Tastemaker: Craig Lomas of BeatingHeart studio
BeatingHeart studio helps fill the need for a quality recording and rehearsal space
Although it has been discovered by the switched-on circle who caught the November performance by The Libertines' Carl Barat or watched American dance-punk outfit !!! warm up for their December appearance at the Clockenflap festival, BeatingHeart studio remains one of the Hong Kong music scene's best-kept secrets.
Located in an industrial building in Shek Tong Tsui - that odd hinterland joining Western district with Kennedy Town - BeatingHeart offers local bands an opportunity to rehearse and record on a world-class stage with professional sound equipment and lighting, and also occasionally hosts live gigs.
BeatingHeart was opened last March by Craig Lomas, who arrived from London in 2006, with a successful career in the software industry - and a guitar. Born in Melbourne to a Tahitian-Chinese mother and a father from outside Manchester, Lomas is a poster boy for the third-culture blend Hong Kong is known for.
"I had just come out of a relationship in England and one day was walking past a guitar shop. I went in, picked up this guitar and started playing again after so many years away from it because of my job. I brought this new guitar with me when my job took me to Hong Kong and I just fell in love with the city and started playing music with some friends," he says.
But like other budding musicians in Hong Kong, Lomas was frustrated by the search for a suitable rehearsal space. "If you're a band rehearsing in Hong Kong, your choices are basically limited to a 100 sq ft studio in either Mong Kok or Wan Chai where the equipment has been thrashed to pieces and you can't really hear yourself."
So he decided to do something about it. "I was looking for a space where I could carry on doing the same kind of thing, and also doing production, recording and so on. I had been looking around Chai Wan but miraculously found this place in Shek Tong Tsui. It just took off from there as a project. I focused on creating a place that would allow myself and other bands to come and play, and also be a comfortable place to hang out, write, record and also do small performances."