PERHAPS it's in keeping with Art Gallery's techno hip-hop sound. Certainly how they came to be formed is certainly in reverse order to most - the hardware came first - and a longer gestation period than most.
It all began seven years ago with Amen Wong Wai-kwong. The avid Depeche Mode fan loved the electronic sound so much he just had to create his own group. So off he went, investing $30,000 in synthesisers, speakers and a sound system.
He was ready to roll, except for want of band members. Wong, who knew he didn't have a great voice, wanted to work behind the scenes composing lyrics and arranging music. 'I can compose all the things by myself,' he said. 'And I figured I could I always find the vocalists later.' Wong soon set about scouting for singers. It was to be two years before he found his first recruit, Rose Choi Siu-ying, whom he spotted singing at a Sunday church service in Tsim Sha Tsui.
'Her voice is like some new romantic from England,' Wong said. 'It's very airy, not very strong, not very powerful, just soft.' Choi, who was working as a part-time school teacher at the time, was trained in classical music.
'At first I wasn't used to the sounds,' she said. 'I grew up singing classical music in the school and church choirs.' Still, she liked the techno beat and, after a little persuasion by Wong, decided to help him kick off his band, launching her on a new career path. Since joining Art Gallery, Choi has devoted her time to music and has found work singing back-up for a number of Canto-pop singers, including Lisa Wang Ming-chuen.
How the last recruit, 29-year-old Robert Lung Tse-chuen, came to join Wong's group was just as coincidental. In fact, the two had known each other for about 10 years, but it was until they were out with friends at a karaoke club that Wong discovered that his old friend was just who he had been looking for.
