Sandy Fong explains what an independent woman gets up to on the music scene

Launched in March this year, sandymama dot com (www.sandymama.com) is an online music store selling local, Mainland and Taiwan indie music goods ranging from CDs and
DVDs to books and T-shirts. The mastermind behind the project, Sandy Fong, who worked for major record labels for the last two decades, has been mulling over such an online experience for the last two years.

“I have always heard people saying there aren’t many choices of music in Hong Kong but in fact there are a lot,” says Fong. “They are not even underground – underground sounds like it is something unlistenable which cannot be exposed to daylight. A lot of indie music is interesting and diversified but has not appeared in the media.” It is a common scenario that listeners fall in love with a song playing on the radio, but then cannot find the CD anywhere in record stores. “Sold out!” is usually the answer they get from store staff, but that, claims Fong, is purely a logistic sidestep. “In fact there are a lot of stocks in the warehouse, it is just that the record store won’t bother to spend the manpower to order a disc just for one fan. So my so-called exclusive business is due to the fact that records stores don’t sell these releases,” she jokes. “When people want to find ‘weird’ stuff they know the way to sandymama.com.”
The online store also serves as a platform for indie artists to reach an audience. When she announced her plan for the store, her musician friends were overwhelmed. “They were so happy because it can let audiences know those CDs actually exist and are not a myth,” laughs the multi-tasking entrepreneur in her Sheung Wan office, crammed with documents, CDs, guitars and awards. Business over the last six months has been better than Fong expected, but the thrilling part of that is that the majority of customers are from China. And they have an ear for Taiwan’s indie sound. Fong was curious why they are willing to bear with the higher prices when shopping on the internet. “I asked why don’t you shop at Tao Bao [a major online shop in China] and they told me the price difference is too large. When I sell a CD for HK$80 and Tao Bao sells it for RMB15, they automatically know it is a pirated copy.”

Working in the local records industry since 1988, Fong landed herself jobs in major labels including the then PolyGram, BMG and Universal. “I thought it was cool to introduce good music to others but after the first day I found out that wasn’t the case.” Some of the things she was required to do included socializing with TV stations and begging for airplay from radio DJs who wouldn’t even bother looking at her when she spoke. In short, not the dream job of a music lover. “I cried at home after the first day, wondering why I had to do stuff like that.”

Then when she decided to leave the industry at the beginning of the millennium to study fine art, another chance came along. She was approached by People Mountain People Sea to take care of the newly signed duo at17 – being minder of the two girls eventually earned her the nickname Sandymama. Working with indie musicians in the past few years has been refreshing. “I have been working in the music industry for so long that I think I have already seen the rise and fall of the local industry,” she says. “Now, to me, [working in the industry] is about having fun and doing interesting things. That’s why I do weird thing like this… starting up an online store.”
Creating shows for indie musicians is another big entry in Fong’s current CV. Her company, Freehand Concept, has been involved in concerts for at17, Chet Lam, My Little Airport, Fama, Wild Child, Pixel Toy and Khalil Fong among others. The goal is always to put together a gig that focuses primarily on the music – not the fireworks, strip dancing or guest performers typical of many Cantopop concerts. “I am particularly proud of Chet Lam’s Camping in HK [2006] concerts,” claims Fong. “We said right from the beginning we would only perform English songs, which is quite daring.” Cantopop stars Kay Tse and Shirley Kwan were guest performers and were amazed at how Fong could go against the tide. “I said why not? It is about production costs. If you are thinking of the Coliseum then of course you cannot do these things. But if you are talking about a middle-sized venue, you can actually do whatever you like.”

Chet Lam + The Pancakes One Cake One Live, presented by LYFE and produced by Free Hand Concept, will be staged from October 9 to 12 at HK Arts Centre Shouson Theatre. Shows start at 8:15pm and tickets are $299 and $269 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.