words rachel mok

One Hong Kong band didn’t break the mould – they just never got to it.

They might have the word ‘band’ in their name but that doesn’t mean RubberBand look, and sound, like one. That is what the five-piece have been hearing, both on the street and from their record company, Gold Typhoon. And it is understandable – their groovy, funky and laid-back sound is not exactly what Hong Kongers associate with a rock band. RubberBand sing about Monday morning sickness on the MTR platform, road trips, Christmas sorrow and hypocrisy in urban life, all with a positive attitude and a smile – and that hardly fits the furious, roaring, raised-middle-finger rebellion that usually signifies rock in the minds of Hong Kong folks.

And if the band is not typically ‘HK band sound’, nor is their history. Formed in 2004 by Clem (guitar), Wai (bass), Kelvin (keyboard) and Lai Maan (drums), it was later joined by vocalist and frontman No 6 when they were still known as Wu Fei Tzu. Of their first and only Underground performance in the summer of 2005, a reviewer wrote, ‘They were tight and have huge potential. Made up of good-looking men who really know how to play. The singer has a magnificent voice but needs a wardrobe to match.’ The review was mainly right, for when the band started knocking on the doors of major producers and record labels, they met Mark Lui, one of the hottest producers on the Cantopop scene, and were duly signed.

Their 2008 album Apollo 18 received generally good reviews, but left the boys caught in a kind of no-man’s land: Neither the underground indie band they used to be, nor anything like a household name. Still, the threadbare ‘mainstream vs alternative’ debate doesn’t really bother any of them. ‘It is really important for us to have the support of a major label – to get promoted on radio and TV, to record and publish our music properly,’ says Kelvin. For them, the label ‘indie’ does the scene more harm than good. ‘I don’t believe anyone can make music without making a living first. And secondly you cannot survive without an audience,’ he maintains.

And so they are bowing to at least some of the music industry expectations and conventions. Perhaps with that original reviewer’s comment about appearances in mind, No 6 admits, ‘Clem and I can get fat pretty easily, but the label needs us to keep our bodies in good shape so as to look better as frontmen. It is kind of difficult for me but I will accommodate that.’ Sprawled on the sofa in the band’s Tsim Sha Tsui rehearsal room, he jokes that he would look like a sumo wrestler if he didn’t keep to a diet, then dismisses the subject with ’It is important to be healthy anyway.’

No 6 originally worked as a director at RTHK before quitting to pursue his music dreams but confesses he didn’t identify with RubberBand six to nine months ago: They weren’t like the typical bands he was used to. Now he has no such trouble. ‘It is like Moriarty [who recently performed in Hong Kong for Le French May] – they are, of course, a band; you won’t call them a dance group, right? We are like that. But we need to let more people know that ‘band’ doesn’t restrict musicians to typical rock music. To be frank, I think Hong Kongers’ perceptions of what the word means is a bit narrow.’

So they may have made concessions, but the band still claim an independent spirit and the five members take turns updating their blog (http://rubberbandhk.blogspot.com). No 6 often takes charge of creating the band’s music videos, in between earning a little extra cash directing videos for other Gold Typhoon artists. Lai Maan, who looks so like Jan Lamb that the band collaborated with the iconic radio host/singer/stand-up comedian for their latest single Jia Ying Ni, says, ‘If you own a little restaurant you will have to take care of everything, from working at the cashier to serving the customers and cooking, right?’

Their latest release, Beaming (‘Our first record was titled Apollo 18, so the second one starts with a B and we hope to continue [alphabetically],’ says No 6), with six new songs and 11 of their old tracks, is a continuation of their positive energy and can well serve as a good introduction for new audiences. ‘Some of our songs are more down to earth, so they are like Tsim Sha Tsui or Causeway… some are more laid-back so probably those are Sai Kung. We kind of represent different aspects and faces of Hong Kong,’ says Kelvin who, according to the rest of the band, is the perfectionist among them. Lai Maan regards RubberBand as a Cha Chan Tan: From Portuguese tart to Thai noodle, you name it, they’ll serve it. ‘You can take our music and relax,’ explains No 6. ‘Like enjoying a milk tea and pineapple bun.’

Beaming is now available in shops.