TAIWANESE ROCKER Chang Cheng-yue springs to life when he's asked how he feels about Hong Kong audiences, which are known for being quiet and restrained even during raucous rock concerts.
'They're like audiences in Taiwan,' he says. 'But more self-conscious.' He then leaps from a sofa in the lounge of the Harbour Plaza Metropolis hotel in Hunghom and pulls up his T-shirt. 'They won't do things like this,' he says. 'I don't know why.'
Will Chang find such introverted audiences a tad boring? After all, he's something of a rock'n'roll wild man, with a penchant for baring his buttocks on stage and a sound that's been described as a cross between the heavy rock of Incubus and Blink 182 with the pop of Robbie Williams.
'I don't have a problem with audiences like that,' he says. 'I can sing if there are only two people watching.' At which he starts playing air guitar and singing: 'Oh, there's only you two left.'
Size doesn't matter, he says. 'I can sing in front of a 10,000-strong crowd, as well. To me, it's no different.'
After staging a handful of small-scale shows in Hong Kong over the years, Chang and his hard-rock band, Free 9, are booked to play at the city's biggest concert venue - the Hong Kong Coliseum - next Friday. It will be Chang's first local performance since an outdoor gig at the Tamar Site three years ago. With his local fan base enlarged significantly since then, there should be a lot more than just two enthusiastic punters turning up. The 30-year-old rocker - known to fans as 'A-Yue' - and his band have been touring non-stop in Taiwan and Asia in recent years, performing not only at pubs and music venues, but at schools and on the street. Being on the road has become part of their lives. 'We get inspiration through performing continuously,' Chang says.
A busy touring schedule allows Chang to promote his music and make a living amid shrinking sales of Chinese music. 'How can people learn about my music if they don't buy records any more?' he says. 'The best way is to get people to come and see you play live.'