Upclose with Born to Hula
We talk to fun-loving indie three-piece Born To Hula about double basses and the art of hula-ing.
HK Magazine: How did you guys meet?
BTH: Fate. Angus and June have been playing together in a band since they were kids. And last year, Harry was introduced to June by an Australian radio host traveling around Hong Kong. We were all dying to form a new band but we just lacked the right people. So we arranged a jam session, and after two hours we knew that a new band had been born.
HK: Can you describe your music style in a sentence?
BTH: Multicolored ping pong balls of punk, raining down from fluffy gray jazz clouds.
HK: You don't see too many rock bands with a double bass these days.
BTH: The double bass makes a useful canoe in times of emergency. With the rainy season upon us it would be dangerous to leave home without one. Our motto is always be prepared. Actually, it looks cool, and we want to look cool, too. It’s super annoying to carry around, though.
HK: Can you guys all hula?
BTH: Only the drummer! Hula-ing is surprisingly difficult.
HK: So Harry, you used to be pretty active in the UK indie scene. How would you compare our scene with them?
BTH: I’d say it’s just as hard in the UK to convince people that your band is worthwhile. When bands here complain that no one gets behind them, they’ve forgotten that the onus is on them to be exciting enough to be worth listening to. The other difference is the scene in the UK has more faith in its own imagination. There’s sometimes a tendency here to look to scenes in other countries for guidance.
HK: Looking forward to HK Live?
BTH: Of course! It’s another opportunity to wear stupid clothes and make some noise. We’d like to present some new songs as well.