What do Japanese rock guitarist Sugizo, taiko master Leonard Eto, 'conga king' Mabi and multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler have in common? Other than being seasoned musicians and performers, they have all collaborated with British drummer Peter Edward Clarke, better known as Budgie of the goth-rock post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees. And it is through this connection the five artists will share the same stage for the first time this November at the New Vision Arts Festival.
'We didn't just randomly throw them together,' says Shirley Tsui Sau-yin, a senior manager with the Festivals Office, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, that organises the biennial cultural event.
'I met Budgie at last year's Silk Road Festival; he was at a show with his friend who is from Hong Kong and ... he expressed interest in working with us. This programme is special because the five musicians have never performed together before.'
The Butterfly Effect is billed as an 'East-West percussion parade' and the idea, according to Tsui, is to put the three drummers with totally diverse backgrounds together with two also very different guitarists and see sparks fly. Sugizo, of superbands Luna Sea and X Japan, is perhaps the best known in this region and will be the show's top draw. The two concerts will be staged at Sha Tin Town Hall.
'These are artists with extremely busy schedules as you can imagine so we are lucky they all found a slot in November,' says Tsui. 'They will start rehearsing 10 days before the concerts and Budgie, who is currently based in Germany, has composed a piece to reflect the rhythm of this city.'
The New Vision Arts Festival, which runs from October 15 to November 21, could have easily opened with this programme had the musicians been able to come a month earlier. But as it stands, Tsui and her team found another renowned artist to kick off the biennial cultural extravaganza which is into its fifth edition.
