bcunplugged

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.

Joey Basha’s band Milkteeth formed early this year when the 23-year-old moved to Hong Kong. Milkteeth’s songs are originals that Basha wrote and arranged with friends for fun. On July 16, he and his band mates will be joined by friend Dixon Chan with songs arranged for a more intimate setting.

What’s about your style?
I’m really in love with the bawdy, pre-war jazz singers, like Cab Calloway and Fats Waller – all the stuff coming out of speakeasy parties and burlesque shows. While I write very traditional-sounding pop songs and melodies, I keep things very edgy when it comes to lyrics. I’m trying to be as dirty and as confrontational as I can and still be cute enough to not get arrested.

Who is the best live musician you have seen and why?
That’s an easy one. When I was 18, I moved to California for a while before starting university. I came across a really small show at a bar in the middle of nowhere and it just happened that Devendra Banhart was headlining. He wore a red cape and his band mates looked like a circus act. But when he started singing this really great song called Poughkeepsie, the entire bar went silent. He made everyone fall in love with him that night, myself included.

Any embarrassing moments on stage?
Yeah, a few. I’m a novice clarinet player. When you mess up playing guitar, no one really cares – when your clarinet squeals like a dying dog, the entire world notices.

Do you write your own songs?
I’m constantly writing. I throw away more songs than I keep, in fact. The latest song I wrote is about Jolly Shandy and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I think all the songs in the set will be originals. We’re talking about arranging a do-wop song or some Hank Williams, but it’s still all up in the air.

What song would you want played in your own funeral?
There was this cartoon by a guy named Max Fleischer from the ’20s where a ghost is dancing around and talking about his own funeral. It was scored by the Cab Calloway orchestra and Cab sang a brilliant rendition of a traditional song, The St James Infirmary Blues. YouTube it!

joey basha

Former British session guitarist Steve Cray is the front man with the blues/rock band Red Star Rising, and is currently trying to promote blues, rock and his original music here in Hong Kong. Steve was classically trained, studying guitar and lute at the Guildhall School of Music in London until he turned to folk, working regularly as a guitarist at various clubs, festivals and tours. As a songwriter Steve writes acoustic material in a rock/blues style, and has released a number of albums over the years.

Did you ever consider going down a classical career?
I studied classical guitar at the Guildhall School of Music in London but was more interested in rock and folk so I followed that route instead.

What’s it like collaborating with your daughter?
Sam is a very talented singer and it is a privilege to play with her – she was married to a famous Spanish guitarist Lorenzo Villalonga, who died last year in a tragic accident – I wrote the song In Memoriam (on my myspace site) for him

Who is the most memorable band you’ve played with?
Rory Gallagher – supported his band on part of a tour.

Favourite record of all time?
Strawberry Fields – The Beatles.

What animal in the world, would you be?
A cat – I’d need the 9 lives.

Any thoughts about Michael Jackson’s death?
Controversially, I’d say that he wrote a few good tunes but was a freak and a paedophile – actually, I said that in the FCC last night and someone hit me – the police were called and arrested the guy, but I’ve got a black eye this morning.

steve cray

sue shearman

Jingan Young is a local-born singer/ songwriter whose sound has evolved from pop to her current more folk orientated sound.

Have you always wanted to be a musician?
I was around nine when some music video was on television and I saw this long-haired, greasy guy dressed in black wrecking this guitar solo. I remember thinking that’s what I want to be – no inhibitions, just free. But I didn’t start learning guitar until I was about 12 – I thought I’d get boys chasing me if I played.

What is your music about?
I definitely am against this tired trend in pop of writing songs only about heartbreak. Really, what is that about? These precocious 13-year-old girls singing about decade-old unrequited romances. I want to throw a book at them and say, ‘Why don’t you read a novel for the first time in your lives?’ Literature is such a beautiful part of culture. I know it sounds terribly pretentious but I do love the beauty of words. Dylan has a great storytelling aspect to his songs. I’m a bit more of a realist.

Who are your favourite artists?
I’m an old soul at heart. Bob Dylan, Neil Young… My music tastes are pretty open though. I do gravitate towards bands who do their own thing. I love new music: The Real Tuesday Weld, Goldspot, Army Navy, Halloween Alaska. That said I’m a huge fan of Phoenix! I have an unhealthy obsession with them. I’m one of those people who think they discover bands and then, once they become mainstream, get extremely upset. Like The Virgins – I thought I was the only one! Now they’re on Gossip Girl. I’m a moody bastard.

What was the last record you bought/downloaded?
One of the last records I bought was Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Without a doubt my favourite of theirs so far. I also bought Ibrahim Ferrer’s solo album apart from the Buena Vista Social Club. Perfect summer listening.

When was your first gig?
My first gig was when I was about 12 years old. I was at my sister’s wedding and they had the usual back-up band playing at the reception. The only song I knew by heart was Avril Lavigne’s Things I’ll Never Say. I went up to them and told them I wanted to play a few chords, so they followed my inexpert strumming and there I was singing my heart out into the mic. It was a defining moment. After that, I couldn’t stop playing live. I had begun a new love affair.

jingan young