Being an outsider is not easy, especially in this capital of Canto-pop where manufactured pop idols rule and conformity is the law.
That's why Sean P. Yung, frontman of local alternative rock band Unixx, is setting his sights further afield. All 12 songs on the band's debut album Nasty Fantasy - distributed by local indie music label 89268 - are written in English, as the outfit hopes to target not only Cantonese-speaking audiences.
'Our dreams are not inaccessible, like performing live shows overseas and having our albums sold in other countries,' said Sean. 'We are aware that the Hong Kong market is a dead end for us. But we are based here, so we must first start from here and let people get to know our band. We can then develop step by step.'
Sean formed Unixx in 2001 and teamed up with bassist Dickey Chan, with whom he had played in the band Nameless in the mid-1990s, in 2002. Together with drummer Lego Shum, the band started recording Nasty Fantasy in 2003.
Today Unixx comprises Sean, Dickey, Lamb Ng the new guitarist, and Tatsu Yiu, the drummer who replaced Lego.
The songs in the album, all penned by Sean during the past decade, are a fusion of a variety of musical styles including brit pop, shoegaze, noisenik, post punk and grunge. Most of them are dark and depressing, lamenting the emptiness, alienation, distrust and helplessness that comes with city life.
'We want to present the darker side of society, things that people avoid mentioning,' said Sean.