Axeman- Randall Hall

He was part of Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1987 to 1994, appeared on three albums, toured with them throughout Japan, the US and Europe, and co-wrote songs like Outta Hell In My Dodge. It was the fastest, most enjoyable and relaxed 50 minutes I’ve ever spent interviewing someone. I was talking to Randall Hall (he of the bushy beard and flowing locks) of the supergroup World Classic Rockers.

On Jimi Hendrix:
HALL: I went to see – as a teenager – The Monkees. Jimi Hendrix opened the show and I didn’t even know who he was. And when I saw him, that was it, I knew what I wanted to do.

On Allen Collins naming him as his successor for Lynyrd Skynyrd:
HALL: I met him when I was 17, and he always loved my playing, respected me, and helped me in the early days of LS before I joined them. They were instrumental in helping me get going. The late Ronnie Van Zant helped me get started by setting me up with showcases and auditions, so Allen Collins was adamant about me taking his place when he was incapacitated by his car wreck.

On fans:
HALL: They bring anything [to sign] they can get their hands on. If they didn’t bring an album cover it was whatever they had in their pockets – even a $50 bill. And I go, ‘Man, don’t you wanna spend that?’ [Laughs.] I can tell you one thing that I felt really good about signing… We went to Birmingham, Alabama, where LS was going before the plane crashed. In Birmingham we honoured those tickets from back in ’77. They brought them to us and we signed them. It was a very bittersweet thing. But the music we were carrying on and the legacy of it, from the ’80s to the ’90’s… for them to still have those tickets from ’77 was amazing.

On his personal music collection:
HALL: People ask me about my favourite artists and I’ll go ‘Look, don’t think that I just go home and listen to Southern rock. I mean, I go from Merle Haggard to Hendrix, Billie Holiday to Steely Dan, I listen to everything. A good musician likes and listens to all styles.

On the new band fitting together:
HALL: Everybody’s got an open mind, and obviously everyone knows everyone else’s band, everyone’s respectful of each other. I used to love listening to Steppenwolf, and then Journey in the 80’s – Toto I loved, and Boston… It works well because Aynsley will play his Journey set, and the two Steppenwolf members will do theirs, and then I get up. It comes together real easy.

Randall Hall will play with World Classic Rockers, of which members include Michael Monarch (original lead guitarist of Steppenwolf), Greg Walker (former Santana lead singer), Aynsley Dunbar (formerly of Journey), Nick St. Nicholas (formerly of Steppenwolf), Fran Cosmo (formerly of Boston) and Fergie Frederiksen (formerly of Toto) for the FCC Annual Charity Ball 2008 at HKCEC Convention Hall on September 13. The event starts at 6:30pm and ticket price is $1,998, including pre-dinner cocktails, four-course gourmet dinner with wines and entry to the concert. Email charityball@fcchk.org or phone 2521 1511 for tickets reservation.

Becoming Jane
After releasing their debut Dear Jane 100 in 2006, the band Dear Jane decided it was time to move up a level. They signed to a large-scale record company earlier this year and the production of their second album – due this November – is in full swing. The first plug, 300, has rocked local radio channels with its power riffs and provocative lyrics. When guitarist Adam wrote the song, he was imagining the battles of ancient Greece , like those portrayed in the film 300. To Jackal, people in the past often fought to conquer new lands without limit. “It’s like rock music - we hope to use our music to take over new audiences.” Bloodshed and physical violence – it is a typical rock’n’roll metaphor, but the mentality has been there from the start – the band’s first single was Boys Should Fight. “We hope to fight for what we want with our own might. It is the non-yielding spirit that we are after,” says the drummer. The boys have a softer touch, though. The theme of the coming album is XOXO (hugs and kisses) – a gesture of gratitude to those who buy their CDs.
With all that, it is surprising then, that the pop-punk powerhouse has actually played more acoustic/unplugged than electric shows since forming in 2003. “We played a lot of school tours and it is difficult do to plug-in in school halls,” Jackal explains. “And for shows in shopping malls you can either do MMO or acoustic, and we don’t do MMO.” In fact, they have done so many acoustic shows that they decided to include an acoustic track on their debut album. It was a “unique training” for the local music industry, says Jackal, but he is also honest enough to say he prefers playing rock music with a fully plugged-in band. “That’s what we formed a band for!” he asserts.
Dear Jane are Tim (vocals), Howie (bassist), Adam (guitar) and Jackal (drums). Catch them in acoustic mode as guest performers at the Soundbase Festival Acoustic Band Competition Finals on August 14 at Ko Shan Theatre. Twenty finalists will compete for prizes including the CASH Best Original Song Award. The show starts at 7:30pm and tickets are $70 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Border Crossing
Underground is breaking the boundaries this summer. The first Underground Shenzhen will take place soon and a complication CD will be out in September – two launch parties are due, so watch out for updates. And the people at Underground have still found time to put together Underground 66: The line-up is UK’s dark emotive progressive rock four-piece Jaigon, Henry Chung & the HK Blues Allstars, post hardcore/screamo band Exit On Twelve and The Quasar. Catch these artists on August 16 at The Cavern. The gig starts at 8pm and tickets are $100.
Indie Red
Brought to us by gummy ears, RED da noise is a new series of gigs featuring indie bands from Hong Kong and the Mainland. To kick off, the ’70s garage/alternative rock/post-punk influenced Beijing all-girl trio Ourself Beside Me will be headlining with local four-piece UNiXX. Ourself Beside Me are Yang Fan on guitar, Xie Han on bass guitar and Emi Namihira on drums. Don’t be fooled, though, they are not another Shonen Knife – for one thing, the girls are much younger and, for another, their post-punk sound is interspersed with some sharp solo guitar work and frequent improvisations. Catch them with opening act downer at Backstage on August 16. The gig starts at 10:30pm and tickets are $190 with one standard drink.

Black and Chan

Not long ago Montréal singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright performed an unamplified, candle-lit gig he named Blackoutsabbath in New York to promote energy conservation. The artist suggested that the audience make a list of environmental resolutions for the coming year in the dark and affix it to their fridges. In Hong Kong’s Blackout Meditative Concert, instead of trying to save the earth, the audience will be encouraged to connect with themselves.

The concert will be a collaboration between Black (copper bowl, emotive voice, shakuhachi), Ocean Chan (shakuhachi, throat singing) and John Lee (frame drum, throat singing). The audience will be in complete darkness while listening to the three singing and playing the ancient spirit-awakening instruments.

“I like this place.” Black is referring to Art and Culture Outreach in the Foo Tak Building. “It is very white and I was like, ‘I want to make this place completely black.’” The writer/spiritual therapist/mesmerist originally visited the building to discuss a drums course with renowned frame drum player John Lee, but the pair came up with the idea of a blackout concert instead and invited Ocean Chan to be part of it.

The show, as the name suggests, will be meditative. “We have a form and structure for what we are going to play, like certain pieces that monks play in temples,” says Chan. Black adds, “But there will also be improvising. We hope things will be organic. We encourage the audience to open themselves up, to interact with the dark and music. It is actually like a journey – you will experience something you have never seen. On the face of it, it is a musical journey, but in fact it is a discovery of your inner self.”

Sound will be the channel to the depths of one’s being, as Black believes life began with sound and she points to the long contemplative histories of the concert’s instruments. The shakuhachi is a 1.8ft bamboo flute used by monks of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism for meditation. Drums are often used to condition one’s heartbeat and help worshippers find tempo in religious assemblies, while throat singing is an ancient technique classified under UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage – some believe it to be a channel of communication between the soul and the universe. To Black and Chan, the combination can profoundly move one’s heart. Chan, who has recently returned from playing in the devastated areas of Sichuan, says of the music, “It touches me so much that I can forget everything else. You are not listening to the rhythm or the melody – you are listening to the emptiness in between. It can be a beautiful feeling.”

The Blackout Meditative Concerts will be held on August 23, 24 and 30 at ACO (1/F, Foo Tak Building, 365 Hennessy Road, 2893 4808) starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are $180.

Beach Bands
The annual Silvermine Bay Music Festival is running for the third time with a strong line-up of indie bands. Organiser Anthony, who will be playing in the band Summer Junkiez on the day, says the point of the festival is to bring bands and music lovers to the south-eastern part of Lantau Island, where he and his team mates grew up. Unfortunately, without much of a music festival culture in Hong Kong, it is difficult to make the festival the widespread success he would like. “We have no problems finding bands, it is the promotions and finding sponsors that is difficult,” says Anthony. Usually his Mui Wo neighbours and friends of the bands make up most of the crowd, but this hasn’t yet ruined the rocker’s intent or enjoyment. Music is the priority of the day, unlike other festivals where you can find street arts, barbecues, beer booths etc on site. “Mui Wo has a lot of festivals throughout the year, so we want to concentrate on the music,” says Anthony. “But it is on the beach… you can do whatever you want there!” The festival will kick off at Silvermine Bay Beach at Mui Wo on August 17 at 3pm. Entry is free and bands playing are the Comanches, Summer Junkiez, In Love And Pain!, Silent Chamber, Dummy Triplet, El Destroyo, Bone Table, Beebob, Jonny Dance, ToNick and YC.
Beijing Bang
Beijing’s Brit-rock four-piece Super VC have the look – they won the Best Outfit Awards by Mao, one of the most vibrant live houses of the capital, and were mistaken for F4 by female groupies in a Channel V event a few years back. But with their tight jeans and black ties, the band have also produced killer tunes with celebrated producer Zhang Ya Dong since their 2001 debut, Double Life.The 2005 follow-up, A Gift from Super VC, brought them the Best Group title in the 5th China Gold Records Awards. Crazy Young Master is bringing the long-hailed Super VC to Hong Kong as Beijing Explosion 4. The band’s recent gig in Shanghai was axed at the last minute – does the PRC really consider live rock music a threat to national security on the verge of the Olympics? Whatever, the gig in Hong Kong is still going ahead – make sure you have your dancing shoes ready on August 22! The gig will start at 10:30pm and tickets are $160 from the Fringe Club, White Noise and Zoo Records, or $180 at door. Both prices include one drink.
Summer Kooks
Confession time: The Kooks’ Mr Maker, from their latest album Konk, is my favourite tune of the summer. Yes, it is a poppy, cheesy, teen-rock tune (and not even a single) but it still gives me a boost after hundreds of listens. And, as 23-year-old front man Luke Pritchard says, “If it doesn’t make you feel good, then what’s the point?” The band’s debut Inside In/Inside Out has already sold over two million copies worldwide and this year’s follow-up, named after the London studio where the album was recorded, has easily topped the UK album charts. So I guess a lot of people are siding with me, including Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison from Britain’s Olympic sailing squad, who had to change the name of their boat when officials found Jackie Big Tits, after one of the Kooks’ songs, inappropriate. Catch the Britons on August 21 at HITEC Star Hall at 8pm. Tickets are $580 and $380 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.