It was not money, but a passion for some of Hong Kong’s most obscure music, and the people who make it, that led Nick Langford, Blair Reeve and Joshua Thomson to launch music zine Press : Release , the trio say. Limited to 100 copies per issue, with a second edition due next month, the idea of the quarterly is “to expose niche genres that don’t get much coverage: like experimental electronica, punk rock, dub techno, as well as music that’s undefinable”, says Reeve, a children’s book author and poetry teacher, who writes most of the features, reviews and interviews found in the zine’s pages. Despite their speaking only “taxi Cantonese”, Langford and Reeve have immersed themselves in Hong Kong’s underground music culture, attending as many gigs as they can, while Thomson looks after the artwork. “Often I’ll be the only Westerner at a show, and people will be surprised to see me there,” Reeve says. “But the thing about live music is that it draws people together – people are always warm and welcoming.” People say, ‘There’s nothing going on in Hong Kong’ and that’s not true. It’s out there: often in small venues, and, sometimes, people’s apartments Nick Langford For Langford, a self-confessed “obsessive music geek” and the founder of Vintage Vinyl HK, a monthly record fair, the look and feel of the booklet is as important as the writing inside: the cover is printed using a letterpress, with a hand-stamped issue number and Hong Kong flag. On the surface, Hong Kong might not appear to be as musically active as, say, New York or London. But anyone who is sceptical about whether there will be enough material to fill a regular publication isn’t looking closely enough, Langford suggests. “People say, ‘There’s nothing going on in Hong Kong’ and that’s not true. It’s out there: often in small venues, and, sometimes, people’s apartments.” The zine is available from facebook.com/pressreleasezine and at the Arts and Culture Outreach bookstore (14/F, 365 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai).