This just in from Hong Kong. Its Chief Executive has corrected the language of a journalist for asking a question at a press conference about the pro-democracy protests of 2019: “First of all, it is not [called] the 2019 protests. It is the black violence.” And: a 23-year-old has been charged under the Beijing-imposed national security laws for allegedly “intimidating the public in order to pursue political agenda”. He was attempting to stage a protest, otherwise known as a black violence. Also: a satirical cartoonist has been sacked after a government official complained about a drawing that mocked local elections, and his books were removed from libraries. When approached by the last signs of independent journalistic life in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Free Press, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department commented, “Books that are suspected to potentially violate national security law will be immediately removed for review.”
Scary, pathetic, not sane – it’s just the way things are now on the island. Hong Kong is still beautiful, still exciting to visit, still an amazement of good food and bright lights, but no longer free in any sense. I went there in March to attend the Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Of course I covered the literary festival but of course I covered the central event of life in Hong Kong: China, and China’s control. The stories were notes and observations from eight days and eight nights. Louisa Lim, about to appear at the Auckland Writers Festival, is the author of the deeply felt, innately knowledgeable book Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong. She grew up there. She was a journalist there during the 1997 handover. She left and may never return there.
Its dedication page reads, “To all those who really fucking love Hong Kong.” Lim really fucking loves Hong Kong. Her book is a cry of despair at what has been lost, and includes a rousing passage about hope, about Hong Kong regaining a sense of its own destiny – but she finished writing the book in 2021. I interviewed Lim ahead of her festival appearance this Friday, chaired by Newsroom supremo Sam Sachdeva. The first thing I asked was what has changed in Hong Kong since she finished the book, and the first thing she said was: “I would say things have got a lot worse.”
She meant the apparently unlimited power and reach of the national security laws, with 47 activists and journalists in jail or on bail awaiting trial. She meant changes to education, where children are required to salute the Chinese flag. She meant changes to local elections, which have effectively gutted the city’s last remaining democratic institutions, as mocked by the cartoonist whose work has been made to disappear. She meant all manner of things, including changes to that first line of defence always attacked by new masters – language.
Ahead of their concert to promote their new EP Dust, bc magazine spoke to TYNT‘s Rothchild Wong about the band and their new music.
For those readers who don’t yet know TYNT (why not?), can you introduce the band? Hello! We are a 4 piece music group formed in 2018 and still going strong. Hanz sings beautifully, Bunny plays guitar as Ruff and Steven stroke, twiddle and caress our synthesizers.
Covid has been difficult for Hongkongers, as a band how frustrating has it been not to be able to play live? Being in a band and working in the music scene in general over the last three years has been incredibly frustrating, though it is just one of many industries that have been ruined by the pandemic and lockdown procedures.
While artists have been able to focus on creating their music for a while, the music infrastructure like venues and promoters is still struggling with restrictions. Bigger venues like Macpherson, EMAX and West Kowloon are now able to host covid restricted concerts, but smaller music venues have long been out of work and business since 2020.
As a band, it is definitely frustrating that playing a show is so difficult these days, but in the grand scheme of things we are just one small piece of the whole puzzle.
How did the new EP Dust come about? Why Dust? Dust came about as a natural progression from our first album Symbol (2020). We had a few of these songs down a long time ago even before we completed Symbol, but the entire process got delayed multiple times these past years.
We thought that while these tracks sound like a new direction for us, we also see that the 5 tracks have a lot of our older identity, so we want to release them as an EP; a sort of transition before our next evolved form during the next album.
We came up with the title, because Dust seems to reflect the fleeting nature of time, and is always what is left at the end of the day. We thought this sentiment would fit this EP, which signifies a stage of development for us.
Talk us through the five tracks and the inspiration behind the songs? While our songs are usually developed after a spontaneous process of trial and experimentation, we do retrospectively look back at the work and find some references and inspiration to further complete the picture.
While not specifically referencing any artist in any certain song, we have been exploring more electronic/synth-based tonalities similar to those used by artists like Caribou and Baths.
Dust is a lot less dark/depressing/post-rock compared to Symbol, but it does have some dark and moody elements in Dogeyes and Hurtlocker. While Dai Mond and Freak are tracks where we have begun to experiment and incorporate other elements.
Where can readers buy Dust? Digital copies will be on sale at our TYNT bandcamp page. When the physical copies are ready, they will be available to purchase at most of HK main independent record stores.
Follow our instagram and facebook pages to find out more!
What next for Tynt? Hopefully after the show, we will have some time to work on our new songs. We will have a slot at the Tone Music Festival in October, but looking forward to playing more shows when things hopefully begin to open up even more!
Even looking behind the mirror there’s not been much to get excited about for local live music fans over the last 18 months as COVID and government regulations have decimated live music and concert venues.
Sometimes though, behind a cloud there is actually a silver lining as fans of the iconic hardcore band King Ly Chee found earlier this month with the surprise announcement of the band’s first concert in four years.
As resurrections go, this was totally unexpected – seismically similar to the ABBA reunion among pop fans perhaps – as the band’s break-up in 2017 seemed terminal with former members all getting involved in new bands and musical projects.
In 1999 when Pakistani frontman Riz Farooqi returned to his birthplace from New York ‘hardcore’ barely existed in Hong Kong. Riz though was a passionate devote… finding happiness, joy and release/freedom in the music and community.
Finding some like-minded musicians King Ly Chee was born and a generation of HongKongers found their voice and identity in Hong Kong hardcore.
bc magazine spoke with Riz Farooqi ahead of their new concerts:
King Ly Chee live again, honestly didn’t expect to see that to happen – how did it come about? The band ended in 2017. I carried the band through numerous lineup changes which I did because I had made a commitment to myself back when I started the band in 1999 that I would keep it going no matter what. So regardless of who left I just kept it going which is why it ended up feeling like a revolving door of members. But by 2017 I was done looking for new people – it finally came to a point that it just wasn’t right to keep replacing people. That particular lineup that ended in 2017 included a total of 5 people (Myself, Ivan, Brian, Ho, and Joe) who pretty much made the band their lives and dropped everything to be able to honour commitments when it came to shows, touring and recording.
So in 2017 it was done and I was ready to move on with my new band Dagger.
But then Covid came and put a complete stop to Dagger because my drummer, Ivan, lives in Macau. In fact the very last show I’ve played was two years ago when Dagger played at The Wanch in Feb of 2020 which was also the last time I saw Ivan. So it’s been two years of absolutely nothing going on in my life. NOTHING. I even started another band, Regret, in that time trying to get the fire going again. But the drummer of that band, Egas, ALSO lives in Macau.
I started reminiscing and a bunch of old KLC photos and videos kept popping up on my newsfeed. These photos were from an era of the band that was MOST beloved by Hong Kong. That’s not even an understatement…looking at all those photos and videos of people right here in Hong Kong losing their minds to this band was something that really meant a lot to me. Interestingly enough the drummer for that era is an amazing dude named Kevin (out of all the band members I’ve had the honour to play with in KLC, he was always the closest to me – like a full-on brother), just so happened was also missing that era too. I contacted Andy who played guitar back then and the three of us decided to try it out to see how it felt. It was just a quick jam – but we ripped through all those songs as if literally NO time had passed. After the first jam we all kinda sat there smiling from ear to ear.
There have been many members of King Ly Chee since 1999, who will be in the 2021-22 line-up? That’s the thing. When people ask if we’d ever reunite I always say, “which era”? For Hong Kong there was never any doubt that the ‘Stand Strong’ era would be it. So the band that is back together is myself, Kevin, and Andy (Unfortunately Alex is not in Hong Kong so it won’t include him, but our good friend Ho (also an ex-member of KLC) will be on bass).
What has it felt like to prepare for a gig and play the King Ly Chee songs again after such a long time? As mentioned above, it was like literally no time had passed. Kevin, Andy and I got right back into it and the craziest part was that the vibe was exactly the same from back then. People have to understand, we’re talking about something we did almost 20 years ago, and for it to click like the way it did today in 2021 is something none of us envisioned. But it felt right being back in the practice room together and we’re currently gearing up to play the first of our comeback shows. We’re STOKED.
For those who might recognise the name but don’t know the band, can you give us a quick potted history of who are/were King Ly Chee? King Ly Chee is a hardcore band I started back in 1999 as a way to introduce the world of “hardcore” to HKers. I wanted to introduce this underground culture in a language that was more easily digestible to the local population (Cantonese) because it’s what saved my life once (as did metal and punk rock) and I wanted to see if it could help others as well.
Are you going to record/film/live stream the upcoming King Ly Chee shows? The current plan is to film the first show back and then see what happens.
The first show sold out in minutes, the second almost as quickly – is King Ly Chee back as a band? Will there be any new KL songs? We have been totally shocked by how fast both shows sold out!
Yes, we have 2 brand new songs done and will continue to write into the new year. We’ve talked about maybe getting a brand new EP out in 2022 but will see how it goes. The most important thing about getting back together is to just have fun and put zero stress on each other. All of us are married, have full-time jobs, the majority of us have children, we’re just getting back together to have fun, play shows, write music, and use this all to have an excuse to be in the same room together.
Which of the various online music channels can readers buy/stream King Ly Chee? We’re on everything – bandcamp being the best because bands get paid the best on this platform.
Where can people purchase King Ly Chee albums, merchandise? Currently, the only store selling our stuff in Hong Kong is the amazing Infree Records in Mong Kok run by a true HK legend Soni. If you all haven’t visited this store yet, you’re missing out on an absolute cultural event.
As a musician what has been the hardest aspect of life under COVID? Not being able to play shows and tour. I couldn’t care less about recording – I actually HATE recording – being a studio musician/band has never interested me at all. For me the whole point of being in a band is to actually play shows in front of people engaging with music screaming their heads off.
Apart from the King Ly Chee gigs, what’s on the musical horizon for your other bands Dagger and Regret. Nothing else…not until it’s easier for people to travel to Hong Kong.
Apart from writing, singing and performing in three bands Riz Farooqi started and runs the hardcore website UniteAsia which brings together bands and fans of hardcore, punk, metal from across Asia.
Read bc magazine’s recent interview with Riz Farooqi about King Ly Chee resurrection here.
King Ly Chee are playing the third Tone Online Music Festival, 16 January at 5:30pm, catch the whole festival on TonemusicTV’s Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TONEMUSICTV.
Due to Covid restrictions, King Ly Chee’s gig on 22 January has been postponed.
Scandinavian dream pop trio Postiljonen – Norwegian singer Mia Bøe and two Swedish dudes Daniel Sjörs and Joel Nyström Holm – return to Hong Kong for a gig at MOM Livehouse on 21 November 2018.
Since 2011 the trio’s ethereal vocals interwoven with ambient and dreamy melodies have entranced fans across the globe and seen the release of two albums Skyler and Reverie. Ahead of their upcoming show bc spoke to Postiljonen about life as musicians.
In today’s era of instant gratification how does it feel as a band to have been around for almost a decade? What has kept you together? It feels like a natural part of our lives now, just something that’s there and always will be. I think maybe we’re still a band cause were just such good friends privately, it doesn’t really feel like it’s a ”career”.
How do you think your music has changed over time? Has it been an evolving process or have you made deliberate choices in music style/ direction? Not sure actually. You grow as a person and I think the music influences and inspirations grows with you.
Growing up who were the artists you listened to, were inspired by and why? Who do you listen to now? Mia listens to alot of folkie stuff, like Cat Power and Jeff Buckley. Joel’s into hip hop and Daniel’s into a lot of 90’s shoe-gaze stuff like Cocteau Twins and Galaxie 500 etc. Maybe the combinations of them makes our sound.
How does it feel to be a band that influences and inspires other musicians It’s only fun! You get proud.
Of the many songs you’ve written do each of you have a favourite and why? It’s always changing I guess, but I think we’re very proud of All That We Had Is Lost. Or The Open Road.
As a band which song would you most like to cover?
Hm don’t know. Maybe Rocket Man by Elton John could be fun to cover.
Do you find writing new songs a very organic process with the music and lyrics coming together smoothly or do you find one easier than the other? It’s always a non linear process when making a song. The lyrics, music and especially production always comes hand in hand. The production and soundscape is such an important part of our songs.
Have you found the creative process easier or harder over the years? It’s always changing, inspiration comes and goes. I think many artists can agree on that.
When you write songs are they written and structured to be open for interpretation live or do you think fans want to hear it as it’s recorded? It depends on what kind of show we’re doing. Sometimes we strip them down to the core and just focus on the melody and lyrics, but often we’d like to keep the production and sound when doing a live show.
After so many live shows how do you keep that raw honesty and intensity that make your gigs an amazing experience for the audience? Just focusing on those people that actually are in the room. They’ve paid to experience something, and you want to deliver that to them.
Do you have a favourite song to play live, which is it and why? Not sure.. Plastic Panorama? Or Atlantis, when the song reaches climax.
Does it frustrate you at gigs seeing people watching you through their phone screens rather than enjoying the real event in front of their eyes?They want to create memories, so I don’t think it really doesn’t matter.
What can readers and fans expect from the new tour?
A lot of dancing, love and dreamyness. Come as you are. And some new material!
Leg 4, Melbourne to Hong Kong, arrivals. 19 January, 2018.
Dongfeng was the second Volvo boat to arrive in Hong Kong to a pontoon full of the crew’s young children and the ‘Horace’ fan club down from Shenzhen for the evening.
bc was there to see all the joy, click on any photo to see the full gallery.
Scallywag sails up Victoria Harbour to win Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, and lead the fleet into their home port. It’s an historic win for team that grabbed the lead with a bold tactical call out of the Doldrums last weekend.
“We had a bit of a plan and we stuck to it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and this time it worked for us.”
In an extended Doldrums crossing Scallywag came from behind to what appeared to be a strong position, only to fall behind the fleet again late in the crossing. Witt and navigator Libby Greenhalgh made the decision to cut the corner, and turn to the west earlier than the rest of the fleet who kept pressing north in search of stronger winds.
The move paid dividends nearly immediately on the leaderboard as Scallywag had less miles to sail to the finish line, but the armchair pundits cautioned that the teams in the north would almost certainly overhaul them as the tradewinds filled in from the northeast…
It never happened.
Even when the team dropped miles recovering a man overboard after Alex Gough was swept off the boat by a wave, after executing a flawless recovery, Scallywag returned to racing and extended to nearly a 100-mile lead.
But then, the chasing boats began chipping away at the lead. Two days out from the finish, the margin had been cut significantly and the pressure mounted.
“I was really impressed by the way we operated over the past couple of days,” Witt said. “We had a pretty big lead and then through no fault of our own, about two-thirds of it got taken away. But we stuck to our guns, did what we thought was right and it’s worked out.”
Leg 4, Melbourne to Hong Kong, arrivals. 19 January, 2018.
With the Leg 4 win, Scallywag picks up 8 points (7 points for first place plus a one point win bonus). It will vault the team up to mid-fleet on the overall leaderboard, in a very respectable fourth place.
“It was always going to take us longer than the others to get up to speed as we were the last to enter,” Witt said. “All teams need a bit of confidence and I think one thing that is underrated in sport is momentum and this will certainly give the Scallywags plenty of that… We’re all still learning and we’re going to keep getting better as we go on.”
Witt has acknowledged the significance of the win as the local team leading the fleet into the first ever Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Hong Kong. For the team owner, Seng Huang Lee, who has supported Scallywag sailing over the years, it’s a big moment.
“We’re a privately owned team and our owner Mr. Lee has poured his passion and enthusiasm and vision into this project and this win will be very special for him… Winning this leg will be a massive platform for Scallywag going forward.”
Ahead of his concert with Diana Wang under the Big Top at the Great European Carnival bc magazine spoke to musician and entrepreneur Khalil Fong. The singer-songwriter and producer, who started his own label Fu Music a couple of years ago, is renowned for his innovative style onstage and off.
Who is Khalil Fong today? How would you describe yourself… musician, entrepreneur? Musically how do you think your sound has evolved over the years? I started off introducing the genre of soul and R&B to the mandarin market. Eventually I adapted a more eclectic and experimental mentality. Nothing too unusual or avant garde but just about reflecting my personal background and experiences in life and music. I guess you could say I’m one of the people in the industry trying to break boundaries and promote creativity.
Growing up who were the artists you listened to, inspired you and why? Who do you listen to now? In my younger years I would listen to Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, John Lee Hooker, Fats Domino, Charles Brown, Eric Clapton, Eddie Jefferson, Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Ivan Lins, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stevie Wonder, EWF, James Brown, Little Richard, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, MJ, Prince, Bill Evans, Steely Dan, Boyz II Men, Babyface, D’Angelo, Musiq Soulchild, N.E.R.D to name a few. These days I listen to Haim, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, John Mayer, Gary Clarke Jr., Chris Dave, Robert Glasper and the list goes on.
Of the many songs you’ve written what is your favourite and why? Which song would you most like to cover? Don’t really have a favorite song. I enjoy the experience of making music but I never enjoy listening to my own music since I’m heavily involved in the production and arranging of it all, there are no surprises left in it for me. I’d much rather listen to someone else’s material. There are an array of songs I’d love to cover someday. I have always had a plan to release an album of jazz standards later on.
You were fairly prolific in releasing songs and albums (and concerts) in the early part of your career, but they’ve dried up recently with almost nothing for two years. Why’s that? I have maintained an average of releasing an album about every 1-2 years. The last LP, Journey To The West, was released at the end of 2016. It was a double album of 20 plus songs that marked the start of a temporary hiatus from releasing full albums of original material. I had just established my own label Fu Music and wanted to focus on fostering our own artists. For the past year and a half I have been working on Diana Wang’s second LP which was just released in November. She herself is a talented songwriter and we worked closely on her album with two of the other producers within Fu Music, Derrick Sepnio and Fergus Chow. She is a Dutch born Chinese who like me grew up with a passion for R&B music and through her latest album you can hear where we are going with Chinese R&B and the fusion of different schools of thought.
Do you see the Fringe Backer campaign as a success or failure? You were targeting $10m but after two years you’ve been backed for barely $350,000? I went in to it with a totally experimental mentality. I thought well, Jessica Alba gave it a try as well as a few others and why not have a go at it. I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate and announce that I was starting my own label. If I got the funding, great, if not at least I tried. In some ways it would have been romantic if all the fans and music lovers hopped on board and made it easier for me to accomplish my label goals but I’m also a realist so I never had any expectations. I do want to thank the fans that believed in the project and supported it to the best of their abilities. In case anyone is wondering, that campaign ended long ago. As for my label, nothing is too easy and nothing is too difficult to accomplish but I think in the last year, it’s obvious to people that we are serious about what we are doing.
Do you think the relatively small amount of backing relative to your target shows a lack of appreciation for your music, or a lack of confidence in the viability of the business? At the end of the day, not everyone who loves listening to music are passionate about making music or are aware of the current challenges that face artists and musicians. I ask myself everyday, why am I still in this business that is suffering in so many ways? Because it’s my passion and it is what I believe in.
Is writing new songs a very organic process with the music and lyrics coming together smoothly or do you find one easier than the other? Writing and producing, is just like being in the kitchen. If you enjoy it, it’s rewarding, if you don’t it can be taxing and tedious. I enjoy both songwriting and cooking. I don’t write all of my lyrics as it is a common practice for Chinese music that there will be a designated lyricist for the task. Chinese lyrics are much more poetic and sometimes require more finesse than English.
Have you found the creative process easier or harder since you set up FU Music? Can you truly release what you want as you aspired when you set the company or are you even more commercially sensitive about what you release? Definitely easier. I want every artist or producer at Fu Music to collaborate and contribute their own ideas and be a part of creating the Fu brand.
Live, will the songs be much as you recorded them, or are they written and structured to be open for interpretation live? It really depends. There is no rule of thumb but often times the live versions are upgraded for a more colorful interpretation on stage.
With music having fully embraced digital distribution do you get the same sense of completion from releasing a digital only release, or is there a more satisfying feeling from having a physical release in your hand and seeing people buy a cd/cassette of your music? I will always love the thought of buying the latest record in a record store. However, as traditional as I am in that sense, I am absolutely aware of the implications and the actual reality of where things are headed. My only hope is that digital can evolve to be a more sustainable model for the music creators. Every album I have listened to in recent years is an album I have purchased digitally.
What can readers and fans expect from you show in the Big Top? Khalil Fong x Diana Wang and a unique carnival experience.
Khalil Fong & Diana Wang BillBoard Radio Live in Hong Kong Date: 8pm, 20 January, 2018 Venue: Central Harbourfront Tickets: $850, $750 from HKTicketing
