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By Jess Kong

Indie bands, or “independent” bands, are attracting more and more attention in Hong Kong.

Instead of making music for the market, indie bands stick to their own musical styles.

Harry Wong, a disk jockey at FM Select Radio 104, described indie bands as free and boundless.

Said Maggie Chan, an indie band fan: “I love indie bands because their music is so different from what I watch on TV.

“To me, each indie band is unique. They have their own styles,” said Ms. Chan.

“As a fan, I would like indie bands to release more CDs,” said Ms. Chan. “But they had better use their own money than seek sponsorship from big record companies because those companies may restrict their styles.”

One local indie band, Utopia, was formed one and a half years ago.

Utopia has five members, aged 24 to 26. Tune and Sai are the guitar players; Wah is the bass guitar player; Tat is the drummer; and Yu is the vocalist.

According to FM Select’s Mr. Wong, it is not appropriate to view indie bands as representing a kind of musical style.

Tune explained, “Names of certain music styles like ‘jazz’, ‘hip-hop’ and ‘rock’ are used only by the media. Musicians do not classify their music.”

Said Sai: “Utopia plays music with a rock style, but it also contains a pop element.

“What we have are creativity and sincerity,” said he.

“Indie bands are so innovative that they stimulate Hong Kong music. We should give them more freedom and allow mistakes,” said Mr. Wong.

Money is important to indie bands.

They need equipment and a venue to play. Guitars, bass, drum sets and amplifiers cost about $20,000. Room rent is about  $200 per hour.

Said Yu: “The lack of money is the main obstacle to an indie band.”

Said Sai: “To us, it is a paradox because spending more time on music means having less time on work. So there is never enough money for us to play better music.”

Utopia would accept support from a record company only on the condition that the company allowed the band to have its own style.

Mr. Wong said, “If  indie bands are only to meet market demands, they will lose their values even if they become famous.”

Said Tune: “However, we have to consider the finances.

“The production of a single CD containing just four or five songs already costs $30,000, not to mention promotion costs.”

Forming a band is difficult because it is hard to find people who have similar attitudes towards music. It is even more difficult to maintain their relations and style.

“It is difficult to find a time when five of us are all available,” said Sai.

Live shows are the most exciting events for indie bands.

Utopia has live performances every two or three months, usually at schools.

According to Wah, more and more youngsters love their band’s sound.

Said Tune: “People as young as 14 or 15 play band music, but those around 18 to 20 are most actively involved in band music.”

As a result, more and more new bands are formed and promotion has become important for an indie band to stand out.

Lazy Mother Fucker is an indie band that has successfully stood out and become popular.

LMF is well known for its use of foul language in lyrics, an act that has aroused much attention in the media.

According to Mr. Wong, many factors must work together to make an indie band outstanding and popular.      

Said he: “First, there must be people who admire and support the band and its music.”

Second are channels of promotion.

“For example, LMF has some members who are already well-known. This helps promotion a lot,” said Mr. Wong.

Media coverage is also important for  popularity, according to Mr. Wong.

“Programmes that broadcast band music like those on Commercial Radio 2 let more people know about the bands,” said Mr. Wong.

Commercial Radio 2 also helped several indie bands to release compilation CDs.

Utopia released a compilation CD featuring other bands and  one of their own shows.

New technologies such as the Internet help indie bands promote their music.

“In the past, we had to put up posters on Nathan Road and music centres.”

“But now, posting online advertisements is more convenient and effective,” said Tune.

The indie bands also have some fans like Ms. Chan, who writes homepages for them.

Tune said they could thus concentrate on playing music because promotion is no longer their job.

Both Mr. Wong and Utopia are optimistic about the survival of indie bands.

Mr. Wong said, “An indie band has its own style and niche in the local music industry.

“It may have a bright future though it may not become the mainstream of Hong Kong music.”

Said Tat: “We hope that more people will listen to band music and truely admire indie bands.

“We also hope that both the audience and record companies will become more open-minded and the whole industry will become more united.”

Yu would like to see a crackdown on pirated CDs in the market.

“Pirated CDs affect the profits of record companies, reducing the willingness of the companies to explore the indie band market.

“So, the development of indie bands is being hindered,” said Yu.

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Jess Kong Indie band Utopia rehearsing in their studio.

‘Indie bands are so innovative that they stimulate Hong Kong music.’

Jess Kong Some indie band CDs are compilations featuring various artists.