Fractured Scenes : Underground Music-Making in Hong Kong and East Asia

Fractured Scenes is the first extensive academic account of music and sound art practices that fall outside of the scope of ‘mainstream music’ in Hong Kong. It combines academic essays with original interviews conducted with prominent Hong Kong underground/independent musicians and sound artists as well as first hand-accounts by key local scene actors in order to survey genres such as experimental/noise music, deconstructed electronic music, indie-pop, punk, garage rock, sound art and DIY ‘computer’ music (among others). It examines these Hong Kong underground music practices in relief with specific case studies in Mainland China and Japan to begin re-defining the notion of a ‘musical underground’ in the context of contemporary Hong Kong. Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors List of Images 1: Introduction: Nomadism, Fragmentation, and Marginality - The Hong Kong Music Underground in the East Asian Context Defining Musical ‘Undergrounds’ Positioning Hong Kong in East Asian Undergrounds Locality, Translocalism, Sceneness Hong Kong Underground Music Scenes as Fractured Scenes Chapter Outlines Part One: Different Perspectives on the Hong Kong Underground Part Two Take 1: Individual Case Studies in Noise/Experimental/Free Improvisation Part Two Take 2: Individual Case Studies in Sound Art/Contemporary Approach Part Two Take 3: Individual Case Studies in Indie-Rock/Indie-Pop and Electronic Music Part Three: Inter/faces Mainland China Japan Towards a Plurality of Translocal Undergrounds in East Asia References Part One: Perspectives on the Hong Kong Underground 2: Ice Skating and Stinky Foods: Notes from the Hong Kong Underground, 2018–2019 Background to My Work and Residency Vessel: The First Night (October 9, 2019) Resonance: The Second Night (October 10, 2019) Bread: The Third Night (October 11, 2019) References 3: Interview with Xper.Xr. 4: Interview with Kung Chi Shing Part Two, Take 1: Individual Case Studies in Noise/Experimental Music/Free Improvisation 5: The Politics of Noise: An Interview with Sound Scientist Dennis Wong Foreword by Blair Reeve 6: Opportunities in Theatre Performing Arts Advancement in Bettering Underground Music Development: A Reflection on the Relevance of the Technical Production in Local/Global Experimental Music Performances 7: A “No-Venue Underground”: Making Experimental Music Around Hong Kong’s Lack of Performance Spaces Unit 7, 8th floor, Block B, Wah Tat Industrial Centre, 8–10 Wah Sing Street, Kwai Hing, Kowloon, Hong Kong Hijacking the City An Underground Without Ground References Part Two, Take 2: Individual Case Studies in Sound and Contemporary Art 8: Interview with Samson Young 9: Noises That No One Else Hears Listening Under Unstable Conditions The Work of Amateurs References 10: In Crevices, Stairwells, and Ever-Changing Tides: A Personal Reflection on Holding Up a Walking and Listening Body 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Appendix Part Two, Take 3: Individual Case Studies in Indie-­Rock/Indie-Pop and Electronic Music 11: From Indie to Underground: The Hong Kong DIY Rock Scene in the Post-Hidden Agenda Era An Art Village Born in an Industrial Zone Cultural Revitalisation as Social Cleansing Hidden Agenda (2009~2017) The ‘Post-Hidden Agenda’ Era References 12: The Transformation of Indie Music in Hong Kong Insights from Insiders Lyrics in Hong Kong’s Indie Music The Fall of Cantopop and the Rise of Indie Pop References Seminar 13: Underground Club Music After Social Media: A Study of Hong Kong Underground Club Music Scene Through Absurd TRAX from 2016 to 2018, A Personal Perspective Background: The ‘Deconstructed Club’ Music Where It Could Have Begun: Collectives, Labels, Social Media Platforms, Music Festivals, and Club Networks The Case of Hong Kong: From XXX, HKCR to Absurd TRAX XXX HKCR Absurd TRAX Conclusion References Part Three: Interfaces 14: Radical Participation: The Politics of Performance in Chinese Punk-Rock Concerts Creating a Scene in a Hostile Environment The Politics of Pogo Dancing Disciplined and Punished: The Visible Hand of the State During Punk and Rock Performances Conclusion References 15: An Underground Music Venue in Beijing: fRUITYSPACE Pressures on Zhai’s Vision for fRUITYSPACE References 16: History of Sound in the Arts in Japan Between the 1960s and 1990s Introduction Before “Sound Art”: 1960s and 1970s 1960s: Experimental Music and Environmental Art 1970s: Post Mono-Ha, Proto-Sound Art, and the Distinguished Trio in the Avant-Garde Sound World After “Sound Art”: 1980s and Beyond 1980s: Kankyō Ongaku and the Exhibitions 1990s: The Term Popularized Tentative Conclusion: 2000s and Beyond References 17: “Like the Apocalypse Is Imminent by Guys Who Could Barely Play Guitar”: Performing Amateurism in the Garage Rock Underground of Tokyo Introduction Garage Rock and the Revival of 1960s Rock and Roll Ama-chua-rizumu (Amateurism) in Japan “Fuzz-Mongering No-Names” and the Amateur Sensibility Amateurs at Work: Cultural Production and the Livehouse Scene Immediacy, Excess, and Garage Performance Conclusion References 18: Conclusion: Notes on Cities, Undergrounds and Closed Upper Rooms The Sociable Spaces of Culture Spaces of Culture, Spaces of the City References