Her day job as a clerk for an insurance company mightn't inspire her, but ask Karen Tang Yau-miu about her night job and she lights up. For four years, Tang has been promoting shows at venues that support experimental and underground music. This Saturday, she's scored a coup in bringing over Beijing-based emo-rock outfit Tookoo.
'I often check websites about bands in China,' she says, explaining how she got to know the music of a band that's never played outside the mainland. 'When I found Tookoo's site and listened to the music I thought it was cool, so I got in touch with them and invited them to play in Hong Kong.'
Although they describe themselves as China's first emo (emotional hardcore) band, Tookoo's music is more a medley of punk, hardcore and emo, despite song titles such as Rational Suicide and No-One Cares. Their promo material ranges from shots of the band dressed like Swedish alt-rockers The Hives in uniform black shirts and white ties, to ones of them sporting the tattoos and slogan T-shirts of any number of American alt-rock bands.
Guitarist Li Xiaochuan bristles at the suggestion that the band's image is important to them. It was only because they believed in their sound that they laboured for years performing a style of music that was misunderstood.
'When we introduced emo music to audiences here in China, most people despised us,' he says from his home in Beijing. 'It was only because people here follow music trends that we became fashionable.'
Tookoo - a play on the words 'too cool' - formed in 1999, and comprises: Li; his twin brother, Xiaoquan, on bass; drummer Jin Lei; and, from Xian, vocalist Yan Shuai; and organist Shiva G. All are 24. Unlike most bands that usually need to supplement their income with more conservative jobs, Tookoo are fulltime musicians.
