Plenty of pre-packaged punk rock acts have drifted across the mainstream consciousness in recent years - bands with the right clothes, but the wrong attitude. But Hong Kong might at last have found its first punk stars in Hardpack. The five-piece made a name for themselves with their performance at the Rockit Festival last November, electrifying the audience with hard-hitting songs that were at once funny and fast enough to get the crowd jumping. This month, the band earned a slot at HK Live!, alongside mainstream Macanese duo Soler. From their roots as an underground outfit, Hardpack now boasts some of the city's best musicians. Most are Hong Kong-born, but have spent time overseas, in Australia, Britain or Singapore. Drummer Kevin Li, with his tattoos and mohawk, was with local hardcore outfit King Ly Chee, and also plays as a session drummer for some of the city's best-known Canto-pop acts. His fast and furious style drives the band's sound. In a heavy Australian accent - he spent his teenage years in Melbourne - Li credits Davy Chan of defunct hip-hop group LMF for his tighter approach and King Ly Chee for his energy. 'The music they play trains up your stamina,' he says. Vocalist Ah Fai (aka Chan Wai-hung, or Phat as he's known in English) is the latest addition to the Hardpack lineup. The dimple-cheeked rapper made his name with LMF. The core of the band formed four years ago. That's when founding members and guitarists Joseph Leung Kin-hang and Li Ka-ki (aka KK) found themselves disillusioned with what they were doing, and decided to start a punk band. 'At the time, there weren't any Chinese punk bands in Hong Kong,' says Kevin Li. 'And they weren't handsome enough to start a bloody boy band. Joseph was studying his A-levels, about to go to university.' 'I was in England,' says Leung. 'KK rang me up and said, 'Hey, let's form a punk band'.' So Leung quit school and returned to Hong Kong. The name Hardpack is a reference to cigarette packets. 'We called a box of cigarettes a hard pack when I was living in Singapore,' says Li Ka-ki. 'When you open up the box there's 20 cigarettes tightly packed together - just like life in Hong Kong, living in such small spaces.' The band say their punk rock sound has been influenced by the years they've spent abroad. 'In Singapore there was Green Day on the radio,' says Li Ka-ki. 'But in Hong Kong there was no alternative radio.' Regardless of their influences, Hardpack's sound has a distinctive Hong Kong edge. This is Cantonese punk - with a seriously upbeat vibe. 'Punk is about being happy all the time, being who you are, and doing what you want to do,' Leung says. Their songs are about the simple things in life, with many taking a comical view of love. 'They're songs about love, friendship and school life, although none of us are in school,' Leung says. 'And now we've got two songs that are more aggressive,' says Kevin Li. 'I Don't Think So is dedicated to a band who played last year at Rockit and said they were the only punk band in Hong Kong. 'But we're not anti-government and all that stuff. We're talking about daily life. We're not so tough that we can say the government is treating us badly, and we're not cool enough to say that we care about the poor. We're more like punk, fun rock. We're a phunk rock band.' Hardpack, with Qiu Hong, Ziyo Audio Traffic, ATP and Little Fat Pig, Sat, 7pm, the Warehouse, 116 Aberdeen Main Rd, Aberdeen, $50 (door). Inquiries: 6011 4460
