Make Some Noise

As a record store, music distributor, event promoter and record label, White Noise has been a mainstay of independent music in Hong Kong since its inception in 2004. In April of that year, founder Gary Ieong and his three partners, all music buffs in their own right, opened a store in Causeway Bay with a small CD and vinyl collection comprised of records that were otherwise unavailable and obscure in town.

“People used to say our collection was similar to the famous American store Amoeba—with noise, indie and some Japanese underground,” says Ieong.

Concurrent to running the store, White Noise undertook responsibility for distributing the music of some local indie bands and subsequently organized a few in-store album release shows at their then 50-60 person capacity space (they’ve since moved to a smaller location).

Pleased with the relative success of these homegrown shows and to further local engagement with the widening spectrum of international music they were distributing, Ieong and friends began putting on live shows—both in-store and elsewhere—for various overseas indie acts and artists. Describing their concert decision-making philosophy, Ieong says “It’s not for the money.

The first thing is that we need to like the music [and] sell it through our distribution company.” Ólafur Arnalds, Efterklang, World’s End Girlfriend and Toe are just a few of the names on White Noise’s concert c.v that were introduced to Hong Kong audiences for the first time. World’s End Girlfriend and Toe are also the sole artists on the White Noise record label, which to date has released an album by the former and two by the latter.

Though increasing focus is on artists whose music they directly sell and distribute, White Noise is also a regular ticketing venue for events organized by other independent show promoters. Clarifying this role, Ieong says “We just help other promoters sell tickets, […] but sometimes we’re nonprofit [and] don’t charge for these sales.”