Sarstruck rockers - article in todays' SCMP HK Newspaper

bbchris

Sarstruck rockers

By Clare Tyrrel

A TAIWAN HOTEL has ruined the plans of one of Hong Kong's most pioneering alternative musicians. Chris Bowers squats on the floor of the minuscule Mongkok rehearsal room as her band stand around somewhat dejectedly. ''I've been trying to go every year!'' shrieks the singer theatrically, breaking into a howling laugh. ''It's jinxed for me.''

The eye-catching Eurasian, with her mop of multicoloured hair and tattoos circling her arms, was set to travel this weekend with her new band Thinking Out Loud to the Spring Scream music festival in Taiwan. They had a headlining slot to fill, but the hotel at which they booked rooms has just called to inform them Hong Kongers are no longer welcome. There are fears of an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

With a town already full to the brim with festival-goers, the band have decided to ditch their travel plans and give in to caution. Couldn't they have camped? ''Oh, we could have, but I'm not camping,'' retorts Bowers, launching into another ear-piercing laugh. ''I'm a rock star. Not a f****** camper!''

Bowers is a recognised rock musician around town. Playing on Hong Kong's stages since 1989, she has dedicated most of her life to music, persuading other musicians to travel to Hong Kong and fiercely supporting local bands. She is best known as a co-founder of the notoriously loud, all-female rock act Sisters Of Sharon. When that band split last year, she remained active, jamming with a teenage rock band called Smoking Monkeys, running a music publishing company and becoming famous in cyberspace.

Her alias BBChris caused a riot at the MP3.com Web site earlier this year when she challenged guitarists around the globe to make their instruments sing the Cantonese translation of: ''I kick your ass on guitar with the two middle fingers of my left hand taped to my palm with duct tape.'' (The hilarious results can be heard at www.mp3.com/ducttape.)

Now backed by a group of men, Bowers seems to be truly hitting her musical prime. At Thinking Out Loud gigs, she struts the stage with all the swagger of a Mick Jagger, with the band behind her dressed in leather and delivering a tight blend of funk, rock and pop. Perfect timing for Bowers' first trip to one of Asia's most respected music festivals.

It is also a twist to the tale, that amid the cancellations of gigs in Hong Kong, a local band now feels prevented from travelling overseas. But for the other five Hong Kong bands billed to play, Sars isn't dampening their spirits. According to Spring Scream organiser Wade Davis, these Hong Kong bands are more than welcome: ''If they're allowed into the country, then we're psyched to have them here.''

Spring Scream is commonly referred to as Asia's Woodstock, a peaceful, grassroots gathering. Since the first festival eight years ago when a small group of bands jammed by the white, sandy beaches of Kanting, on the tropical southern tip of Taiwan, it has grown into a thriving four-day treat. Still small compared to Japan's Fuji Rock festival, Spring Scream has an anti-commercial edge, attracting hot new acts from around the region to the blissful surroundings. It began in 1994 when organisers Davis and Jimi Moe were drawn to the picturesque scenery of Kanting during their spring holidays. Davis, a San Francisco native, was new to Taiwan - teaching English after his travels around China. Having met Seattle-born Moe, the pair formed a band playing ''psycho-rasta-hillbilly-Taiwan-inspired-quirky-rock''. They noticed a vacuum in the island's music scene.

''At that time there were so few bands that actually played original music, every other band in Taiwan was a cover band,'' remembers Davis. The pair threw a bash and invited 20 Taiwanese bands to an open pub called Magic Studios with a few stages and a campsite.

The rest is history, and each year the festival has returned to coincide with the spring holidays. After the fourth year the hundreds of fans were turning into thousands and the epicentre was relocated to an area just outside Kanting town.

Stalls selling natural foods and crafts abound, with performance artists and an enormous skateboard ramp. Four stages branch out into hectares of campsites.

Davis and Moe have warded off offers from commercial sponsors and chosen instead to run the show themselves, in an organic and homemade way. It further enhanced the hippie vibe with the insistence that bands stop playing electronically at midnight - after which, musicians are asked to jam acoustically to allow the campers to sleep. This year 168 acts are scheduled to perform to a 3,000-strong crowd. ''There's a whole bunch of new bands from Taiwan who are sounding really good and inspiring,'' enthuses Davis. ''All of the Hong Kong bands are really a highlight for me this year, too.''

Those bound for Taiwan this weekend include King Lychee, a bunch of outrageous-looking punks who deliver socially responsible lyrics against racism, repression of freedom and damage to the environment. ''We've prepared leaflets for the audiences with our lyrics and anti-war messages,'' says guitarist Alex Chung. ''We really just want to get there and play the show.''

''It's the most amazing festival,'' adds vocalist Riz Farooqi. ''Though we are a little worried that in Taiwan people will react weirdly to us when they hear we're from Hong Kong.''

Doubts about the Sars panic doesn't cast a shadow on Yasushi Ogura. The drummer of grunge rock group Very Ape (comprising Japanese musicians based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen) is over the moon to be attending the festival for the third consecutive year. ''Of course we're going,'' he says. ''We never worry. A car accident is more likely than us getting ill.''

Very Ape are well-loved locally for their positive energy and entertaining and theatrical shows, which usually feature them donning face paint.

New punk rock act Hardpack, nu-metal band Lam Kei and expat-act Ultrastatic are also forging ahead with their travel plans. Guitarist Nick Wig Hawley from Ultrastatic says it's the perfect getaway to boost the immune system: ''We're going over on Saturday morning so we'll catch all the acts on Saturday, have a wander around the festival and the local beaches, maybe do a bit of skateboarding, have a few beers and generally relax.''

Spring Scream, until Sunday. For more info: www.springscream.com.

NRKofOver · Joined: 07 Sep 2002 Posts: 505

Quote:
''I'm a rock star. Not a f****** camper!''

This is seriously one of the coolest quotes in the history of all quotes!

Read all about ME!

Steve Iannetti · GweiLo Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Posts: 697

So much for suffering for one's ART.

Steve Iannetti

size="1"> Javamusic :
>mp3.com : Artistlaunch : 1Sound : My IX Page : href="http://www.zizzors.com">Official Web Site
href="http://www.carwreckrecords.com">Car Wreck Records :
>FAP : IndieLaunch : MP3 Australia : CDbaby

LarreeMP3 · Joined: 12 Apr 2002 Posts: 1935

I would like to get you zipped up in a sleeping bag under the stars!

:gl

bbchris · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2003 2:04 am Post subject: Re: There was a photo too!!!!!

You can go here to see a larger clearer version of the newspaper photo!!!!

LINK!

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

Great write-up , Chris!

=Ron=

bbchris

Notice how our sax player is a midget?

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

hahaa!

Is he really a midget? (I think the more politically correct and usually preferred term might be "little person"?)

The photo seems to me to be at a bit horizonally emphasized or something with the perspective seems that way.

Ron

bbchris

Sorry! Whoops! I meant little person! hahahahahhaa :banana

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

<<Sorry!>>

Hahaha - no need to be - I'm not at all very politically correct on such things.

Besides, even if a little person didn't like the term, it's not as if they could physically intimidate you too easily!

Of course, you do have to be sensitive and avoid saying things like "the band is going to take a *short* break..."

=Ron=

bbchris

hahahaha In fact that's what I said! hahahahahaha We HAVE to take short breaks or the guys consume too much alcohol...... hahahahahahahahahahaha :banana

Edited by: bbchris at: 4/7/03 5:35:50 am