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FIRST THINGS FIRST: all-girl band Dzap Dau Dau are not a girl band, they don't sing in Cantonese because it 'sounds wrong', and they reckon the music scene in Hong Kong is going backwards.

Attitude? They've got it in spades. The post-punk trio are also surprisingly upbeat, committed and in it for the long haul.

Dzap Dau Dau (literally 'pick up beans') is Meg Fung Kit-man, 26, on guitars and vocals, her sister Fung Po-man, 24, on bass, and childhood friend Myth Li Shuk-yee, 28, on drums and vocals. They've been playing  in this incarnation since early 2000, after the original 1996 lineup, under the name M2R, split. Li and Meg Fung were left standing and enlisted Po Fung to cement the trio, which is making a name  on the local underground scene.

Their obvious influences are early 1990s grunge - the  likes of Hole, Bikini Kill, Nirvana and Sleater-Kinney - but they also cite The Beatles and Mando-pop heartthrob David Tao as major influences. The result is raw and fiery.

And the girl band label?

'Being a girl band is just something that happened,' says Li. 'It was never a conscious decision. We really hate the label, and we don't promote ourselves as that. You'd be amazed how often we get asked about what we wear.'

'No one asks a boy band why they're all male members,' says Po Fung.

Fair enough. So, why do they prefer singing in Putonghua and English?

'Our songs sound rude and ugly in Cantonese,' says Li.

'It just sounds wrong,' says Meg Fung. 'I don't think I could stop myself from laughing if we did.'

And, finally, what's wrong with the Hong Kong music scene?

'The scene here is OK,' says Li, 'but it isn't improving at all.'

'It was better 10 years ago,' says Meg Fung. Her sister longs for the old days when bands such as Anodize, Virus and Midnight Party were around. 'There used to be more alternative record stores here, too,' says Po Fung. '[It was] much easier to find music.'

The band are recently back from a two-week tour of Taiwan, their fourth of the country in the current lineup, and the difference couldn't be more marked. 'There are more styles of music and many more live shows,' says Po Fung.

'Taiwan is very different to here,' says Li, who is half-Taiwanese. 'The venues always pay the bands, even if no one shows up, so you can make a living there.'

The highlight of the tour was performing at the Spring Scream festival in March - an annual four-day event that attracted more than 5,000 fans to see bands from all over the world. 'We've been going there for five years now,' says Li. 'It is a really fun experience and great to play.'

The girls also financed their own way to the Hua Yi Festival in Singapore and Malaysia in February to get a taste of some of the best up-and-coming Putonghua bands from around the region.

By comparison, there's a lack of suitable outlets in Hong Kong for bands and punters to hear new music. 'Radio isn't the best medium here,' says Li. 'It's the only medium.'

'There are just no places to hear good music,' says Meg Fung.

'People need to change the way they think here,' says Li. 'Too often, promoters think they're doing you a favour by letting you play their show. The reality is they don't pay anything, not even expenses. We even had our request for water turned down at one show.'

Then, there are the stores that don't hand over record sale earnings. 'Getting money back from record shops is just impossible,' says Meg Fung. 'They literally just disappear. The owners claim the store has shut down, and they've already thrown our CDs away - not to mention not having any money to pay us back.'

The climate might be tough for fresh talent, but Dzap Dau Dau have a do-it-yourself ethos that has enabled them to self-finance and release a debut disc, Pick Up the Beans. 'We designed it ourselves, recorded it with friends and manufactured it in Taiwan,' says Li.

'You just have to get on and do things yourselves here,' says Po Fung.

It is the band's second recorded effort, the first was a locally  released various artists album entitled No War, Peace On Earth, which also included tracks by Joey Tang and Starfruit.

Despite the obstacles, the bandmates are defiantly upbeat about the future and their achievements. Both Meg and Po Fung have quit their full-time design jobs to concentrate on the band.

'We'll keep going,' says Li. 'We're best friends. Plus, we get so much out of it. We get to go visit other countries, see other cultures, meet new people and always learn different things.'

With their debut released and plans to tour the US and Europe next year, Dzap Dau Dau look well-placed to establish themselves as a healthy tonic for the sickly sweet local scene.

Dzap Dau Dau, May 23,  Hoi Ping, Guangdong. Inquiries by e-mail to  dzapdaudau@ yahoo.com.hk or go to www.geocities.com/dzapdaudau



No girls aloud