[hot on a cold day] I want to talk about a room – artists inspired by Beyond

Bun Ng takes you back through Hong Kong’s independent music history, to dig through the cold past and uncover some of the scene’s warmest moments and memories.

The room is called B.room, and as the name suggests, some of you hardcore fans may know that the following article will in some way be related to local rock legends Beyond. Yet, I am going to take the spotlight away from Beyond this time, and instead focus on musicians and bands which started off as roadies of Beyond.

Many know Beyond’s band room is also called 2nd Floor Back Suite (二樓後座), which matches up with their 1994 album of the same name, and sometimes referred to as the B.room (B 房). I write it like that because a more well-known room is A.Room (A 房), the record company that Davy of L.M.F. founded. In fact, history has it that there are more rooms. A.Room is the Anodize band room, B.Room is the Beyond band room; and there is also the M.Room (M 房), which is the Midnight Party band room, as well as P.Room (P 房); Paul Wong’s (黃貫中) band room.

What I am interested in are the bands that eventually evolved out of B.Room (because Beyond has inspired many). Back in the day, as Beyond rose in popularity, the need for dedicated roadie became obvious, and two of the roadies, who ended up becoming stars in their own rights — were Yin (阿賢), the hottest session guitarist in town, and Sai Wai (細威), one of the hottest bass players in town. A less well-known member of the first roadie team was Siu Wan (小雲), who played sessions from time to time. Legend has it they practiced for hours and hours and quickly became very skilled musicians themselves, and subsequently formed the nearly instrumental band Midnight Party. Although star-studded even then, Midnight Party never grew to be a significant band because the members were quickly snatched to play in sessions. In no time, the band room where the members used to jam and practice came to exist as nothing but the common band room M.Room. Today, Yin is the contracted guitarist for many superstar cantopop artists, signed to very lucrative contracts. Sai Wai is a popular session player and also has a band called S.I.U., which is a jazz/experimental/chinese traditional music fusion outfit. And Siu Wan played in the 90s band Infradig with William Tang and the Burpee brothers, and subsequently in Family, which was allegedly an L.M.F. offshoot.

I asked Jimmy Mak (麥文威), then Anodize and L.M.F. bass player, and he basically supplied me with the length and width of this article. “I joined the crew in ’91 at the legendary concert. Sai Wai and Yin was then head of the crew, and Wong Koon Kie (黃貫其), Paul Wong’s brother, naturally, was Paul’s personal roadie. I am a bass player, but another musician, Siu Mei was Wong Kai Keung’s (王家强) roadie, so I became Wong Ka Kui’s (王家駒) roadie. Davy was the drummer roadie” Mak says. Today, Jimmy plays with Paul Wong and The Postman, a lineup that include Kie on guitar, and Sik (the legendary chairman of the Heavy Metal Association) on drums. According to Jimmy, the first roadies were called Ben and Gordon, and they formed a band called About, which were a one-time supporting band for Beyond at a show at The Fringe, but nothing really came of them.

Since both Beyond and Anodize were both and successful and popular at the time, it would come to pass that a whole group of young men were helping them out. They were basically helping the groups out based on whether it was an A.Room show or a B.Room show, so in a way it was sort of representative. And eventually, M.Room and P.Room joined this extended ‘room-based’ family. I think some of you have been to some of the rooms. I have only been in M.Room, so I’m not very authoritative on these room matters.

I am particularly interested in these rooms not because the rooms are special, but the people whom grew out of them are. While you could say that they were just Beyond roadies, many of them have grown into very successful artists. A.Room by now is A.Room production, a full-fledged record label/production house most well-known for L.M.F. releases. We now also know the story behind popular session players such as Yin and Sai Wai. Along with those who adopted a career in music, there was quite a few that eventually left the industry. The band Outsider was one, and Lam Kee was another band that was part of the Beyond family band, formed by Sammy So, of Kolor fame and others.

I asked Jimmy again, if there was any other bands that inspired a group of bands through working with them. After some moments of pondering, he wasn’t able to think of any. But even for new bands, it is debatable whether they are better than Beyond? Has any been able to achieve as much as or more than Beyond? Trying to make sense of this, Jimmy explains: “Maybe the new bands have a great skill, but Beyond can write songs that are simple and moving. At the same time, the songs are easier to play. That is a greatness that we have not seen again.”

In fact, the “Beyond roadie” story no longer has the same flair, Lam Kee and the Sammy story could very well be the last. Since that time we haven’t seen a long term roadie with a significant band much at all. Jimmy said the three Beyond members all signed bands. Paul Wong signed King Ly Chee around 10 years ago, Wong Ka Keung signed Kolor, which Sammy formed, and Yip Sai Wing signed Ever, and they all went on their separate paths to fame. Sammy So would be the latest B.Room roadie who went on to greatness.

Flash forward to the present and A.Room has moved, and is now a dedicated production studio. M.Room is no longer. And B.Room and P.Room are still at the same locations.

-Bun

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