The band's name is Triple Six (666). They're a heavy metal band, but they don't worship demons or dress up in funny costumes.
They play straight-up thrash and hardcore with some rap and Emo thrown in, and they're possibly the hardest-hitting rock group in Taiwan.
“The name of our band is the number of Satan, but this doesn't mean that we're evil,” explained guitarist Wang Yuan-kang (王元康), 28, who goes by the stage name Chiusheng (秋生). “We just want people to look at the world in a different way.”
Triple Six — who perform this Sunday at the Wall — were formed in 2000 by singer Lu Yan-qing (呂彥慶), stage name Chicken Leg (雞腿), and bass player Joey Lin (林僑億), aka A-hen (阿亨), when their old band Pyromaniac (縱火狂) broke up.
They started out playing covers of White Zombie and Coal Chamber songs but quickly began writing their own material, which they now practice in a sound room they rigged themselves on the second floor of a factory in Jhonghe. Some 1,400 people have joined their Yahoo fan group (tw.club.yahoo.com/clubs/TripleSix).
The bandmembers, all of whom were born in 1978 or 1979, are an eclectic bunch. Lin sells plumbing and bathroom fixtures, while Gong is an air-conditioner salesman. One guitarist is a student who currently lives in Japan and plays with Triple Six during breaks from school (she will not be with the band on Sunday). The drummer used to be a member of alt-rockers 1976 and Sugar Plum Fairy (甜梅號).
Wang is an audio engineer at ETTV (東森). He got into hard rock in grade school because his father used to listen to Led Zeppelin and the Scorpions.
“When other kids were playing video games, I was listening to AC/DC,” he said.
In high school Wang took guitar lessons for a few weeks, then taught himself to play by looking at scores published in the English-language Guitar World magazine. This weekend he was at the Summer Sonic music festival in Japan, where he saw groups like Tool and Metallica.
Fans of both groups should find something to like in Triple Six's sound. Their lyrics often discuss social issues. Track seven on their new album Parasitic Fragility in You (寄生於你的脆弱) criticizes President Chen Shui-bian (陳水編) for exacerbating the country's ethnic divisions. Another track, TimeLock (時鎖), is an anti-war song.
“In Taiwan lots of people don't know what they want. They just go with the flow and do what everyone else does,” Wang said. “We want to wake people up. More people should think for themselves.”
Triple Six's web site is blog.webs-tv.net/user/triplesix666.html.
Performance notes:
Overdose, Triple Six (666), Lazy Lady and Gudingke (固定客) perform this Sunday at the Wall, B1, 200 Roosevelt Rd Sec 4 (北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). The first band goes on stage at 8pm. NT$300 tickets are available at the door.
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