Upbeat boys out to have a Fantastic Day
Taking your name from a Haircut 100 song isn't common practice on the local music scene. But with their keyboard-fuelled new-romantic pop, Fantastic Day are delightfully out of step with the musical climate - and loving every minute of it.
'We're very proud of what we do,' says drummer Simon Hui Kin Onn. 'With all the nu-metal and grunge bands around, we consider ourselves the antithesis to all that. There's so much anger and aggression in bands today. I like a bit of sissyness in music.'
Former singer and now manager of the band, Giorgio Wong Jin Vui has similar tastes. 'Really, we laugh at the music scene here in Hong Kong,' he says. 'We want to do something bigger - something they can hear in England and take notice of.'
Singaporeans Hui and Wong were brought together by their mutual love of music. 'Giorgio was very much my mentor at the time,' says Hui. 'I think he
gave me my job because of my vinyl collection.'
A mutual friend introduced the duo to guitarist Chan Chi-wai. He and vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Dee Chen Wai-yin met by chance in 2000 at a Primal Scream concert. Having created, then disbanded their previous band Mushroom, the two were looking for something new.
Completing the line-up, bassist Law Wai-lun joined the group having had no experience on the instrument. 'I was very nervous at first,' he says. 'I always played guitar at home, but this was my first time on bass.'
But it seems the nerves paid off. 'We tried several bassists,' Wong says. 'He fitted right in personality-wise, and was very steady on the bass.' Law had another advantage, according to Hui: 'He looks like Aaron Kwok.'
By 2003, original singer Wong had traded the mic for managerial duties and Fantastic Day were born. 'I think our music is what happens when two age groups collide,' says Wong. 'When Simon and I joined, there was an element of trying to influence each other. This culminated in a moment of enlightenment and we realised that we all wanted to make something simple and light-hearted.'
Taking in the early 90s Manchester sounds of the likes of the Inspiral Carpets and the Charlatans, and melding the jangle pop of the Trash Can Sinatras, Chen is the songwriting force behind the band. 'I don't really know what I look for in songs,' he says. 'I suppose the human being, life and love.'
The band have just done a new recording - the two-track single Are You Coming Back. 'There's no real reason for the recording,' Hui says. 'We have a 16-track studio in Kwai Hing, so we just record as we go. We've sent it to several European labels.
'We don't really have any ambition,' he says. 'We'd just like to encourage people to do their thing. Music is an escape for me. The highlight is getting together for our weekly sessions.'
All the band members are obsessed by music. 'We have an internal rivalry over who can find and get hold of the rarest, hardest to come by records,' Hui says.
'It's pretty geeky,' Wong says. 'But we all love it and we're always introducing new and old things to each other.'
