Panic Attack

First they were Panic. Then, from 2002, they were Don’t Panic. First they were a cover band. Now they are writing their own material, about to record an album and spreading their message. Bassist Geoff Wheeler and guitarist John Prymmer share their experience – which includes playing at, and running, The Wanch.

How is the recording going?
Geoff: We have all recorded many songs in the past with previous bands, but as Don’t Panic we have really only started properly recording over the last six months or so. At the moment we have recorded four songs, with another four at various stages of works-in-progress.

How does your creation process come about?
Geoff: We are a band that loves to entertain and, of course, it takes a lot of practice to make it look as though we are doing it without thinking. Although some old favourites are pretty much always part of the set list, we do like to keep it fresh by introducing new songs that we like and think our audience would also enjoy. But with recording original material we really enjoy trying to write stuff that is more about us as people rather than a carefully crafted cover band’s set. It is very liberating! It means that we can basically record whatever type of song we want, as long as we think it is good. Most of them would never make a Don’t Panic covers set list; they just wouldn’t fit the mood. But maybe we could introduce a few that do happen to fit in.

What is your inspiration for the original material?
Geoff: The songs we’ve recorded all have very personal themes. They are, of course, mainly about love – but with a darker edge that people would not normally associate with Don’t Panic. Sort of The Cure meets Pink Floyd meets Nine Inch Nails, with a bit of a Caribbean twist at times. We try to keep them all pretty short – three to four minutes – and catchy.

How would you describe the evolution of the band’s over the last six years?
Geoff: Six years ago the band’s music was primarily rooted in the ’70s with a few covers from the ’80s of artists like The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Tom Petty. Such songs still play a major part of any Don’t Panic gig, but we also wanted to play songs that people knew but didn’t often hear covered like U2’s The Fly or Counting Crows’ Mr Jones. Bringing in songs over the last two to three years by bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickleback, The Killers and The Sex Pistols has kept us fresh as musicians, and we’d like to think that this freshness translates to positive, high-energy gigs that keep the audience entertained.

John, you also run The Wanch – what is the biggest frustration in running a live music bar in HK?
John: The biggest frustration is trying to please everyone. That is why The Wanch now has such a wide variety of music styles. In the past it had the reputation of having second-rate cover bands as a newspaper described it once. Now The Wanch features many different bands and musicians.

And the biggest satisfaction?
John: When the performers and the musicians are feeding off each other’s energy. The great thing is to see people really into the music. The Wanch has really become a place to come for the music.

Don’t Panic are Denis Brouard (lead guitar/vocals), Colin Tillyer (percussion/vocals), Geoff Wheeler (bass guitar/vocals) and John Prymmer (rhythm guitar/vocals). Experience their high-energy rock set on April 3 at 10pm with special guest Hat Trick at The Wanch (54 Jaffe Rd, Wanchai, 2861 1621).

Gig Round-Up
Presented by Start From Scratch Records, Milwaukee hardcore metal five-piece Misery Signal will play at Hang Out, Youth Outreach (1/F, 2 Holy Cross Path, Sai Wan Ho) on April 3 at 7:30pm. Supporting bands are Shepherds the Weak, The Lovesong and Maniac. Advance tickets are $200 from Records Rendezvous, Zoo Records, White Noise Records and Kowloon City Shop; or $250 at the door. Say goodbye to Hard Candy’s bassist Alex Hurworth at the Hard Candy Fond Farewell Party on April 7 at The Wanch. The trio will be playing for the last time with the current line-up of Alex on bass, Yanyan Pang on guitars and Renee Ko and will be joined by Chochukmo, Hungry Ghost and Sinister Left. The party starts at 9pm and entry is free. Singer-songwriter Hei Wong continues his road tour at Kubrick on April 10. The gig starts at 10pm and tickets are $100 from Kubrick, Zoo Records and Lab Yellow. A new live house, Hidden Agenda (Flat A, 1/F, Chun Yip Street, Choy Lee Industry Building, Kwun Tong), opens with a party on April 11 – Chui Ball Tong and Dai Wah Mui from Guangzhou, and local rockers such as An Id Signal, Speak in Mantra, Tsuk 7 and The Squawk will play from 3pm on the day. Entry is $100 at the door. For a metal fix, check out Norwegian trash metal quintet Goddamn who, together with locals Hyponic, Evocation, Orthon and Eve of Sin, will play at Hang Out, Youth Outreach (1/F, 2 Holy Cross Path, Sai Wan Ho) on the same day – April 11 – at 7pm. Advance tickets are $120 from Koo Kam Music and Movies (B27, Sino Centre, Mongkok, 9274 9680); or $140 at the door. For experimental and atmospheric sounds on the same night, Lona Record’s RED Live Concert, as celebration to the release of the same-titled 3-CD compilation, will feature Alok, KWC, Nerve, No One Pulse, Sin:Ned and Wilson Tsang. The show will start at 8pm at Phonograph (2 Austin Ave, TST) and entry is $80 with one drink or $120 with a drink and the 3-CD compilation.

Matured Child
Radio and TV host Jim Yan may have become famous as the lead in comedic duo I Love You Boyz but that is only one of his projects. A comedian by trade and a rocker by heart, he is also part of Wildchild, a rock trio he formed with long-term friends Sanskrit’s Siu Wu and Vibration’s Chris Ho purely out of personal interest. Jim is also the music director at Commercial Radio while Chris works at the HK office of an international record company and Siu Wu is a designer for a local fashion brand. ‘Wildchild is there to make us happy – we don’t have to be responsible to anyone but ourselves,’ says Jim. ‘Our two previous singles are sold online and these days we only need computer – you know, for Facebook and stuff.’

So up to now, it has all been pretty low key, but for the band’s coming show, Easter Animals Live, the pressure is on – it will be the first time the band members have invested in a show themselves (their previous sold-out gigs were staged by Silly Thing and LYFE). According to Jim, the whole thing will cost them roughly $200,000. The trio spent three months working on an application for a government grant but in vain. ‘They said we are very close to getting it but we are not arty enough. I wouldn’t argue what art is with them, just so be it,’ sniffs Jim. ‘I can’t see how you can compare. Who is more arty – Crowd Lu or Chet Lam? There is no definite answer to that. We use our way – music – to express ourselves and to me that is already art.’ Chris intimates that Jim’s fame was probably their downfall as he says, ‘The government thinks he is an entertainer instead of a musician. For HK artists, you usually need to gain recognition overseas first, then [the government] will think you are good. Never mind.’

The band’s new album People are People was released 2 weeks ago. ‘When we wrote the songs and recorded them, we were already thinking about how to play them on stage,’ says Chris. The 10 songs are simple, direct, catchy tunes around ‘in-jokes’ among the band; the titles of eight are puns on people’s names. Corresponding cartoon characters were also created for the eight songs by designer Ben!, and an exhibition in collaboration with Adidas of action figures is currently on display at Adidas’ flagship store on Kingston Street, CWB. If the popular radio/TV host Jim takes anything seriously, it is probably Wildchild. Yet even then he says, ‘But playing in a band is for fun! If I want more people to know me, I would do more things like I Love You Boyz. I have been with Wildchild for more than seven years, and people do start to take me more seriously.’

The Adidas x Wildchild x Ben! – People are People exhibition at Adidas Original Concept Store (6B Kingston St, Causeway Bay) closes on April 9. Catch Wildchild’s Easter Animals Live on April 11 and 12 at 8pm at the HITEC Auditorium, with guests Dear Jane and Mr. Tickets are $250 from Neway Karaoke and CEO Karaoke.

Oriental Force
It is not difficult to spot 34-year-old Herman Li from hisband mates in power-metal band DragonForce – he is the only Asian in the London-based group. Born in Hong Kong, he moved to the UK aged 12 and has played in DragonForce since 1999. The band has grown into one of the most prominent metal outfits in recent years and their latest album, Ultra Beatdown, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance last year.

Distinctive as he is, Li’s skin colour is not as big a problem as it might have been in the past. ‘I don’t see that anymore because I have been living abroad for so many years but I do think people in the Western world recognize me more than any other band members because I am Asian,’ he jokes. ‘A Chinese person with long hair – you cannot hide with that.’

The band’s music is often associated with video games. Their hit Through the Fire and Flames is featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while Heroes of Our Time is used in Skate 2. Allowing your music to accompany video games may not be very rock ’n’ roll savvy to some, but Li isn’t one of them – he sometimes battles his fans on Guitar Heroes after a show. ‘It is a normal culture all over the world now and it helps spread our music,’ he says. Heavily influenced by guitarists like Van Halen and Joe Satriani (and never into Cantopop), Li – and his band – reap extreme comments – to some he is a guitar god, while others criticize him in terms not fit to print. ‘Some people think we are the best band in the world and some think we’re the worst in history. That’s what happens when you are known around the world.’ Does it upset him? ‘I absolutely don’t care – I am trained to just do my own thing and not to care what others say.’

DragonForce are Herman Li (lead and rhythm guitars), Sam Totman (lead and rhythm guitars), Vadim Pruzhanov (keyboards), Dave Mackintosh (drums) and Frederic Leclercq (bass). The band will be playing at HITEC Auditorium on April 7 at 8pm. Tickets are $580 and $480 from Tom Lee outlets (TST, CWB), HMV (TST, CWB, Central) and Hong Kong Records (Festival Walk, TST, Pacific Place).

Boogie Wonderland
Munich-based jazz pianist Matthias Heiligensetzer was taken to a boogie woogie concert at 14, and since then has been obsessed with that type of music. Influenced by New Orleans pianists such as James Booker, Professor Longhair and Dr John, the German musician has released two albums, Boogie Woogie Contours (1999) and Sweet (2006), which he describes as ‘piano-based blues, jazz and rock ’n’ roll music – groovy, full of energy and driving rhythms’. While working on a West-meets-East project to mix boogie woogie/jazz music with Asian/Chinese elements, the pianist will be stopping by Backstage for a set of boogie classics mixed with melancholic blues and popular jazz melodies in an improvisational New Orleans style. Go boogie on April 2 from 9pm at Backstage – entry is free.

Se7en Quickies

Amran Khamis from I am David Sparkle

The last gig I am David Sparkle played:
The band has just played a day show in a record store called Cactus Music in Houston, Texas. We played a mellower, softer set, different from our usual stuff, and it went down well with the audience. And we moved a good number of our CDs and copies of our new 7” vinyl single at the show. Having strangers get into the music and then coming up to us to talk about it or asking us sign the merchandise they bought is always awesome!

The first gig I am David Sparkle ever played:
When the band was first starting out, we were playing improvisational pieces and soundscapes, quite a different sound from what we have now. So the music and influences have evolved a long way. Our recollection of the show is hazy, though I do remember that we all sat down on chairs to play our set and there was a whole lot of gear on stage. (laughs)

The last record you bought/downloaded/lagged?
I collect vinyl records and after our day show in Cactus Music in Houston, I purchased LP releases by She & Him, Fleet Foxes, the latest Sigur Ros and a couple more. Can’t wait to experience them in all their glory!

The worst thing a music critic has said to/about the band?
We don’t remember the bad stuff! (laughs) Seriously though, any bad comment we have knowledge of spurs us to just get it right and make it better.

Most embarrassing thing you have done on stage?
So far, so good… We’ve had equipment failure, power adaptors spoiling at the critical moment, and even smoke coming out from our gear before, but so far nothing hugely embarrassing, just frustrating.

What artists do you want to work with in future?
At this point, no one specific, though we would love to work with a film director and score a soundtrack for a movie feature that we feel could use what we can do.

First thing you want to do when you finally return Singapore from the tour?
By the time we get back, we would have spent 21 days on tour, with more than two weeks in the US and slightly under a week in Hong Kong. So far it has been just fast food, burgers, pizzas, Mexican food for us here in Texas, so we can’t wait for local goodies back home to whet our palette!

I am David Sparkle may be a literal translation of the name of the Malaysian disco legend of the ’60s and ’70s, M Daud Kilau, but don’t think the Singaporean band, who took the name for fun, sounds anything close to a disco beat. The post-rock four-piece are Amran Khamis (guitars), Johnny Mo (guitars), Farizwan Fajari (bass) and Zahir Sanosi (drums). They will be playing with supporting band Magnolian at Phonograph (G/F, 2 Austin Avenue, TST) on April 2. Door opens at 9pm and entry is $100 with one drink.

Holding On
Taiwanese rock diva Shino may be most freshly remembered for the recent blockbuster Cape No 7, but those who follow the Mandopop scene more closely will know the 35-year-old has been through a rollercoaster ride in her music career. From performing in hotels in Nagoya in the early ’90s to later playing in Taiwan pubs, the artist finally got a taste of fame with her debut album in 1998. Since then she has been embroiled in a conflict with her record label and parents, and endured a short-term withdrawal from show business after a drink driving accident in 2007. But who knows, maybe it has all empowered Shino to be a better musician. local fans will have the chance to see the new Shino at her Hold! Oh Life concert on April 8 at 8:15pm at the HITEC Star Hall. Tickets are $380, $280 and $180 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.