MUSIC AND SOCIO-POLITICAL change have often enjoyed a harmonious relationship. From Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, protest singers and songs have accompanied social unrest. Now, local band Gayamyan have created a soundtrack to their interpretation of our own shifting times. For the past two years, the band have co-operated with the Zuni Icosahedron drama group on a series of pieces entitled East Wing, West Wing. The show reflects on Hong Kong's political situation. Directors Edward Lam and Mathias Woo say they were keen to have the band involved from the start. 'Gayamyan are unique in the Hong Kong pop scene,' Lam says. 'They're socially and politically conscious. They don't shy away from expressing their views. 'Our show is a political satire, based on what's happening and going to happen from now to the September 12 Legco election. We want to inspire, entertain and stimulate thoughts about what exactly democracy is, Hong Kong style.' The four members of Gayamyan have played together since 2000. Before that, singer Cedric Chan Ho-fung and guitarist Rodney Ma Lap-yin were in the band Luk Ming Chun. They recruited bassist Alex Li Sze-chit and drummer and mixing/recording specialist 'Fei Jai' Ming. Gayamyan literally translates from Cantonese as 'fake voice singer'. 'Because we know we're not engaged in any particular style - we're not grunge or hip-hop or whatever - we don't want to have our music stereotyped,' Chan says. 'So we chose this name. Just as a person can change his face and makeup all the time, we change our sound.' The band revel in the ambiguity and the freedom this affords. 'Our music is very easy to describe, though very hard to truly understand,' Chan says. 'Basically, it's generated by guitars, bass, drums, vocals and some computer programming - though within these boundaries we can create anything. Every one of us has different musical preferences. For example, Fei Jai loves Rage Against the Machine. Rodney loves Muse. Right now, I'm listening mostly to Billie Holiday. It pulls us in lots of different directions.' Ming agrees. 'It's great,' he says. 'We keep introducing CDs to each other. We always have lots to listen to, and as a result we're always changing.' Gayamyan's self-titled debut was released in 2002, and distributed through 89268 records. Since then, the band has featured on numerous compilation albums, and contributed to different projects, individually and together. East Wing, West Wing deals with issues that are close to their hearts. 'It's so important for people to think about our political situation,' says Chan. 'And understand what's going on, because it shapes all of our futures.' Subtitled Mic On!! Mic Off!!, the play is now in its third incarnation. It touches on issues such as Sam Hui Koon-kit's return to the airwaves (mic on) and the departure of the hosts of the talk show Teacup in a Storm (mic off). 'This show talks more about how the media relates to Hong Kong people and the political environment,' says Chan. 'It also focuses on the election. The last show focused on how people could release their anger. We covered issues like Sars, Article 23 and the July 1 march. This time, we ask questions such as: What does the media mean to Hongkongers? How does it reflect the core values of the population and how does this relate to freedom? We also ask if Hong Kong people deserve democracy? The topics are serious, but will it be fun? I think looking at oneself can always be fun if you're open and honest enough. 'We use many comedy techniques to ask the questions: stand-up comedy, farce, songs, duet comedies - all getting the message across.' The band members say they're generally cynical about the political environment. 'The situation here isn't very healthy,' says Chan. 'Not many people are providing a possible plan for the future elections. Too many use democracy as a kind of obscure hope, with- out following through with any kind of strategy.' Ming says: 'People here are so accustomed to choice. Growing up in this market economy, we always want to choose. There's a saying that, in a successful society, there should be democracy and also an elite. Here, there's neither. We don't have an elite who'll take responsibility. By elite, I mean those with real power and ability to mobilise people. The central government doesn't want us to have an elite class.' Although they are pessimistic about Hong Kong's political situation, Gayamyan say they appreciate that they at least have the freedom to feel that way. 'To create the music, we had to go through a rethink . about the situation we're in and what we can each do about it,' Ming says. They say they particularly enjoy collaborations, such as East Wing, West Wing, which stars Carmen Wu, David Yeung, Carson Chung, Sheiley Yip and Tanya Chan. 'We discuss the lyrical content with the play people,' says Chan. 'But otherwise we're pretty free to do what we want. The first time we tried this, they gave us two criteria: to write a fast song and a slow one. We have a lot of freedom to do what we want. 'The play is really a comedy - sometimes laughing at others, sometimes at ourselves. Musically, through our work here, Gayamyan want to make fun of so-called pop music.' The band have only tentative plans for the future. 'We'll do an album before the end of the year' Ming says. 'Beyond that, we don't like to look too far ahead. No one knows what will happen.' An EP featuring songs from all three East Wing, West Wing versions will be released later this month, to accompany the show. East Wing, West Wing 2004 - Mic On!! Mic Off!!, Aug 13 - Sep 5, Shouson Theatre, HK Arts Centre. Inquiries: 2893 8704.