Tastemaker: Anderson Muth, The Groove Thief
DJ Anderson Muth, a teacher by day, blogs about the good sounds produced in Hong Kong and around the world, writes Richard Lord
There's a large pile of beer cans in Anderson Muth's home. It is, he explains, not for personal use, but for an event he's putting on at a ferry pier in Central the next evening.
Sorting out the drinks for an event, in addition to DJing, promoting, arranging the line-up and in all probability clearing up the rubbish afterwards, is fairly typical of Muth, aka The Groove Thief, who is among Hong Kong's leading arbiters of musical taste. From this cosy, beer-filled flat in Shau Kei Wan, he has also taken it upon himself to write an eponymous blog that publicises and reviews all types of music produced and performed in Hong Kong, as well as plenty from around the world.
I felt there's so much cool stuff going on in Hong Kong ... and there's nowhere to find out about it all in one place
A treasure trove of quality local music, the blog makes Hong Kong's music scene, in contrast to what some people will tell you, feel vibrant, dynamic and fizzing with energy. He started it, he says, because he wanted to break down a few musical barriers. "I felt there's so much cool stuff going on in Hong Kong but everyone's doing their own thing, stuck in their own tiny bubble, and there's nowhere to find out about it all in one place," he says. "Things are so compartmentalised here, and that's also been a big motivator in my writing. If you like good music, you like good music. What I'm trying to do with most of my projects is foster a community. We're all trying to do the same thing in different ways … you shouldn't have to pick among them."
A habitual traveller for most of his adult life, Muth used to run a travel blog, but the subject changed to music when he settled in Hong Kong three years ago. As well as most of the good music produced in Hong Kong, it also reviews music from elsewhere, taking in just about anything Muth likes, but with a focus on reggae and in particular dub reggae. "Even in a small genre like dub, there's more going on than even an obsessive fan like me can listen to," he says.
He tries to balance enthusiasm with honesty in his writing, and doesn't review anything he doesn't like. Fortunately, there are plenty of gems he does like: in fact, while some weeks he only spends two or three hours on the blog, during others he can spend 20 or 30 hours. "Fortunately I have a very tolerant wife, who doesn't mind me spending so much time doing that."
Most of his readers are in Hong Kong, but the blog is also popular in the US and certain European countries, particularly Britain, France and Greece.