VIEW THIS PAGE March comes in like a lion, bringing with it spring, soon to be Spring Scream (春天吶喊), and the birth of all things new: leaves, flowers, baby animals — and brand new bands.
Paul Gouriet, who goes by the moniker Viba, was performing his live electronica in clubs when he decided to form a group: “Most people just thought I was a DJ,” he said. “I got to know musicians like Public Radio and saw the pull of live bands.”
He found bass player Justin Lewis (of Pan Africana, *see below) on Facebook, singer Claire Juan (阮筱芬) on MySpace, and drummer Kyle Bajcer through a story in the Taipei Times. They formed “funktronica” band Space Funk.
Juan enjoyed a brief stint of fame in 2007 with the release of a Mando-pop/trip-hop album, but it was difficult to gauge her true live potential at their show Feb. 21 at Bliss. She spent a lot of the set trying to see the sheaf of lyric sheets she had on the floor at her feet, which she sometimes crouched over, in an attempt to read in the light from camera flashes.
It’s a pity because during the moments when she did know the material her voice shone. When she’s able to focus on her singing range and fully engage with the audience, she seems capable of becoming a powerhouse of a performer.
Space Funk was well received by the audience, and had this reporter up and dancing — the most genuine seal of approval possible. Bajcer is at home on the drums, banging out the rhythm with a blissful smile on his face and completely in sync with Viba’s keyboards and faders.
Space Funk is playing with Money Shot Horns at VU Live House (地下絲絨) tomorrow, and the combination of the Horn’s polished explosion of a show with Space Funk’s new sound and Claire’s smoky vocals should make for a funkalicious night of dancing.
Indie rockers Hi-Life Wedding played at Vibe on Saturday to a fun crowd that had already been warmed up by punk band Hot Pink whose lead singer Sharkie had the audience laughing to bilingual language lessons that included how to say “have intercourse with your teacher” (in a much ruder way). When she was asked, “Do you?” she replied “No, only with my students,” to the delight of the crowd.
Hot Pink has been around since 2003, but Hi-Life Wedding pulled off a pretty pro show for its second gig ever. Guitarist and vocalist David Broman describes the group as “tight knit”; he and bassist Kate Boehms have played together for years and lead singer Steve Coetzee is an old friend. Drummer Brian Schoeck describes their music as “hard indie, garage pop, emotional grunge and jazz core” and has a propensity for removing his shirt.
Coetzee’s natural exuberance seems underexploited at this stage. Though at one point he picked up Broman by the feet and swung him around the dance floor in a helicopter ride that excited the crowd, the feeling remains that if the music were a bit more intense he would really bust loose. Boehms is restrained on bass, sitting on a stool for part of the set and not taking enough advantage of her showgirl looks or the musical rapport between her and guitarist Broman. As the band gets more confident on stage, hopefully more of this chained up energy will be released. Upcoming shows include Underworld on March 13 and Bliss on March 20.
A couple new acts have formed out of jam nights around town: Stoked Pokey, a duet with Brahm Gawdan and Jake Stanley, who met at the Riverside jam night; and The Blue Trucks, with James Murray, Erik Kolmarnicki of Gross Fugue and Dan Plimmer, drummer for Public Radio and Johnny Fatstacks, who wowed the crowd at Bliss’s jam night last Thursday in his band’s first public performance.
With a laid-back, pop/rock style of singing, teen-heartthrob good looks, and a proficiency in Mandarin that allows him to banter with the crowd, Stanley had the audience at Tone 56 eating out of his hand on Sunday.
In an unusual twist on composition, Stanley free-styles lyrics and sticks with them if they fit. It takes away from the depth possible with prewriting, but is an uncanny talent as his on-the-spot lyrics are as good as most in contemporary pop.
The Blue Trucks have only been playing together for a few months, but they blasted out some raucous rock that had drummer Plimmer visibly excited as he played, mouth open and tongue wagging. Singer and guitarist Kolmarnicki is at ease on stage but could come into the forefront more, and Murray’s Jim-Morrison-back-to-the-crowd stance, while offering a rocking version of plumber’s butt that befits the band’s name, obscured his performance. Their upcoming gig is on April 18 at VU Live House with New Hong Kong Hair City and The Deadly Vibes.
*Mike Tennant is New Hong Kong City's bass player, not Justin Lewis as was originally reported.
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