bc Unplugged

Solo singer-songwriter Richey Lam, pop-folk duo A-dAY and rock trio The Private Broadcast will be spreading their latest sounds in this month’s bc unplugged. Check them out on March 19, 9:30pm at The Wanch – entry is free!

Richey Lam
American-born Chinese Richey Lam wrote his first song on a piano his parents bought him from an old blind man. After the man heard Richey play, he touched the boy’s face and said, ‘You’re going to be something special.’ Which sounds like a movie cliché but it actually happened. The pop/rock star wannabe is now out to conquer Hong Kong and China.
What are you doing in Hong Kong?
Well, I’ll be touring all across Asia, kind of like a short-term sabbatical. Getting back to my Chinese roots, if you will. I want to practise my Cantonese, but everybody keeps speaking English to me even when I say I can understand Cantonese fine.
What, would you say, does your music sound like?
My music is a mix of ingredients which, I like to say, start with magic and love. I’m a songwriter at heart and performer by trade. But, seriously, if I had to classify it, currently it’s been sounding a lot like Lenny Kravitz with the soulfulness of Robin Thicke.
Tell us about the set, in which, I understand, many songs will come from your new record Generation i.
Generation i is a fun catchy tune that makes you just want to bob your head – the very antithesis of what people have been used to in the past from my music. Wahoo is a soulful type of song about having your heart broken into a million pieces, then learning from it, just to have it done all over again. Clap Your Hands has that dance club vibe in which you can dance the robot all night long.
Who would be in your dream band?
Dave Mathews Band’s Carter Beauford on drums, Elton John at the keyboard, John Mayer on guitar, Yo-Yo Ma playing cello, the Wooten Brothers on bass, Justin Timberlake as the dancer, Christopher Walken on cowbells and Pamela Anderson the triangle.
What’s with all the blonde “friends” on your MySpace?
I’m from California so everybody’s blonde. (winks)

The Private Broadcast
The story of The Private Broadcast dates back to 2003 but the current line-up wasn’t confirmed until last year – guitarist Austin, bassist Marco and drummer On are ready to rock HK’s indie scene with their dark vocals, spare guitar and throaty bass.
Tell us about your songs.
Some of them are inspired by real events while some are purely imaginative. For example, Silver Lining depicts a pair of survivors in a massacre. Suddenly We're Gone is about the current love attitude in our society – fast and surreal. In short, one night stand. And Say Yes To No questions why people, precisely, girls, tend to say yes when they actually mean no, or the other way round.
Any covers?
We have a few favourite covers like You Got Me All Wrong by Dio Malos and You Know I’m No Good by the Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse. We like the content and the feel. Yet more important is that these songs sound good even if played by a trio.
What is the band’s favourite record?
It must be Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s HOWL. It’s the major inspiration for TPB! Many don’t like this album but we see it as the root of rock ’n’ roll. And it’s especially stunning when you know this album is made by a few 20-something lads.
Any big plans for 2009?
We plan to record over a dozen songs as our master plan is to release two albums! Show-wise, we’ve applied to play at a festival in Taiwan. Hopefully we can make it!
TPB’s music is ‘best served with cigarettes and alcohol’ - so what drink should we get you?
Spirits like vodka and whiskey. Wine is also a good choice!

A-dAY
Pop-folk duo A-dAY sparked off the WHOLALA street music movement in 2001 and have been active on the local music scene since then. After 2007’s well-received debut album A Day…, vocalist Angus and guitarist Day decided to develop their music career to the full and their new album Love’s in the Sky hit stores last month.

Tell us something about the latest album – what’s its high point?
Day: We are particularly happy that this time we have invited musicians from a Guangzhou orchestra to play for us. The first plug, Love’s in the Sky, is about the humble little stories around us every day and how the love inside is reflected in the sky.
Angus: I penned the lyrics and it is about having no regrets. Like parents raising their kids, no matter how hard life is, their only wish is that their children will be good. Also I adopted a cat a while ago and met a volunteer who adopted 10 abandoned cats and takes really good care of them. We actually filmed the video of the song at her home too.

What about Photograph, which won 2007’s CASH Song Writers Quest?
Angus: We didn’t write it for that competition actually. We wrote it for an event about Hong Kong’s landmarks. But by the time we finished writing, the event had already ended. The CASH competition was around the same time and we hesitated to enter because we had tried it before but never won anything. At last we did enter and won, and more people have recognized us since then.

You guys gave up your jobs last year and finally become full-time musicians. Isn’t that risky?
Day: Our families were worried at the beginning but we promised them we would not starve ourselves to death (chuckles). But we cannot think too much about that. People have to do what they like. Also I tell them not to worry as our record label will pay for things – if they are confident about us, why shouldn’t we be confident about ourselves as well?

What artists do you want to work with in future?
Angus: We admire Chet Lam a lot because the way he works is really what we want to achieve as well. He makes music that he likes and doesn’t have to please the mainstream media, but when he feels like it he can do that too. He is very independent, people do go out and support him and his records are out.

Boy-Next-Door

Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu looks like the boy-next-door everyone likes bullying, though he is the rising star of the territory’s music industry. Lu picked up his first guitar after a serious injury in a car accident in his initial year at university. In the hospital with nothing better to do, he started random plucking at the guitar – which led to music competitions, three singles selling an impressive 15,000 copies and gigs in record shops, universities and breakfast places in 2006. His major breakthrough came when he mimicked Russian tenor Vitas and circulated a video on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDZK-iVITc). That has been viewed over 1.5 million times and when his debut album 100 Ways of Living was released last May, it instantly topped the three major charts in Taiwan. The 23-year-old Lu is bringing his guitar-driven, happy folk music, shorts and big think glasses to Hong Kong’s Star Hall on March 14 – sing along with him from 8:15pm. Tickets are $480 and $290 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Story Telling

Another Taiwanese singer-songwriter landing on Hong Kong soil, Joanna Wang is daughter of the famous music producer Wang Ji Ping. The jazz songbird released her debut album Start From Here, an aggressive two-CD set featuring a Mandarin and an English album respectively, last January and it went straight to No 1 in the sales charts. Her recent follow-up is also a two-CD set, the first focusing on performing the music of artists like Vincent, Times of Your Life and Tikiville. The 34-minute second disc, The Adult Story, features 10 original songs penned by the artist herself. Wang has all it takes to be a great and successful artist: born into a musical family with a rich and silky voice, she plays both guitar and piano brilliantly as well as being gifted to be able to write beautiful music. Do not miss Joanna Wang in Hong Kong for first time on March 6 and 7 at the HITEC Star Hall. Concerts will start at 8pm and tickets are $580, $420 and $290 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Five Favourites:
Wong Lok-ting

Wong has been playing erhu for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra since 2006. In A Legacy of Exotic Lyricism IV, her upcoming concert with souna player Law Hang-leung, she will play the huqin in a programme of folk music from various regions of China.

Who is your favourite artist?
Teresa Teng. I believe no one who hears her voice will dislike her!

Who is your favourite composer?
Joseph Koo. I grew up listening to Koo’s Cantopop songs. He used a lot of elements of Chinese music in them, including instruments like the erhu. In the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s very well-received composition Fantasia on Television Theme Tunes, all the melodies are written by Koo.

What is your favourite musical piece to play?
Liu Ting Hwa’s ten erhu solo masterpieces. Every erhu player has to learn those pieces. I didn’t like it when I was a child, but later when I grew up I realized it is very difficult to learn them well. The technique required to play these songs is not particularly difficult when compared to contemporary music but every time I play them, I discover something new in them.

What is your favourite reading/writer?
When I really want to relax I will read comics. My favourites are Toriyama Akira’s Dragon Ball and Kurumada Masami’s Saint Seiya! (laughs)

What is your favourite film?
Miyazaki Hayao’s Castle in the Sky (1986). If I remember correctly, this is the first film I had ever seen in the cinema. I have loved it since I was a child, and I do still re-watch it a few times every year.

Catch A Legacy of Exotic Lyricism IV from March 6-8 at the Sha Tin Town Hall’s Cultural Activities Hall. Performances start at 8pm and tickets are $150 and $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Geek’s Sound Bites
English geek-rock trio Young Knives (they dropped the ‘The’ in front of the band name as it looks ‘nicer’ on album sleeves) and their retro-chic tweed outfits are returning to Hong Kong after a headlining performance at the Clockenflap Multimedia Arts & Music Festival in January. Before the grand return, bc snatches a few words from vocalist and guitarist Henry Dartnall about their next album, NME’s concept of the fashion of child molesters and an out-of-date blog.

Progress of the third album:
‘Well we are still writing it at the moment so it will probably come out early next year. We decided we needed to take our time over this one because it has to be brilliant. This record is getting quite trippy, but we are just writing loads of songs so the mood won’t be completely decided until we pick the tracks we are going to put on it.’

On being described as ‘quirky’:
‘I don’t really know, I guess it means that the music we make does things that are slightly unexpected. That’s the kind of music we like so that’s the kind of music we try to make.’

On NME’s nasty comments about the band, including that they look like paedophiles…
‘We did get a bad review in the NME for our last album, but you know it’s one of those things – some guy didn’t like it after having it for a day. It was a shame because it’s always useful to get a good review, but then they do give us good reviews too, so it’s balanced. I don’t really read any music press, I don’t find it useful to read reviews of music (ours or other people’s) while we are trying to write and keep a level head about what is good and what we like.’

On Adam and the Ants:
‘They were an incredibly inventive pop band. I love their first album Dirk Wears White Sox. It’s punk but so trippy.’

On playing in Hong Kong:
‘Hong Kong had a great vibe last time we played. I got the impression that there were maybe not so many bands playing there and that people were just pleased to be watching live music. It makes a really nice change to play places where people have very little cynicism.’

On why they are not updating the band’s blog anymore:
‘Laziness.’

Young Knives are Henry on vocals and guitar, The House of Lords on vocals and bass guitar and Oliver Askew on drums. Catch them together with supporting band Poubelle International on March 8 at Grappa’s Cellar at 8pm. Tickets are $200 including one free drink, available from White Noise Records and Grappa’s Cellar.

Haydn’s Cello
Russian cellist and conductor Alexander Rudin is a prize-winner of many prestigious music competitions including the J S Bach International Competition in Leipzig, the Gaspar Cassado International Music Competition in Florence and the sixth and seventh Tchaikovsky Competitions in Moscow, and has performed with the world’s great orchestras – the Royal Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and many of the major Russian orchestras. In Hong Kong, he joins the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in their series Haydn’s Cello, sharing the stage with his protégé Artem Konstantinov, the principal cellist of the CCOHK, in a programme which includes Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos RV 531, Tschaikovsky’s Sinfonietta and Haydn’s Symphony No 63 La Roxelane. The concert will be on March 8 at Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium, starting at 8pm. Tickets are $220, $160 and $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

The Touring March
Taking a performance to a remote venue could be disastrous – or innovative. You could be playing to an empty space or discover an audience you would never have imagined existed. So, when the LCSD canvassed singer-songwriter Pong Nan with the idea for a Hong Kong tour of three out-of-the-way venues – the Yuen Long and Ko Shan theatres and the Sha Tin Town Hall – he didn’t exactly jump at the idea. ‘I was pretty surprised when they approached me, because the three venues are not places where you usually go to see shows,’ says the artist more often seen in spots like Backstage, the Fringe Club or the HK Culture Centre. ‘I was a bit anxious because [the venues] may be too far away for some people. But then when I thought about it, it is actually good for people who live in the New Territories because it is inconvenient and costly for them to see shows in the Coliseum or Asia-World Expo.’ And so he agreed – to find, as he says, ‘There is a constituency we have been missing. We were very worried about ticket sales for the Yuen Long show, but now it turns out to be doing the best.’
Art and theatre groups are increasingly eager to encourage the people of the New Territories – especially Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long – to participate in arts activities, and Pong Nan has realised that, as ticket prices can be set relatively low (because the tour is organized by the government), he has found an audience that would not otherwise have been able to hear his music live. ‘And also I can showcase those venues that have been outside the radar for music audiences,’ he says. ‘I am surprised so few pop acts put out shows in such cozy and well-equipped venues.’
For each of the three concerts – the first in Yuen Long has already taken place – he intends to spring a surprise on the audience. But he is not letting out any details. ‘These shows are to get to know Pong Nan more as a person,’ he states. His recent series of three EPs titled Nan, Yi and Pong features songs that cover his childhood, teenage and life after school respectively. ‘Basically we have 30 years of material to work with,’ he smiles. ‘But I will focus on some particular events like what happened to me in 1989 or 1997. Really, it is not about the political undertone, it is more about what these years mean to me and what happened to me.’ He reckons that audiences who come to the concert knowing nothing about Pong Nan will surely know the person through more than only his songs by the end of the night. ‘Music is suppose to be a food for thought. I used to be quite judgmental in how people interpret my music – there could only be one interpretation and that was mine. But right now I am more open to different interpretations of my songs or even of myself as a person. If you can inspire people to think, it is already a gift.’

See Pong Nan on March 6 at Ko Shan Theatre with special guest Candy Lo and on March 11 with C-hing and Endy Chow. Both shows start at 8pm and tickets are $220, $180 and $130 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Local Round-up
On the local front, Robert from the Bone Table will be leaving Hong Kong for the US soon – God knows why, but make sure you drop by The Wanch (54 Jaffe Road, Wanchai) on March 13 (the Black Friday) for the band’s last gig with the full line-up. Things start rolling at 9:30pm with El Destroyo supporting. Islanders can also mark their diaries on March 6, when El Destroyo and Yung Shue Wan Curs will be playing at the Island Bar (6 Yung Shue Wan Main Street, 2982 1376) on Lamma Island starting from 9pm or so. Entry is free for both gigs. Singer-songwriter Hei Wong continues his roadshow at Backstage on March 6. Gigs start at 10:30pm and entry is $130 with one drink. On March 7, Karat, Supper Moment and Summer Junkiez will be playing for the Let’s Spring Band Show at MIUSIK Members Club (13/F, Ying Kong Mansion, 2-6 Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay). The show starts at 7pm and $120 at the door gets you in with a drink. The South Island School Charity Rock Show 2009 on March 13 will see a long list of bands including ToNick, Grin, Empty Tomb, Ignite the Hope and Los en Found playing. Be at the school’s Main Hall (50 Nam Fung Road, Aberdeen) at 6:30pm. To get advance tickets for $70 each, email BringTheRiot@live.com or get it at $80 at door. Unless you want to treat yourself with a $150 VIP ticket, which gives you a drinks coupon, backstage pass and lets you into a VIP Meet and Greet occasion. The Colosseum Music Show at Hang Out (2 Holy Cross Path, Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong) on March 14 will see Tonick, Ignite the Hope, Eccentric, Grin, Summer Junkiez and In Love And Pain playing from 7pm. Tickets are $80 at the door.

Big Acts

A swag of international acts are queuing to play in HK next month, economic downturn or not. If you weren’t excited about the Coldplay gig on March 25 before, you should be now as Mercury Rev have been announced as the support band. Duffy, the new Dusty Springfield, plays on March 20 at AsiaWorld-Arena, while Luna Sea’s Ryuichi Kawamura and the Queen of Musicals, Sarah Brightman, will follow on March 22 and April 1 respectively. Craig David will be playing at the HITEC Star Hall on April 6 and Oasis will no doubt fill the AsiaWorld-Arena on April 7. Tickets aren’t cheap (in spite of the economy). All tickets are available from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Stereo Sushi
Mention active electronic musicians in Hong Kong and the first acts that come to mind may be Alok (and his latest troupe A Roller Control), Snoblind, S/T and Nerve, but there would probably be no argument that three-piece Violent Jokes is the most visible. And now the two brains behind the band, Simon Griffin and Claudio Canzonetta, are expanding with a new project they have labelled Sushi Robot. The name is born out of a Japanese meal Griffin came across in the UK a few years ago. He liked it (the name that is, which their MySpace profile says sounds like ‘Bruce Lee on crack’) and vowed to use it himself when he could find an appropriate project to attach it to. He explains what that project is. ‘When we started Violent Jokes we tried to be drum ’n’ bass mixed with a bit of this and that… We tried to do too many things at the same time.’
‘We wanted to do drum ’n’ bass and fast electronic music with a guitar which is totally insane,’ chips in Canzonetta. ‘We did like 12 concerts last year in different clubs and experimented with different songs – slow, ambient, dub etc. But with Sushi Robot, there will be no guitar, no singer – purely drum ’n’ bass, just me and Simon with maybe guest MCs.’ The birth of Sushi Robot – whose debut performance will be at Underground 77 on March 14 – will set clearer boundaries to the pair’s musical vision. ‘Sushi is more like semi-analogue synthesizer, drum beat box, sample. Very electronic stuff. Violent Jokes will be more of a keyboard, a bass and guitar. I would divide them into a stage/concert band and a club band,’ says Canzonetta. The emergence of Sushi Robot will affect the sound of Violent Jokes – Canzonetta says they will put the ‘violence’ of their music into the new project. Violent Jokes will be releasing a debut EP this month and are confident the four-track will sound even better than the two songs included in the Underground compilation CDs. They are considering joining singer Shadow Kim for a dub set in coming gigs, but as for the Sushi Robot date, expect a delicious platter of deep, solid and explosive bass line and beats that will make your ears bleed.

Witness Sushi Robot’s first performance at Underground 77 on March 14 at California, together with Killer Soap, SkinDeep, UNiXX and Kowloon City Strike Force. The gig starts at 10pm and entry is $100.