We love the early Cantopop music. We learned to sing a lot of Cantonese songs when we were kids. I especially like the Tatming Pair, Prudence Lau and Roman Tam. We cover Lau’s The Last Song in our shows. We love 1980s Cantopop music, it still sounds so fresh and trendy today, and is more real and moving than a lot of so-called ‘Chinese rock’ music.”

They have supported Maximo Park, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Mando Diao.
“They are very nice people and we learnt a lot from them! Especially YYY – we could watch our favourite band close up! I still remember the show as if it was just yesterday – I would say it was more like a drama than a concert.”

Bassist Wang-Jinghan is often being described as a ‘Harry Potter, John Lennon and Woody Allen look-alike’.
“The girls he meets say that actually. He looks the best among us, it is just that he doesn’t like dressing up. I guess he doesn’t like people saying that, as he has his own style, but he really looks like those three people.”

Crazy Young Master presents Beijing Explosion 3 – Queen Sea Big Shark on April 4 at the Fringe Club. The show starts at 10:30pm. Tickets cost $180 (with one standard drink) from the Fringe Club, Zoo Records (Shop B31, Sino Centre, 582-592 Nathan Road) and White Noise (1/F, 4 Canal Road East, CWB). If you want to grab a free pair of tickets, check out our Competitions section now!

Eastern Promises
Thinking the Hong Kong music scene is going downhill and eager to provide wider choices for music-lovers in Hong Kong, Kubert Leung launched Orange Melody (www.orangemelody.com) at the beginning of the year. Music from the Mainland plays a heavy part in the content so, as his OM East Wind Music Gig approaches, Leung tells us what he thinks about the indie music scene across the border.

“A lot of youngsters actually leave their hometowns and move to Beijing to play music,” Leung says. “They are very determined to make music their life and that is a very different mentality from people in Hong Kong. To many, music is something we play in our free time and once we go home, we can just sit down and enjoy some of mum’s cooking.” Leung found a lot of interesting music in Mainland China during his time working there and he is keen to introduce his discoveries to readers back home – which is one of the reasons the OM web site.

Singer-songwriter and producer Chang Ya Yung, and Beijing pop-rock band Sober, who recently released their latest album Tomorrow’s Glory are invited to the gig. Hong Kong rock heroes Paul Wong, Wong Ka Keung and Yip Sai Wing will also be guests, but whether they will play together to satisfy all Beyond’s fans is uncertain. Also watch out for local bands Climax, Purple Nine, Kolor, Headhunter and Hardpack.

OM East Wind Music Gig will kick off at Club PP (Unit 3-5, UG2 Floor, Chinachem Golden Plaza, 77 Mody Road, TST East) on April 2 at 8pm. It is a private party – but we have five pairs of tickets for all you rock sirens. Check out our Competitions section now!

Jay Chou in Macau
Jay Chou played the HK Coliseum last December but if you weren’t able to catch any of the shows that were part of the Hong Kong leg of the Jay Chou World Tour 07-08, perhaps the thing to do is to head over to Macau to catch the Mandopop megastar in concert at The Venetian Arena on Saturday, April 5. Showtime is 8pm and, at the time of writing, the Macau leg of his world tour is a one night only event. So fans of the singer-songwriter-producer-
director-actor-etc. make haste to ensure that you get hold of at least one of the tickets whose price ranges from HK$ or MOP$1200 to $280 and can be bought by way of a dedicated HK Ticketing Hotline, 3568 5685, or online at www.macauticket.com

Know Your Peabody
After more than a decade of making music and changing the band’s line-up a few times, Australian four-piece Peabody is hitting the stage in Hong Kong with their skewed post-punk sound. Vocalist and bassist Ben Chamie tells us what he thinks about the Fragrant Harbour’s traffic and why the band got run out of town during a performance...

Its been 12 years since the band was formed – the high and low points so far?
A band’s lifetime is a series of ups and downs. Firstly, the ups: putting out our last two albums Professional Againster and The New Violence have been highlights. Hearing our own songs on the radio and playing gigs with some of our favourite bands, such as Iggy and The Stooges, You Am I and the Flaming Lips, at some of the large music festivals in Australia, like the Big Day Out and Homebake, also have been definite highlights. On the other hand there are the lows… it takes 10 to 12 hours driving from Sydney to Melbourne, that’s not so great. Doing that drive with a hangover is worse.

Hong Kong is a part of your Asian tour – where do you look forward to playing the most?
I’ve never been to Vietnam before and we’re looking forward to being the first Australian band to play there. I know an Australian band called Regurgitator have played in Hong Kong – they played at a party in my living room too! So Hong Kong and my living room have something in common, though I think the traffic is worse in Hong Kong. I’m looking forward to taking the boys in my band for dim sum and out on the Fragrant Harbour!

What was the band’s best and craziest gig like?
I think the best gig was when we played at the Homebake festival, which features all Australian music, a few years ago. We played a cover of The Saints’ classic song Know Your Product and the singer from The Saints was there in the 1,000-strong crowd, nodding along with the song. We trashed the stage after finishing the set and the police had to break up the crowd because it was too out of control. The craziest gig was out in a desert town west of Adelaide called Whyalla; we were supporting a band called Hoodoo Gurus and their crowd didn’t like us because we were too punk sounding and they ran us out of town… scary!

To many, Australian music equals Savage Garden and Kylie Minogue. What do you have to say about that?
The pop music that Australia produces is like pop produced anywhere in the world – pretty bland, though most Australians won’t hear a bad word said about our Kylie. But I would argue that some truly amazing Australian music is to be found if you are prepared to dig a little deeper, music that conveys Australia’s dark and desolate soul. Check out Nick Cave, Dirty Three, The Saints, You Am I, The Triffids, Frenzal Rhomb, Go-Betweens, Rocket Science…

Other members of Peabody are drummer Jared Harrison, guitarist Tristan Courtney-Prior and Bruno Brayovic on vocals and guitar. The band will play on April 9 at The Cavern with support bands The David Bowie Knives and slash!SAKURA!slash! with motion fades. The show starts at 8pm and tickets cost $100 (includes a bottle of beer).

Birthday Bling
Still thinking diamonds are a girl’s best friend? That may be so, but at the World Wide Bape Heads Live Show 2008 In Hong Kong you will find that diamonds (and other jewellery) can be a boy’s best friend too. Music-wise, the event will be as shiny as the costumes with multi-Grammy winner Kanye West, Nigo, the mastermind of Bathing Ape, N.E.R.D. with Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo from The Neptunes and J-hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz sharing the stage in a celebration of the 15th anniversary of A Bathing Ape on April 10 at HITEC STAR HALL. The show starts at 7:15pm and tickets are $1,180; $880; $580 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Soul Messenger
Singer-songwriter Khalil Fong has been beaming out messages from day one – his debut album, Soul Boy, was about the unity of mankind and the follow-up, This Love, was a fable on different kinds of love. The latest, Wonderland, is also an album on love – and environmental protection. He talks of the earth and his religion, the Bahá’í faith.

Love and environmental protection is a main theme in your new album. Where did the concept come from?
I think there is a lot in common between the two. If two people don’t cherish and respect the love they have for each other, it will die out eventually. It is the same with the earth – if humankind doesn’t protect it and take care of it, it will die out even without us noticing.

It’s a deep theme. How do you think an artist can convey issues like this?
I think artists need to stand for their convictions through their music. We often hear about environmental protection on TV or radio, but often we just forget about it as we think it is some kind of grand concept. I don’t talk about the environment directly in my songs. For example, Warm is a song about global warming, but I use another angle – I think wintertime is very romantic but it is often reported that our winters in the future may be as hot as summers because of global warming… throughout the album there are hints like that.

Is there any artist that you think has done a great job in spreading their message?
Stevie Wonder. A lot of his albums are about various social issues, things he perceives about the world… I think it is an artist’s responsibility to communicate with the masses in this way. We not only need to do what we love, we also need to contribute to the world a little.

You have also put a quote of Shoghi Effendi, a guardian of the Bahá’í faith, on your album’s sleeve.
Actually I am a follower of the Bahá’í faith, and that’s why I put a quote from its teaching in every one of my albums. Usually it is related to the concept of the album. Actually a lot of my ideas and thinking came from the faith’s teaching, so I wanted to express that through my music too.

I am curious – how did you get into the Bahá’í faith?
My dad is a Bahá’í and my mum became a follower after marrying him, so I got to learn a lot about it when I was a kid. One of the main philosophies of it is the independent investigation of truth, and it is one’s own decision whether to believe it or not. And I decided to become a Bahá’í myself when I was 15.

Khalil Fong’s Wonderland Live: 8pm March 30 and 31 at HITEC Star Hall. Tickets are $380, $280 and $180 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.