bc unplugged

Jaspoia Lee

Born and raised in Germany, JASPOIA LEE – which stands for ‘Just a small piece of it all – like everything else’ – is taking time out travelling the world, living his music and enjoying freedom. Don’t be jealous – come and listen to what he finds out in his travels.

How did the ‘JASPOIA LEE’ thing come together?
JASPOIA LEE came to me while I was looking at the night sky. The stars are like atoms in an organism. And I wanted to find a word or a name that would account for everything, partially because I do and sing about so many different things and play so many instruments and styles. It goes well with the title of my first studio album. Home is a lot about discovering one’s (inner and outer) world. My feeling is that we’re home anywhere we go… After all, home is where the heart is, right?

Any song we should keep our ears open for?
I’ve finally finished a song about life and travelling that I started writing years ago. You see, melodies and lyrics… they just happen to me. And the right things are happening now, giving me the right inspiration. Here are the first few lines: ‘For years, I’ve been on my way/is there a place for me to stay – forever?/ with every soul I meet I grow/ and share the secrets I’ve been told’.

Any favourite Christmas song? Or you will sing one at the show?
Ha ha, it’s quite funny that you’re asking. I recently started writing one myself. It’s going to be about how Christmas now seems to enter the stores at the last days of summer. All this business about Christmas really freaks me out. It takes away the beauty and joy of it all.

How would you describe your music?
By singing it to you! Well, my music is also quite JASPOIA. Many different moods meet many different styles of music. That is partially because I play so many instruments and want to express everything that crosses my soul. You’ll find the tragic love ballad on piano, the happy summer song, easy-going humour, anger, melancholy, piano instrumentals that sound like film music, and even fantasy stories about rainbow bridges leading through outer space.

What do you want most as a Xmas present?
YOU as the best audience ever!

www.myspace.com/jaspoialee

Chochukmo

The pinkish Chochukmo currently play as a four-piece as bassist Yanyan Something sadlly departed, but members Jan Curious, Mike Orange, Les Hunter and Kitty Trouble have been busy in the studio with their first release, so don’t miss your chance to get a sneak preview of some of their smashing tunes.

Chochukmo is famous for bringing the stage down in their live performance. What are you going to do with an unplugged set?
We’ll be making new arrangements for our songs and our music will be relatively softer in the unplugged version. We did some unplugged songs in our studio months ago just for fun, and even uploaded them onto YouTube. Just search ‘Chochukmo’ and you’ll see a list of unplugged, improvised versions of our songs… just treat it as a trailer of our first unplugged gig! We’ll try to be more gentle, hopefully.

Tell us about the set.
Tell her (Laura I love her) is the first song written for our current line-up. Jan one day said he didn’t like the ending of the original – he thought things shouldn’t end in such a rush. So we came up with a ‘part two’. For us it’s an ambition to explore every possibility in life, and in all the possibilities we always found irony. Head to Toe is probably the audience favourite. ‘Feeling from head to toe, feeling of rock’n’roll’ has since become our motto. The original version comes with a chilled out dance beat in the end, while for unplugged live we’ve prepared a new arrangement which is kind of different from the original one – you’ll see.

Last shout about the show?
Bring (and wear) a pink tee, bring more (hot) friends, bring a large belly for more drinks. And Jan’s special requirement: For guys who want to dump their girls, bring their girls, they will leave you once they see us. For ladies who want to dump their boys, bring them in, and they will lose their confidence once they see us.

www.myspace.com/chochukmo

D’Hat

All-male five-piece D’Hat have been described as a crossover project between the Pat Metheny Group and Taiwanese singer-songwriter David Tao – as usual, see it to believe it. But their original composition Champs-Elysees has been awarded the CASH – Best Original Song in the SoundBase Festival 2008 – does that tell you something?

What is D’Hat’s kind of music?
It is melodic and funky, mixed with lots and lots of passion. As individuals we listen to different genres of music and I think the variety of influences can be tracked in our songs.

Tell us about the set.
One of my favourite songs is Pine Tree. It is about people living in a state of chaos and paranoia, thinking of things they have lost but also the things they have got. Walking on stilts at the edge of mind – get up or give up?

Can you name some of your favourite unplugged albums?
Andy: It has got to be Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York. Kurt Cobain’s voice is just phenomenal.

Hubert: Mine is Friday Night in San Francisco by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia. As a guitar player, you just have to love that.

Tim: Only by Tommy Emmanuel. I didn’t believe it at first when I realized the songs on the CD were recorded with only one guitar track, and the bass line, melody and the rhythm are all played at the same time.

Davy: O by Damien Rice – simple but incredibly awesome.

Favourite Christmas songs for D’Hat?
Andy: Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.

Hubert: Last Christmas by Wham! and Christmas Time by The Darkness

Davy: Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

bc unplugged 7 features up close and personal the sounds of D’Hat, Chochukmo and JASPOIA LEE

bc unplugged 7 @ the wanch

Harry Hula

One third of the quirky Born to Hula, Harry Hula is about to let the world know about the secret music he keeps hidden in a shoebox under his bed. Expect songs about “sentimental drunkenness, impotent rage against the state and the sheer bizarreness of being alive” – what he calls “ordinary things”.

A solo unplugged show – what should we expect?
I’ll still be little old me, but things will be quite a bit quieter. I’ll be playing a mix of songs – a few quiet versions of Born to Hula songs that people will know and a few acoustic ones we decided weren’t right for us to play. All the songs I write belong to BTH in a way but some of them just wouldn’t suit the energy or atmosphere we want for live performances.

Tell us about the set.
I’ll probably play Satellites because it always seems to go down well. That one is unusual for me – it’s the first time I’ve ever tried to write anything like a love song. I might play a song called The Dutch Boy and The Dam, which BTH don’t play live but will probably make it onto our EP.

Name some of your favourite unplugged albums.
Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs. OK, it’s not properly speaking an acoustic album, but compared to the rest of their stuff it is. The songs are so colourful and just plain weird, I love it. Also Nick Drake’s Pink Moon for completely different reasons – listening to that is like climbing into a dark hole… or down a well…

What about your music diet?
I try to give most things a chance, even if many people hate it. Right now I’m listening to two-tone ska, but I plan to spend the afternoon on the internet scouting out some good surf guitar music. Tomorrow I’ll probably be listening to Radiohead again.

Harry Hula’s proudest moment so far?
Our last gig at the Fringe. There was a bunch of people off to one side singing along with the songs. That rocks. Oh and having someone come up to me in a nightclub and holler the chorus to one of our songs at me over the racket. That rocks too.

www.myspace.com/borntohula

Modern Children

Colourful is the word for Modern Children. The band consists of twin brothers, a member with other bands in Japan and Texas, and an audio-visual artist who plays violin – altogether that is Kenneth (vocal/guitar/bass), Jimmy (guitar/bass), ST (violin/programmer), Hin (drums) and Chih (guitar/bass).

How different will an unplugged show be from your rock show?
We have lots of unplugged instruments like toy-like accordion, a xylophone, little Chinese drums, rainbow bells and a violin, which are hard to use in rock shows. This time we can fully utilize them. Also we will play some indie-pop songs we have not played in shows before, and adapt some songs for unplugged versions.

Tell us about the set.
We will play the new Mongolia Song with Mongolian lyrics. Our vocalist Kenneth heard a traditional folk song from a kid when he was travelling in Mongolia this year and that’s how this song came about. The lyrics go ‘Nara nara shir shudder shudder tsasa’, which means ‘the sun please come, clouds go away’.

How would you describe the band’s music?
Colorful. We play different music styles and always go to two extremes: indie pop and post rock. Besides guitar, bass and drums, we play violin, rainbow bells and accordion, and sometimes add electronic elements into our songs. We cannot really name the band’s influences because there are just too many. But we like indie pop, indie rock, post rock, post punk and electronic. After our shows, some audiences have said our music sounds like Arcade Fire.

www.myspace.com/modernchildrenmusic

Hei Wong

Singer-songwriter Hei Wong and his acoustic guitar have been capturing hearts around the city since his 2002 debut release Begins… His lyrics are ardent and his melodies simple and brisk – bc talks to him about what’s new in his upcoming 11-track album.

How is the new album coming along?
The title of the album is Not Giving Up and the recording and mixing process are already done. The concept is about not giving up your – and my – dream and encouraging people who are also making music in Hong Kong to keep their chins up although the music industry is going downhill at the moment.

Tell us about the songs.
I actually love all the songs on this album a lot! What I can say is you can still feel they are ‘Hei’s style’ of music but with a few extra elements, such as R&B, African style bongo/conga, boss nova and even grunge. There is a short instrumental track, an English song and I even played harmonica. My recording and mixing skills have also improved and people who enjoyed the last album will definitely love this one as well.

Can you name some of your favourite albums?
All Damien Rice’s albums. No one can compare with him for touch and the feel for music. And all Jack Johnson’s albums as well. The ‘Hawaiian mood’ in his songs and voice is a diamond for people who live in a stressful society.

If you could be another musician for a day, who you would be?
Kurt Cobain, as I wish to know more about him.

www.heiwong.hk

Bc unplugged  6 features up close and personal the sounds of Modern Children, Harry Hula and Hei Wong

bc unplugged 6 @ the wanch | 9.30pm, 20 November 2008