bcunplugged

Fad
At a band competition in 2006, five musicians met and decided to form a group. Vocalist Sky, guitarist Sammy, bassist Carina, keyboardist Shireen and drummer Baller settled on the name Fad for their band. Ask them what kind of music they play and they’ll tell you that, although they are generally influenced by British music, they each have their own preferences so it is difficult to label the band’s output. Influences from Hong Kong indie, China, Taiwan, Japan, and UK, they say, bring special chemistry to their music.

We are just ordinary youth – we work like ants in the daytime and chase our dreams at night. Time flies, soon we won’t be young anymore, and we hope to do something we can be proud of when we look back as grandma and grandpa. We love to feel the music and feel life. Work hard and play hard.

Where do you get the inspiration for your music?

From our daily life. We like observing human beings around us; we pay attention to every detail to make our life become rich. For example, one of our songs, Sleep Out, is about the beggars we see every day, another Thoughts of Dying Liberal, a new song, is inspired by recent political events in Hong Kong.

Out of all the songs you have written, do you have a favourite?
Yes, sure, every band does. Our favourite song is Sleep Out. This was the first piece we were all satisfied with, and since then our song writing has advanced and improved to another level.

Would you buy a Volkswagen?
Probably we wouldn’t have enough money for that – we have spent so much on music already.

What was the last record you bought/downloaded/lagged?
Hong Kong indie band ToNick’s CD, brought at their CD release show a couple weeks ago. Support local bands!

What has been your proudest/most fun moment on stage? And the worst?
Our most fun moment was at the “You’d better look FIT!” Good Fellas T-shirt launch gig, together with our good friends Good Fellas at Fringe Club in April. Other than our own songs, we played a couple of cover songs with Good Fellas: Trash (Suede), Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin), Don’t Look Back in Anger (Oasis) and Disco 2000 (Pulp) which was really enjoyable! The audience was totally into the cover songs, they were singing along, clapping hands and jumping with us. The atmosphere was just amazing!

We use a lot of effect processors in our songs, and need a long time to set up before playing. That includes a very detailed check for sound balance on stage. This can cool the mood down a bit at a multi-band live show. The worst thing is taking all our heavy effect cases from the band room in Kwun Tong to where the show is and then setting them up on the stage (they are SO HEAVY!). Sometimes space is so limited on stage we can hardly move even though we enjoy being there. Anyway, we are waiting for a larger stage to perform on!

Could you please introduce a few songs from the coming set?
We are going to play five or six of our own songs, including a new tune if it’s finished. We’ve been working on different arrangements for this performance; also, we will probably play a few covers, with unplugged arrangements.

What is your favourite unplugged album?
Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street

If you Google your band, what is the weirdest thing that shows up?
When we Google “Fad”, we come across something biochemical related to metabolism. But we named our band Fad because we hope to lead the latest trend in the music of Hong Kong: We hope someday http://myspace.com/fadhk will appear in Google’s top search. Hopefully we will have become a symbol of Hong Kong local Brit/90’s style alternative rock by then, local bands will be more popular and watching a live music gig will be normal entertainment like watching movies and shopping! All of us, including many bands in Hong Kong, are waiting for that day to come.

LIVE FAST DIE!

Ross S Seizure runs Star Crossed Tattoo studio with his wife Julia and sings in punk band LIVE FAST DIE! Originally the band was named Kill the Chairman (KTC) but they decided that would be too risky if they wanted to tour the Mainland. So it became LIVE FAST DIE!

Our first proper gig (technically our second as we played two songs for my birthday last year before I drunkenly collapsed) was the at the first heat of Global Battle of The Bands. I was so drunk I wandered off with a bottle of Jim Beam and someone had to come pick me up out of the gutter and put me on stage. Somehow we managed to get through to the HK final! Around this time the band consisted of me on vocals, Arthur and Joe on guitar, Steve on drums and Steve K playing bass. We lost Steve K a few months ago when he moved back to New York, but are now back to our original (KTC) line-up, with Simon (Violent Jokes/Sushi Robot) on bass. Steve originally replaced Simon who was very busy with work and other band commitments but now Simon has retired he can fit us in!

Where do you get the inspiration for your music?

Joe has written most of the songs so far. I guess the inspiration is old punk, hardcore and general Hong Kong life.

Out of all the songs you have written, do you have a favourite?
My favourite (probably everyone’s except Arthur’s!) is Not Tonight, which was one of our first, or the latest ones we are working on, which are really sweet!

What was the last record you bought/downloaded/lagged?

The last records I downloaded (I haven’t bought a record for a while!) were Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and Farm by Dinosaur Jr.

What has been your proudest/most fun moment on stage? And the worst?

Most fun moment? Probably playing Hidden Agenda’s final gig at their original venue (they have moved) in front of local kids who had no idea who we were but went nuts. It was an amazing gig, the crowd surfing and moshing a-plenty. Or the Cavern a few weeks ago. The sound was great and the whole gig went really well (I was sober!). The worst was me breaking a rib at Rock School half way through a set, or me puking on Steve’s bass, again at Rock School (best we don’t talk about Rock School!).

A hardcore/punk band going unplugged? Tell us more.

A hardcore/punk band playing unplugged… Well, we have done it once before on Radio DaDa, which was cool. We had played the night before and were really hungover (Steve never even turned up!). We had never practised acoustic but it kinda worked! We are all into very varied music – Arthur and I are into a lot of country music and Joe does a lot of acoustic stuff so it’s not that weird for us. We still haven’t practised acoustically.

Can you introduce a few songs from the coming set?

Nation of Retards is about HK parents and schools, Not Tonight is about how terrible most HK’s bars are, and how many yuppies there are! Extra Life is on paediatric cancer and You’re a Dick on awkward neighbours, to name a few!

What is your favourite unplugged album?

Hmm, that’s a hard one. Right now I’d say Live @ CBGB’s by J Mascis (the singer from Dinosaur Jr) or Live @ the NVA by TV Smith (the singer from ’70s UK punk band The Adverts) – a really awesome guy and a great singer/songwriter.

If you Google the band, what is the weirdest thing that shows up?

Nothing, just stuff about other bands or James Dean. We got our name from Rat Alley, a song by my, Arthur and Joe’s previous band (‘rat alley’ were the only words!). It was inspired by G G Allin who had a tombstone tattooed on his chest with ‘live fast die’ next to it. It was terrible, worse than most of HK’s local tattoo artists, which is saying something!

Pale Boy is singer/songwriter Jay Panini. He has been making music since he bought his first guitar at the age of 16. Immersing noisy guitars and dreamy melodies into electro grooves, Pale Boy’s music is described as “colour in the dark”.

Where do you get the inspiration for your music?

Inspiration for my music is everywhere. Movies, dreams, books, people… sometimes it just pops up in my mind and I don’t know where it comes from. For the songs on my debut album due to be released this year, stories of my friends were the most important material. Recently, I’ve been writing songs about politics – I guess the news must be inspiring me.

Why do you adopt so many personas to release your music?

Yeah, I have many names. It’s just for fun. I call myself Pale Boy when I play music. When I make movies I use the name SK:NY. When I go DJing I use another name. So if you watch the video of the song You’re Mine on Youtube and see that it’s directed by SK:NY, you know what it means.

Do you have a favourite out of all the songs you have written?

I’ve no idea.

What was the last record you bought/downloaded/lagged?

The last record I bought was Living Through The Low by Solar Powered People. I love it very much. It has my favourite noisy guitar sound, catchy melodies and meaningful lyrics.

What has been your proudest/most fun moment on stage? And the worst?

Nothing special… sorry.

Could you introduce what you will be playing in your upcoming set?

I will mainly play songs from my debut album. It will be interesting because it is an electronic, guitar-noise album – to perform those songs unplugged is like being naked. I will also play some new songs that were originally acoustic oriented. Yeah, I’ve been changing from electronic to acoustic.

What is your favourite unplugged album?

My favourite, The Spinning Top by Graham Coxon, is also the album that made me go acoustic. Blur has been my favourite band and Graham is my guitar hero. In this album, his brilliant guitar work expresses very deep emotion and I have been truly touched.

If you Google yourself as a musician, what is the weirdest thing that shows up?

Never tried.

A whitish guy with many names, a band that wants to beat the trends and a group living on the edge between life and death – they are all going non-electric with bc unplugged on June 17. Read about them here and then go to hear them 9pm, 17 June @ The Wanch – entry is free.

It’s nearly 2100 and The Wanch is almost empty as I stroll past towards the nearby 7-11. Have I got the right date? Yes, it’s Thursday, 20/8/09 and the blackboard outside is advertising the latest bc Magazine Unplugged Session. I’m here to see Reign Lee and Sue Shearman (a fellow Lamma-ite) in concert. They’re supported by Jing Wong and Monday Faded. Reign and Sue’s previous appearance last summer was exhilirating and I’ve been trying to see them perform since then. Without much success. Mostly due to conflicting schedules. But “Tonight’s The Night” as Neil Young would put it.

Refreshed, I’ve left the 7-11 and toddle back to The Wanch. Going in, I’m greeted: “Hello, Nick. I’m Rachel”. She’s a senior staff writer for bc and tells me that Simon will be along soon. Actually, he’s across the road at the Arts Centre watching In The Nursery perform the live soundtrack to “Man with a Movie Camera”, a 1929 silent movie, depicting life in Moscow. I thank Rachel and bc Magazine for tipping me off about tonight’s show. Considering they’re a bi-weekly  publication, they’re better informed than the SCMP Thursday gig guide. I add that I’ve got a ticket for In The Nursery’s show tomorrow night when they’ll play an original score to the 1928 French film “The Passion of Joan of Arc”.  I found out about this performance through bc Magazine as well. Keep up the good work.

Aside from Rachel, there’s a teenage girl sitting at the adjacent shelf-cum-table. Performer or true-fan? She’s facing the stage and the huge bc Unplugged banner tacked up over it. Simon arrives about 2115 and a small crowd gathers outside. Jing Wong is the opening act. He’s wearing a Tom Waits style pork pie hat, glasses, a small jazzsters chinwig and is carrying an accoustic guitar. There’s also a tiny box, called “the machine” with which he hopes to accompany himself by sampling, looping and replaying his strummings. Jing say’s he’s going to play “…original songs, See the reaction. Maybe do some covers”. Opening number “Little Girl” starts with a sturdy strum of chords and some fine fey singing. By that I mean his singing voice is nore delicate and higher pitched than his speaking voice and pleasant to listen to. Rather like listening to old Irish folk duo, Tir Na Nog who once headlined the now  tragically discontinued Hong Kong Folk Festival in the early nineties.”The machine” refuses to co-operate. Some click-click-click sounds before machine malfunction occurs. Jing takes it all in his stride, making a joke out of it this electrical insubordination.

The second tune, possibly called “The Stranger”, accompanies an inrush of lovely young ladies and a giant talent. Top local singer Ant(h)ony Wong is in the house to see Jing. Mr. Wong is not apparently the type of man to spend evenings carousing in The Wanch, but he’s here tonight. bc magazine’s description of Jing Wong as “Indie’s next big thing’ has merit it seems. The next two songs deal with a relationship breakup from two different perspectives. Hints of Al Stewart, Roy Harper and John Sebastian flicker and trammel through my brain. Local accoustic acts like My Little Airport and Clementine Is My Sunshine are also alluded to in regard to the confessional lyrics.

Jing plays for about 30 minutes. The later tunes are more robust. “Nrs. Nightingale” features a Roger Daltrey scream which doesn’t quite get there, but is passionate anyway. More practise on that one. Another song “Icarus” was inspired by “a Victorian dressed man outside the Tate Gallery in London. I thought he was like Peter Sutcliffe” (the Yorkshire Ripper) and is accompanied by a jolting attenpt to do the “Psycho” strings. The song ends abruptly as Jing says he”s a “bit unprepared”. The final song is a cover of “Lucille” which sounds like Leo Kottke crossed with The Honeydrippers. At least that’s what my notes say, but they weren’t keeping up with my thoughts so  well. Anyway, I enjoyed the opening act a lot. He’s confident, not phased by any electrical tantrums, has an erudite mind and a confessional approach to his singing. He’ll get better and I’d love to hear him jamming against himself with a fully functioning machine”.

It takes about 15 minutes or so for Reign and Sue to get set up. It’s a twin accoustic guitar assault tonight with Sue providing the more lysergic licks to counterpoint Reign’s passionate vocals. The bar is filling up fast, about 65% – 35%, ladies to men. Steve Cray has popped in to see Reign’s set and is promptly overseeing the sound checks. He knows what levers to slide and buttons to push, being a veteran of numerous nights of performance in The Wanch. Steve says he can only stay briefly as he’s off to see famed, yet unknown, blues rock guitarist Jimmy Gregory who’s playing a special gig above Joe Bananas.  And now the girls are up. up and away.

It’s an eight song set, mostly from Reign’s excellent “Broken Skylines” cd release of last year. The cd is now being remixed and remastered, partly because she felt it was a bit rushed and partly to have a heavier version available for her upcoming short American tour. The first song is newer. Entitled “Built to Last” (a nice Grateful Dead reference there) it was her most recent free download on myspace. A good tune, it kicks off like a slower introduction version of “Another Girl, Another Planet” by The Only Ones. Reign is right up to the mike, eyes closed, singing in lovelorn abandon. Sue is quite minimal in her solos. A few FX occur, but overall her playing reminds me a bit of Miles Davis and his “less is more” technique. Some plucking, some blip-blip style solos. Now and then, the guitar sounds like a clavinet or harmonium. A bit reminiscent of “The Park” by Uriah Heep.

The songs are broken up by witty badinage between Reign and Sue. Reign claiming “I’m your meal ticket” and Sue responding with frequent calls for “my free drink”. The evening is turning into a mix of a concert and a standup comedy night. Now and then, the gremlins cause minor havoc, but these little mishaps are greeted with gaiety. Everyone is relaxed and having fun. Including Reign’s parents, Debbie and Simon, who are sitting just behind me as the place fills up.

(Hang on a minute. Who’s that over there? It’s CeeBee, the Dark Mistress of SubTerranea. I know Reign played a recent set at her long running revue, but that was an electric showcase. Has she come to check out the unplugged session? And there’s Manek, the hip young photo-chronicler of Hong Kong’s groovy late night party scene, sitting next to her. No, they’re leaving halfway through the set. Manek and I geeted each other when he came in, but there’s no farewell from them as they leave. Probably because I’ve got my head down, scribbling notes. Or maybe she’s too pompous these days to bother slumming with the hacks. I used to write reviews for her revue, but it didn’t work out and rumour has it that I’ve been “Stalinized”. Not part of the official history anymore).

The highlights of the set include a horripilatory (hair-raising as in goosepimples) version of “Summer Faded”, “In Your Arms” and “Don’t Close Your Eyes”. There’s another new song called “Weaker States” which is how I feel after hearing it. I can feel a shit-eating grin growing inside me.I’ve enjoyed this set as much as I did last time. I hope you both have a great tour of America and I can’t wait to see a full electric gig. Until then….

The last intermission is over and Monday Faded takes the stage. Remember the young girl at the beginning  of the story? Well, she is Monday Faded and it’s her bc Unplugged debut. Maybe her public debut as well. The comedy/gremlin interchanges that are strewn throughout this evening show no sign of ending soon. She’s a little bit nervous. A couple of false starts. Nothing to worry about. It’s a charitable crowd tonight and bravo to you for having the “balls” to stand up there and sing. Public speaking and performance is one of the toughest phobias to overcome.

Monday Faded (I’m sorry I didn’t chat with you and get your real name, but bc didn’t publish it either and so we’ll respect your privacy) opens with a cover of “Lady Madonna” and the other songs appear to be originals. The third tune has the chorus “…his back’s against the wall, he’d better learn to crawl” Accompanied with some more robust strumming and plucking. The fourth number has not title and Monday asks the audience for their input. Someone shouts out “Kangaroo” and it’s accepted on the spot. Job done. Miss Faded also sings right up the mike in an engaging mixture of timidity and defiance. The final tune about a one-handed monkey is the quirkiest number she performs. A fine little tale with a hint of eastern promise in the melody. Overall, another great night. Jing Wong and Monday Faded have nice tunes and lyrics (those that I could hear, but that’s me being a bit deaf) The rhymes are a couple of levels above “moon, June, swoon” etc. I’ll be happy to spend a night listening to you all again. Thanks for another excellently entertaining evening. I’ll try not to let another year go by before checking in again.    nick the bookman

Tell us something about yourself.
I started teaching myself guitar when I was about 12 and wrote my first song about a year later. Nothing has changed that much since then, as I’m still no Jimi Hendrix. Monday Faded is an acoustic act: simple songs from a simple mind.

What made you want to become a musician and inspire you?
After learning some basic chords everything kind of fell together. It wasn’t really something I thought about and when you’re 12/13 there are not too many experiences you can write about. Luckily I have a big imagination and it doesn’t take a lot to inspire me – needless to say I’ve written some nonsensical songs about bizarre things.

What is your all-time favourite album?
Cursive’s The Ugly Organ is an album that blows my mind. I can still remember the first time I listened to it and I think it helped shape me as a musician.

reign lee

Tell us about Built to Last, your free download on MySpace – it kind of reminds me of Annie Lennox singing New Age.
Wow – it’s a huge compliment that it reminds you of Annie Lennox! It is actually an older song with a new twist. It’s based on stream of consciousness lyrics that came from a dream. I don’t want to give too much away about the meaning behind it but musically it started as a super-heavy rock song, which is how we play it live. It’s a huge favourite of mine.

Broken Skylines is to be remixed and remastered. What’s that for?
When we were finishing up Broken Skylines, we were dealing with a lot of deadlines so I felt a lot of things were rushed on my part, either because of inexperience or over-enthusiasm. I think we all tend to look back at what we could’ve done better and I believe there is wisdom in letting something exist as it is and learning from it. But at the end of the day, I had to ask myself why I couldn’t let this record totally go before moving on to the next one. And the answer was that even if it’s just for me, I want to hear how the songs stand up when they’re given the treatment I feel they deserve.

What are you expecting on your US tour and festival slot at Play:stl in St Louis?
This tour is about my total and complete commitment to my music and living through my art. It may sound clichéd, but it’s true. I want the opportunity to spread my music everywhere I can and the best way to do that is by hitting the road and physically being there. A lot of times, you find yourself having Twin Peaks moments in the middle of nowhere. But mostly you end up meeting really colourful characters who restore your faith in humanity.

Any craziest festival moments?
Tons of! My best one is probably when I was in college in Chicago. We drove out to some big outdoor festival that had Blondie, Silverchair, Hole and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I ended up crowdsurfing to the stage and got pulled on stage by Courtney Love. She ordered me around, then sat on my lap and sang Miss World. I watched the rest of the show from the drum riser and it was a surreal experience. That’s when I knew I had to play at a festival one day. Then she took her top off and left the stage. Those were the days…

jing wong

You recently signed to People Mountain People Sea (the same label as at17 and PixelToy). How did that happen?
I was being interviewed by a Mainland magazine with my sister about our fashion label last December and Wing Shya photographed us. We had heard he was going to shoot Ming Gor [Anthony Wong Yiu-ming] afterwards so I brought my guitar with me for the interview and we acted like fans and stuck around the studio for hours waiting for his shoot to finish. Then I asked Ming Gor to give me three minutes to play him my song. He asked for my contact and PMPS got in touch with me later. I took part in at17’s Anyone Can Play Guitar campaign and performed with them. So that’s it.

You have a strong theatre background (Wong graduated in theatre directing and design in the UK), are a fashion designer (founder of label Daydream Nation) and a singer-songwriter. How do the three relate to each other?
They are all about storytelling. My songs are telling my story, and I try to make my fashion collections and show story-based. Theatre is about connection and communication among people – and I apply the same theory to fashion and music. When I do theatre design I won’t treat the set as merely props – it should be like an actor, able to communicate with others. A song is the same – it too should connect the performer and the listener.

Tell us something about your music.
My songs are very personal – they are like my diary. I do hope to record these songs soon because I feel that I have gone past my state of mind when I wrote them. I hope to make a record of them and then move on and develop a more sophisticated style. Through The Dark Glass is a song I wrote for my mum – we entered the 2004 Soundbase Festival [under the band name Punch and Judy] with it. We took home the Best Original Song Silver Award and Best Individual Performance Award so it means a lot to me. You Are In Everything I Do is a song I wrote for my ex-girlfriend – I like it and play it a lot.

Which three albums influence your music the most?
Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left – my guitar-playing and song-writing style are deeply influenced by him. Few singer-songwriters play guitar as well as he does – others mostly focus on lyrics and vocals. But Nick Drake is very bold in experimenting with his music. Tori Amos’s For the Choirgirl Hotel shocked me greatly when I first listened to it – I never thought pop music could be that expressive. To me it is Amos’s most powerful and darkest album and it’s also my favourite. And something from Bert Jansch. I don’t really like his voice but his guitar playing is just amazing. I keep practicing a few songs of his and learn a lot from him.