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Blast The Sound: Red Alert
Interviewed by olibia & scuzzybum
In conjunction, with the Chinese pop/rock/metal gig "Blast The Sound - Red Alert" (scuzzybum says: I think it is Red Alert... well, that is what I translate from the Chinese words anyway) on the 14th of March, Pure Rock decided to do a small feature on the Chinese bands of our local scene. We went to the gig and had a short interview with each of the 5 bands that performed as to introduce them to the visitors of our website. The bands that performed were Revv, LGF, L'ze.fier, V’s and Heaven & Earth.
REVV
Revv, a 5 piece band with a female rhythm guitarist, actually means "Revolution" and the band explained that the name was chosen as they want to Revolutionise the local Chinese rock scene.
PR: How long have you guys been together?
Revv: We have been together since early August ’03.
PR: What does the band play most of the time?
Revv: The band usually concentrates on playing originals but we do not restrict ourselves to having influences from just one genre.
PR: What are your influences?
Revv: We have many influences... from Beyond, LMF, to Dave Matthew’s band and even one of the bands playing today, Heaven & Earth.
PR: Any long term plans made for the band?
Revv: We hope to help promote the local Chinese scene, as it is very weak right now. And of course, we hope to make a name for ourselves.
PR: What do you think of the scene in general?
Revv: We all feel that the local bands have not enough exposure. The music scene is in a way, tarnished by the media. Mainstream labels reign the masses and foreign acts in the media are mainly templates. The music most of these foreign acts play is not from the heart and soul. We hope there would be more screams and support for the scene.
LGF
LGF which can mean anything from Little Green Frog to Lost Gal Friend or even Lazy Greedy Fatty (we discovered this when we surfed their webbie). This name was chosen by this female fronted 6 piece band as an example of the band’s way of showing the freedom of their music.
PR: How long have you guys been together?
LGF: We have been playing together for 2 years plus.
PR: What does the band play most of the time?
LGF: We play a mixture of all the members’ influences, such as Retro, J Rock, Alternative, Chinese Pop Rock, fused together. We don’t like to be labeled and are still finding our direction.
PR: What are your influences?
LGF: Our influences range from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Ayumi Hamasaki to electronica and even Gao Ling Feng.
PR: Any long term plans made for the band?
LGF: The band hopes to participate in more regional festivals just like Baybeats.
PR: What do you think of the scene in general?
LGF: More exposure & support is needed. The most important factor is the crowd. The people must have fun as the band is nothing without the fans. We also wish there were more scaled-up gigs as the gigs currently are too small. In the local current state, just remember this... "Having fun is most important".
L'ZE.FIER
L'ze.fier, which means freedom to music or free expression of sound, is a 5 piece band.
PR: How long have you guys been together?
L'ze.fier: We have been together since 1999, with a 2 year break somewhere in between.
PR: What does the band play most of the time?
L'ze.fier: Diverse forms of music to form a new kind of sound.
PR: What are your influences?
L'ze.fier: Rock, Ballads, Punk, Ol’ Skool, etc.
PR: Any long term plans made for the band?
L'ze.fier: We plan to cut an album and provide the "backbone" for the local Chinese scene. It’s a big dream but we’re gonna try.
PR: What do you think of the scene in general?
L'ze.fier: Mainly just more support.
V’S
A mature looking 5 piece band like LGF, chooses V’s as their name as it can mean anything, and shows that there are no restrictions in the music they play.
PR: How long have you guys been together?
V’s: We have been together for 8 years.
PR: What does the band play most of the time?
V’s: We play mostly Chinese, Cantonese rock.
PR: What are your influences?
V’s: We have very diverse influences and we listen to anything as long as it is rock music. (One of them joked that we should listen to them play Malay rock.)
PR: Any long term plans made for the band?
V’s: We had been offered a contract by a record company but we are still thinking of what we, both as individuals and a band, really want to do in future. But now, at least we have our final lineup. (The vocalist’s brother, who is the bassist, has left the band and this was his final gig. He was replaced halfway through the gig.)
PR: What do you think of the scene in general?
V’s: We hope the people would support music for itself, regardless of anything. They shouldn’t let citizenship, race, etc., effect how they look at our music. There should be no barriers and the locals should not keep a mindset of such; ‘foreign talent is always better’.
HEAVEN & EARTH
PR: How long have you guys been together?
Heaven & Earth: We have been together for 12 years since ’92 with some off periods in between.
PR: What does the band play most of the time?
Heaven & Earth: We play Chinese heavy metal most of the time.
PR: What are your influences?
Heaven & Earth: Megadeth, Gun N’ Roses, Metallica, etc. We fuse all these to form our own music.
PR: Any long term plans made for the band?
Heaven & Earth: We have been together for so long and now we are only playing for the love of music. We have no plans to make an album due to the lack of cash, though we have an E.P. out. Well, basically our dreams have worn themselves out.
PR: What do you think of the scene in general?
Heaven & Earth: The music we play does not appeal to the masses so as much as we would like to ‘reach’ to all music lovers, it had been difficult to do so.
And so, we come to the end of our interview with the 5 Chinese bands. It is obvious that these bands (ALL the bands in the scene actually) need all the support they can get; otherwise years of fire and passion in hope of making drastic changes, will slowly diminish. For example, the band Heaven & Earth. Even with a 12 year history, they had already given up their dreams and are just performing for the love of the music.
Another thing that we like to point out is what the 5 bands mentioned about the lack of support for their scene. This can be proven by just comparing numbers with the other gigs of other genres. The vast difference disheartens and saddens. We also sincerely hope that our fellow mates will give equal support to all local bands in the scene regardless of race or colour. |
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