IT'S NOT HARD to see why live electronic music has such a low profile in Hong Kong. For one thing, it often involves strange, studio-tanned misfits concocting their own bleeps and bloops for a defiantly underground audience. And besides, why risk having some bedroom boffin alienating your clientele when you can get one of those covers bands who play Summer of '69 just like Bryan Adams does (but with more guitar solos), or a DJ who'll play whatever the drunken hordes demand?
With this in mind, b-max productions, the organisers of China X Hong Kong X Taiwan: Electronic Wondering Live, deserve some kudos. Featuring Hop Scotch singer Tian Yuan from the mainland, indie all-rounder Seasons Lee (Hong Kong) and down-tempo electro-poets Nylas (Taiwan), Electronic Wondering aims to promote 'electronic music and new ideas of performance'.
Electronic music is becoming popular because there's so much good software around, says b-max production manager Rukhsana: 'A lot of groups are now using computers to create and produce their music.'
However, she says the situation is different in Hong Kong. 'The people who go to parties listen to electronic music, but not many of them really appreciate it, because it's always used as background music,' Rukhsana says.
'Many people say that electronic music lacks vitality,' says Lee. 'Not like the power and release you get with rock. But it's always given me unexpected moments and feelings. I'll be using software to make some background music, and then playing over it with my guitarist,' says the veteran producer and performer, of his 40-minute set. 'It's not so much electronic music - just electronic music plus rock.'
Tian's set (with Hop Scotch band mate Limin) will also straddle the rock/electonica divide, with a variety of old and new Hop Scotch songs (such as I See You and Try To) performed on guitar and laptop. 'Our music's really hard to define,' she says. 'It's freestyle with maybe a little trip-hop as well, but not so dark. We still have a lot of acoustic instruments.'
As with Lee, Tian's stylistic choices seem to have as much to do with necessity as experimentation. 'Because there are only two of us we've had to do a lot of the music through computers,' she says. 'You can just do it yourself and it's very cheap, but if you want to record real instruments it takes a lot of time, money and trouble.'