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Simon Pang’s Posin’ Till Closin’ ain’t no genre pyjama

Simon Pang is a veteran with an impressive resume that includes DJing from London to Beijing and Los Angeles to Bali, as well as playing for the clothing label Ben Sherman, Pang makes a local comeback together with DJs Casey Anderson and Chi Brotonel in a monthly gig they’ve called Posin’ Till Closin’. Pang talks about the trio letting their musical tastes loose on local clubbers.

The first night of Posin’ Till Closin’ was great. Not a lot of people actually knew about the event because we like to start quietly and not make a big noise about it. In other words, start organically. It is really a chance for us to play the music that we really like: there is not a strict music genre. Overall, it was a good night.

I’m trying to move away from just playing one type of music at a time. When I was in London, I was known for playing old school hip-hop, but after playing at clubs I would also go back and just spin for friends to chill out and then I could play any kind of music I wanted. That’s when I realized that I liked that better than just playing one type of music. Now it’s music anyone into music can relate and chill out to. Basically, music to get drunk to.

The local crowd, especially in Central, is quite transient. People come here and leave after only a couple of years. Hong Kong has a lot of creative people coming through, so we want to keep people interested by playing different kinds of music. We don’t always get to play the music we like when playing at events for other people. We listen to tons of music every day and we don’t get to play what we like out loud. Posin’ Till Closin’ is our once-a-month chance to play that music and not the same-ol’ same-ol’. I guess we are not super mainstream, but we also don’t want to alienate people.

We’ve all got such vast music tastes. The three of us come from very different backgrounds: I’m from London, Casey is from Florida and Chi is from the Philippines, and we each have a healthy music collection and knowledge. And when we come together, we just play the music that we like without alienating anyone. We play all sorts of music, from old Motown records to indie and songs that we hear on the radio.

We have backgrounds in DJing so we know what kind of music keeps people’s interests and what clears the dance floor. It’s always important to keep the crowd in mind, recognize who you are playing to. Not just play what I want to hear, but what the crowd wants to listen to as well.

I came to Hong Kong in 2003 and I think the changes in the club scene since then have to do with the venues. When I came here there weren’t any places like Dragon-I. I don’t think the scene itself has changed, people still have to seek out the music they like themselves at the different places.

The difference between spinning in Hong Kong and London lies in the people. People generally are more aware of music in London and there are a lot of different types of music. It is probably the world centre for music. Here it’s very different. Unlike other big cities in the world, there’s no radio culture in Hong Kong. Efficiency in Hong Kong is probably more important than anything else and most people would rather spend their time doing something else than sitting around listening to the radio. This is a business town and there is not really an emphasis on art.

I do miss playing in East London. The crowd is very different from that in Hong Kong and I really enjoyed playing at two or three particular venues back there. But, it is not really about the place as much as the people you are with. It doesn’t matter if you are playing for 2,000 or just a handful of people in a living room -– if we have the connections, that’s all that matters.

If I wasn’t DJing, I would be the guy in the corner complaining about the music.

Simon Pang, Casey Anderson and Chi Brotonel, Posin’ Till Closin’ - the first Friday of each month at Linq (G/F, 35 Pottinger St, 2971 0680) from 9pm.