The Story Continues...

Twelve days after singer-songwriter Hei Wong released his third album To the End, he uploaded a new song – named A Song – to his blog (www.heiwong.blogspot.com), together with a slide show of news pictures of Gaza. The song is an acoustic tune chronicling his response to the recent chaos in the troubled region. ‘I want people to know what’s happening there – people don’t know what’s going on because they are just watching 30-second clips on the news,’ he says. ‘I was clicking through hundreds of pictures on the internet one day… it is not a place for human beings to live.’ The song took him a week to finish – it is the first he has written in a year, even though he released two albums, Time Machine and To The End, in that time.

‘I haven’t written a song since December 2007… because there was too much pressure,’ he explains. ‘I wrote some songs I really want to share with others, but at the same time I couldn’t take the pressure of being criticized.’ Wong literally does all his own writing, recording and producing himself – whatever goes wrong has to be his fault. Still, a writer’s block isn’t a big issue for the musician – he experienced a similar pain in 2005 when his dog died. ‘But when I write, I can write dozens of songs a year. That’s why, although I haven’t written for a year, I still had enough songs to put out two albums.’
Most of the songs of the 11-track To The End, according to the singer, are positive and uplifting because he wants the album to be a thank you to his supporters – he hopes it will bring them happiness. The first plug My Majestic, with Mendelssohn’s Wedding March as an intro, is written for a friend’s wedding ‘so that they have music to accompany the slide show during the ceremony’. Wong insists that he will try to sound different on every album – To The End sees more variety in his usually acoustic guitar-based ballads. While Biker features a heavier pop/rock sound that recalls the songwriter’s early career (he used to play in a band), the playful Everything is OK – a song that glorifies the hard-working domestic helpers in Hong Kong – features bongos. Wong performed most of his songs in live gigs last year, but says one will probably never be played live.

‘Ten Years is about the death of my dog. I was in Taiwan and my friend was taking care of him while I was not around,’ he says. ‘I think he was probably the only one thing that accompanied me through everything, because I don’t have many friends.’ Wong couldn’t record the song for his last album simply because he cried every time he sang it. ‘This is the only track I have to record while singing and playing the guitar at the same time… I used the second take and just added some harmonica and that’s it.’

For the good of his music, the singer-songwriter also quit smoking – a habit since his teens – so that he could sing better. ‘When Time Machine came out [last March], I heard people criticizing my singing, but that album was actually recorded in 2007,’ he says. ‘I want this album to prove the current Hei Wong. If you want to criticize me, use this album. Do not dig into my old stuff and criticize the “old” me.’

When it comes down to what he expects to achieve with all his effort, Wong is rather a pessimist – or a blind believer. ‘I believe in destiny… Before Justin Lo became popular no one ever believed a bald guy could be a pop star, right? He is a good singer, but it’s about destiny and timing…’ The cover art of Wong’s latest release best explains his faith. He faces a mountain, his guitar slung over his back towards the viewer. ‘It means that I have to climb that hill even though I have no idea what is behind it. I have to move forward and continue making my music till the end, though I don’t know what it will bring me in the future.’

Catch Hei Wong playing at the Fringe Club Fringe Gallery on February 6. The gig starts at 10:30pm and tickets are $125, which includes a drink. Tickets are available from Fringe Club, Mackie Study, 3pm Records, Zoo Records and Lab Yellow.

The Reunion

Jazz fusion pianist Chick Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin both worked with Miles Davis in his groundbreaking Bitches Brew era. That was splendid, but it was a long four decades ago. Corea and McLaughlin have built prolific individual careers since then but when Corea finished a tour last summer, he started preparing for a reunion with his old comrade. The result is the Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band, with saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. The band haven’t put out any albums yet – they certainly don’t need to prove themselves – but are, instead, touring extensively. Hong Kong will soon be their next stop – on February 10 and 11, the Five Peace Band plays at the HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall as part of the HK Arts Festival. Performances start at 8pm and tickets are $640, $520, $400, $300 and $200 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Raw and Unplugged

A member of a band may play completely differently when appearing solo – so don’t expect sounds of Innisfallen when the indie band’s vocalist/guitarist Eric Piece takes the stage on his own in February’s bc unplugged. Rob and James from Bone Table will also be parading their skills as well as rock/shoegazing five-piece Life in Motion. Check them all out on February 19 at The Wanch – the show starts at 9:30pm and you all get in free.

Erik Piece
An administrator/post-grad student by day, Erik Piece turns into a poet by night thanks to his academic training in English literature. In bc unplugged, he takes a break from his acclaimed band Innisfallen to play a quiet, intimate solo acoustic set.

What is the game plan for Innisfallen this year?
We’re back again in February with a couple of new songs we’ve been struggling with. Our only goal in 2009 is to make more songs for the next album.
So what is your solo project about?
I’ve always wanted to be a folk singer with just my voice and a guitar. It sounds nothing like Innisfallen – my drummer said it is, somehow, more complicated than the band’s numbers!
The lyrics you penned are quite poetic – how much do lyrics matter in your music?
Music matters more than lyrics in live gigs but when people want to dig deep into your songs, you’ve got to have messages in the lyrics. Poetry is more than rhythm and rhyming. You put a metaphor here and an oxymoron there and the song tells the story as a whole. With music, lyrics work the best for expressive or didactic purposes. For courtship, maybe?
Can you name a favourite unplugged album?
We’re Such Dreamers by Natural City. Totally moved by their sincerity.
Anything you always want to say about the local music scene but no one has asked you?
Island show-goers, go see gigs on the Kowloon side. And vice versa.

Robert Prevendar & James Wolfe (Bone Table)
Bone Table’s guitarist Robert Prevendar and drummer James Wolfe trade their band’s fuzz rock sound for a pared down set of new material – and maybe even some of Bone Table’s numbers after a little rearrangement.
How will you two sound different from Bone Table’s moody rocking live gig?
Bone Table never plays acoustically, and James may also play a bit of banjo this time. With only the two of us rather than four, the sound will naturally be stripped down. It is a chance to try some different songs or even some Bone Table songs in a different way.
Tell us about the set.
Skeleton Coast is a new song we’ve been working on. It was inspired by my wanting to write a song that could stand up next to some of the really good, dark songs my band mates were writing. It was also inspired by conversations with John from Transnoodle, about writing sea songs. I tend to write more about rivers, while he tends to write more about the sea. I thought I’d have a go at a sea song.
What’s your favourite unplugged album at the moment?
Probably Shake ’em Down by Furry Lewis, a live album he recorded in the late ’60s. He was already really old when it was recorded, but his spirit really shines through in his playing and singing.
Bone Table have been gigging around Hong Kong for quite some time. What’s the biggest lesson learnt?
Each venue has its own quirks. The sound systems are completely different in each. We’re still learning how to maintain our sound in the face of widely varying conditions.
Any guilty pleasure in music?
Hard to say, maybe the Jerry Garcia Band.

Life in Motion
Formed in 2007 after an acoustic show in Tsim Sha Tsui, Life in Motion slowly progresses as they find direction in their music: their sound is dreamy, mesmerizing, atmospheric and sometimes explosive. The band are Zoe (vocal), Mango (guitar), Leo (bass) and Jun (drummer).

What does Life in Motion stand for and what is your music about?
The title Life in Motion is the name of a design project Mango and Leo completed in college. It’s about the relationship between life and the environment, which is full of possibilities and ever changing. Music-wise, we are about memories, loss and regrets in our lives. You can say our style is somewhat close to UK indie sound, sometimes with pop and folk elements.
How will this unplugged gig sound different from your usual live gigs?
Apart from the switch to acoustic instruments, roles among members will change – our drummer will play the guitar that night. Most importantly we will try to create a different atmosphere, like we are whispering in your ears. We might be storytellers that night.
Tell us something about the set?
We will probably play The Lonely Road by Whence He Came, which kept repeating in my music player for weeks years ago. It always brings me to tears.
What are you looking forward to in the new year?
We are going to launch our new website and are working hard to record all our demos which we will put on the website later. Also, we hope to play more gigs to get more on-stage experience.

Rock Gangsters
Gong Wu is the name of the underworld but also of the band that has for some time been stalled, trying to find replacements for previous guitarist Joe and drummer Masaki. The quest has finally been successful and vocalist Li Xu tells bc how Andrew and Lawrence passed their ‘audition’ and why the band are putting their coming album onto the internet for free.

‘Since the departure of Joe and Masaki, Gavin [bass] and myself have been very busy during the last six months simply trying to find musicians that we feel have within them, the spirit of Gong Wu and what our band is all about,’ says Li. ‘It’s been a very long and hard search, not only to find great musicians, but also to find guys that represent the attitude of the band and the true spirit of rock ’n’ roll. We feel that having Andrew Bautista and Lawrence Tsui onboard, we’ve come closer than ever to finding the sound and live show we’ve been looking for.’ A live show itself was the harsh audition Andrew and Lawrence needed to pass to join the band – seven days after they joined Gong Wu, they took the spotlight at Backstage. Improvising was inevitable, but to Li’s surprise the new boys ‘really tore it up. I was a nervous wreck on the night but Andrew and Lawrence played a blinding show! Gavin had told me to trust them before the show, but after the show I was simply in awe! It’s great to play with musicians who live, breathe and actually know their instrument inside out!’

And if a live gig is exhausting (it usually takes Li a day or two to recover, Gavin needs a little longer because he is ‘older’), an album is even more demanding. Li has been writing material for the coming record, currently titled Fourth Floor, Four Bad Boys, to be released at the end of the month for free on the internet (check www.gongwuband.com for updates). Because the band are recording at Li’s home, they don’t need much financing – though, of course, donations, via PayPal, will be welcome. ‘Any donations would go to charity; the charity being keeping me alive, and, secondly, making merchandise and funding the band,’ he jokes. ‘But seriously, the only payment I want for this record is that for all the people who download it, who get a free CD and enjoy our music, to turn up to a live show. All I want right now is to fill a decent-sized venue and surf the crowd. I haven’t done it in years and I’m getting twitchy.’

For the last six months, the frontman has been penning tunes that tell stories and express a wide range of emotions through different forms of rock. ‘What our band and the theme of our album represents is that you should never tie yourself down. Always free yourself to express, in any way you feel deep down, what you should be. Without sounding too dramatic, to basically write the music you want to without being afraid of other people’s judgement.’ He hints that not every song will rest too comfortably in the genre of rock but, he says, ‘Music is music, it can be loved no matter what genre it’s in.’

Being the rawest and dirtiest rock band in town, Gong Wu became poster boys for a famous sports brand last summer. Are they, therefore, heading for superstar status? ‘These days music dynamics have changed, everyone knows that bands survive through sponsors,’ Li says, pragmatic about survival on the indie scene, although band members would prefer to represent the alternative brands most of them identify with. ‘We’re a pretty fit band and most of us try and stay healthy and most of our recreational activities are in the alternative fields: skating, martial arts etc. I’ve slipped over a lot this festive season,’ says the vocalist. ‘However, I would love to do a super-high-fashion photo shoot with a crazy brand and really push a few boundaries with the whole music/fashion branding machine.’ As for his craziest ambitions? ‘I’d love to see our guys wearing the most bad-ass suits most men’s money can’t buy.’

Gong Wu are Li Xu (vocals), Andrew Bautista (guitar), Gavin Ho (bass) and Lawrence Tsui (drums). They will be playing at Underground 75 at California (G/F, California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central) on February 7. Also playing are Spodac, Amino Shower, Velvette Vendetta and Snoblind. Things start rolling at 10pm and entry is $100.

Rock Surfers
It is strange that the beaches and sunshine in Australia produce, instead of a whole bunch of Jack Johnsons, an impressive number of surfer cum metalcore kids. Hailing from Byron Bay, New South Wales, the band Parkway Drive are now under California-based mega indie label Epitaph Records. Through their two albums, Horizons (2005) and Killing With a Smile (2007), the band have become one of the hardest rocking, most crowd-pleasing groups of the continent. Vocalist Winston McCall tells bc what he thinks of rock stars before the boys kick off their South-east Asian tour.

Why does Parkway Drive insist on using a manager/agent?
We have a manager. Basically he helps us book shows so we can concentrate on playing and writing. We used to book all our own shows but it became too much when we started touring overseas so a friend helps us out now. Everything booked is our idea in the first place but he just gets it done for us. It’s basically just to take a load off us and give us more time to tour.

Judging from the band’s pictures I guess you are pretty fond of body art? How many tattoos do you and the boys have and are there any stories behind them?
Myself and Luke [Kilpatrick, guitarist] are the only ones in the band that have tattoos and we both have too many to count. I don’t really have any stories behind them, but Luke has a Papua New Guinea sleeve, because that’s where he grew up.

Can you name some of the band’s major influences?
Punk rock, surfing, ourselves, the world, life in general.

Some musicians write out of happiness and some write out of anger and frustration. What about you?
I vent my anger and frustration at the world via writing, I am able to remain more positive in everyday life. There is a never-ending source of frustration in this modern world: I think I could write pissed-off lyrics till I die and still not cover everything that’s going wrong.

But in real life you prefer to be as easy going as anyone can be, without that arrogant rock star attitude?
I hate rock stars. The idea that someone is better than everyone else simply because they create loud music is pathetic. We’re just a bunch of surfers from a small Australian town – and that’s never going to change.

The band is making a DVD of the tour – have you shot a lot of interesting footage so far?
Yes, a lot. We’ve been filming for six years now, so we’ve captured some amazing stuff. Shows, places, people, events. Too much to be specific about, but we should still be filming when we hit HK, so we’re excited.

What are you looking forward to in Hong Kong then?
New places to play, meeting new friends, seeing new bands. We’re playing a whole lot of new countries we’ve never even been to let alone played in, so we’re excited about the whole experience.

Parkway Drive will hit Hong Kong on February 5, 7:30pm at Youth Outreach Hang-Out. Local rockers Shepherds the Weak, Embryo and Adversary will be opening acts. Advance tickets are $150 from Zoo Records, White Noise Records and Records Rendezvous; or $180 at door.

Local Indie Round-Up
X Japan may be gone, but you still have a chance to get your next visual rock/gothic rock fix. Organizer Domination is presenting Paranoid, Reverie, Empire, Misery and Monophobia on February 7 at Warehouse (116 Aberdeen Main Road, 2359 4441). The gig starts at 7pm and advance tickets are $70 from Punk.com (225 Chic Castle, 608 Nathan Road) or $80 at the door. If heavy make-up and spooky sounds just freak you out, perhaps you prefer a bit of head banging: El Destroyo, Poubelle International and DP will be at Backstage the same night, the gig starting at 10pm with the entry of $120 including a standard drink.
And if you are short of cash in this credit crunch, don’t panic. Among the free gigs around town, Rock Star United’s first show of 2009 at The Vine Centre (2/F, Two Chinachem Plaza, 68 Connaught Rd, Central) stars Illegal Immigrants, Summer Junkiez, Perfect Day To Start a Fire and F.B.I. The gig starts at 7pm and, yes, it is free. On February 13, Helter Skelter and Signal 8 will play at The Wanch (54 Jaffe Road, Wanchai, 2861 1621) starting from 9:30pm and singer Michelle Tze will be jamming with the house band at Melting Pot (Winly Building, Shop 3, 1-5 Elgin Street, Hollywood Road, Central, 2559 2777) every Saturday night.

Advance Booking
Among overseas acts coming to Asia’s World City soon, Oasis and their big mouth will swallow AsiaWorld Arena on the night of April 7. Tickets at $780, $580 and $380 are now available from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. Then Swedish singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez will take Grappa’s Cellar on February 22 – stay tuned for more details. The queen of the Taiwanese indie scene, Cheer Chan, is returning on February 21 to the Hong Kong Coliseum. Tickets are $500, $300 and $200, though we predict they will probably all be gone by the time you read this. Try eBay maybe?

Five Favourites – Ang Li
Twenty-three-year-old Chinese pianist Ang Li was the winner of the 2003 OSM Competition in Montréal, and has appeared as soloist with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the China National Symphony Orchestra and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra among others. She will be making her Hong Kong debut at the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong’s Rising Stars concert. While she will be the soloist in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2, CCOHK’s chief conductor Jean Thorel will also lead the orchestra in Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten for String Orchestra and Bell and Haydn’s Symphony No 73, La Chasse.

Who is your favourite artist?
Spanish artist Joan Miró. I like the extraordinary use of colours in his works.

What are your favourite musical pieces to play?
Schumann’s Fantasy in C major, Op 17; and the two concerti that I am currently working on: Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto and Chopin’s 2nd Piano Concerto.

What are your all-time favourite albums?
Fischer-Dieskau’s Schumann Lieder and Herbert Von Karajan’s Beethoven Symphonies.

What are your favourite holiday destinations?
New York is my favourite city and Switzerland is the country that I love most. I would also love to visit France, Spain, and Italy in the future!

What are your favourite films?
The Godfather trilogy, Lord Of The Rings, The Birdcage, Mrs Doubtfire, Shrek 1-3, Spiderman trilogy, Les Miserables, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, The Count Of Monte Cristo, Napoleon Dynamite...

See CCOHK and Ang Li on February 4 at the HK City Hall Concert Hall. The performance commences at 8pm and tickets are $220, $160 and $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Chicago Finest
Currently led by 79-year-old Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – one of the ‘Big Five’ of American symphony orchestras – is performing over 150 concerts a year and has already won 58 Grammy awards. The legendary Dutch conductor has been working with the orchestra since the 2006-07 season and for the two concerts in the coming HK Arts Festival appearance, they will be playing Mozart’s Symphony No 41 in C Major, K551, and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben on February 6 and Mahler’s Symphony No 6 in A Minor on February 7. Both concerts will commence at 8pm at the HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are $1,680-$380 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.