words katherine reedy

This month’s bc Unplugged brings you a few of the talented, yet often overlooked, original musicians in our city: Joves Plus, Tony Lee and Bambie. Check them out at The Wanch (54 Jaffe Rd, Wanchai, 2861 1621) on August 21. The gig starts at 9:30pm and entry is free.

The Joves

Joves Plus are Jovelyn Fuego (aka Joves) on vocals and acoustic guitar, Chris Collins on bass and Mike Salcedo on drums. You may remember Joves and Chris from the finals of the Tom Lee acoustic band competition last year.
A few songs to remember for the coming set:
I’ll be playing a few of my favourite originals: Shoebox in the City, which won the Gold Prize at the 2007 Tom Lee Acoustic Band Competition, U Wud B Happy, a song the National Geographic Channel used in July 2007 as a tribute to the Free Hugs campaign, and Master, which I’m playing with my bassist Chris Collins at this year’s Tom Lee Acoustic Band Competition finals.
A favourite unplugged album:
I really enjoyed Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds’ Live at Lutheran College as I was learning the guitar when I was listening to it and it was very inspiring to me. I also really love Nirvana and Seal’s unpluggeds.
How has this city changed me?
Hong Kong is an extremely vibrant city, has an intense energy, where people work hard and play just as hard! It’s very transient, you meet people, they leave and come back, then leave again. Old buildings and markets get torn down and [something new is] built up in a couple of years – the shop around the corner will no longer be there after you leave town for a couple of months. Where there was a harbour, there’s now a skyscraper with a huge shopping mall… But I love this city and it is a huge inspiration for a lot of my songs. Having grown up here most of my life, I’ve seen a lot of changes and it can be quite sad to see so much of original Hong Kong disappear. So personally and musically I’ve been affected by the movement of people through places and relationships.
The artist I would die for the chance to play a gig with:
John Mayer
Watch the Olympics or playing a gig?
Gig, baby!

Bambie

Manila native Bambie arrived in Hong Kong in 1985 and enjoys playing music that inspires. His 13-track debut Be Home Soon was recorded in England, and is available from www.smltd.net. He will be joined by Romy Patrick on bass and Patrick on guitar.
Two special songs from the coming set:
Kick that Habit is about the rise and fall of my ex-guitar player who was into drugs. And Peace of Mind is a little tribute to my loving wife Jean who has been so great and wonderful.
My favourite unplugged album:
Neil Young’s Unplugged and Silver & Gold solo concert surrounded by a dozen acoustic guitars, playing harmonica and piano – it is an amazing performance. He really rocks! Why can’t they make music like his anymore? His voice is so powerful yet so tender.
How has Hong Kong changed me?
Personally indeed Hong Kong plays an important role in my life. Living here for more than two decades changed my life pretty damn good. The more I have had the courage to write songs through the appreciation of my friends who believed in me and my songs, the more I wrote them wholeheartedly.
The artist I would die for the chance to play a gig with:
Mr James Taylor – my favourite, a legend in every sense of word. I dream about playing my favourite guitar with him.
Watching the Olympics or playing in a gig?
If I have the time to watch the Olympics, why not? Playing in a gig is the No 1 priority. To make money.

Tony Lee

Locally born and bred, Tony Lee has spent most of his working life in Hong Kong. He has played in various bands after John Lennon became his hero when he found out the legend wrote most of his own songs – and hence Lee has been penning his own tunes since 1963.
Why unplugged has always been my style:
I play in a band just for fun sometimes, it sort of keeps my guitar playing in shape so I can do my own stuff. Writing songs is my main priority. But it’s difficult to get musicians with the right styles together and, most importantly, with available time to write and rehearse together. So just to keep it simple, I try to write songs I can perform alone. Some of my songs have never been played to an audience before, so this is going to be a learning experience for me too. It’s not easy, keeping the audience interested with just your voice and a guitar.
A few songs to learn before the gig:
Most of the songs tend to be organic. They just sort of come out without me understanding why or how. Currents was written one morning right after I woke up. The melody and the first verse just came and I quickly did a really rough recording. Another one, Is This Where It All Begins?, took a bit more working on. I started out with just the lyrics – no melody. So it was interesting doing things another way because usually with me the melody together with snatches of lyrics comes first. They say songs come from your subconscious. I guess the ideas do originate there but then you have to use your conscious side to craft them.
A recent favourite live album:
John Mayer’s Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles. Mayer enlightened me about what’s possible in a solo acoustic context. The solo acoustic segment on his new live DVD is amazing. What a package – he’s got it all: great songs, great voice, hot guitar-player. Can’t say the same about his choice of girlfriends, though!
Artists I would die for the chance to play with:
Among those I really admire – absolutely none! As a joke, it’s easy to say I’d love to play with Sting, Mayer etc, but if it really happened I’d be shaking so hard I wouldn’t be able to sing or play a single note. What would be a dream come true, however, is being able to be there in the studio, like an invisible man, watching them work, watching the music slowly evolve.
Watch the Olympics or playing in a gig?
It would have to be a pretty horrific gig! Generally, I’m not interested in Olympic sports at all, but if China starts grabbing a ton of medals… mmm!