http://www.neocha.com/sleptinspray zh-cn © 2006-2008, Neocha. Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:24:18 GMT http://www.neocha.com/sleptinspray/blog!14561.html

mandobeat:spray awakening !

The mesmerizing Slept in Spray is unafraid to boldly go where very few Asian bands dare…

It is Friday and I’ve been invited to a late-night band practice in Fo Tan. It’s a ghost town at this time of night, the buildings mostly used for industrial storage. I almost expect a lone wolf to lope across the street. Slept In Spray practise on the 15th floor of one of those storage buildings: I listen to a couple of songs from the 20-something quintet and realize, when I look at my watch 17 minutes later, they have successfully achieved what a good band is supposed to do – they have stopped time.

Most peculiarly, Mono plays the laptop. A Mac keyboard is strapped over his shoulder and he switches between strumming it like a guitar and fiddling with a laptop and a soundboard, while bending down to hit paddles. Once upon a time, guitarist Sing tells me, he made a video to be played with their performance. It was artistic, a five-minute clip of the ocean and its tidal spray. It was shown on a tiny television behind the audience and no one even knew it was there. But on the HK scene, Slept In Spray end up creating mostly for themselves anyway. “We don’t really care,” drummer Ho tells me, “we just want to play.”

And, sadly, that’s the attitude a post rock band in Hong Kong has to take. At their first gig in April, the audience were a lot less than enthusiastic, though that was a minor hiccough for the band. “They were all emo or had Metallica T-shirts on,” says Mono, dismissively. Slept In Spray never sing, and their intros last longer than most other bands’ songs, so they must have a steadfast belief in what they play and refuse to adapt for listeners. And so, Mono explains, “[those that didn’t understand] just walked away…” “They didn’t want to talk to us,” bassist J cuts in.

“Being an instrumental band in Hong Kong is already very difficult,” says guitarist Matt as Ho grunts, “… and the Hong Kong sound systems are shit.” Which is a big problem considering the level of electronic sound and effects in the Spray’s music.

The band was formed out of a love for post rock: a Sigur Ros concert was inspirational. The Icelandic group play minimalist sounds for a spacious almost stark ambience, the lead singer vocalizing in Hopelandic – an artistic name for gibberish. Watch the advert for Planet Earth on the BBC or the trailer for Children Of Men and you will hear the poster band for the reaction of people slapping a knee and saying “Oh! Them!” Anyway, one internet forum and a sprinkling of ambition later, co-founders of the Hong Kong group, Matt, Ho and Sing came up with a word each for their band’s name, arriving at ‘slept’, ‘in’ and ‘spray’ respectively. I don’t get why Ho said ‘in’ either but by his conviction he sounds as if he does.

The band’s music is to the ears what looking on abstract art is for the eyes. It is different for everyone, though generally quiet at the start – slow, it treads carefully. As layer is laid upon layer – a guitar, then another, then bass, drums, then laptop – the sound gets louder, the tempo faster and the melody cuts through sharper and sharper to eventually electrify listeners out of the meditation they were sent into by the beginning of the song. Slept in Spray make music because of their situation, says Mono: “The Hong Kong culture upsets me.” And Sing tunes in with “Life is boring.” “It is sad and at the same time hopeful,” Matt explains. Are you talking about your life or your music now? “Both.”

They play me one more song before I leave. This time they are polite enough to keep it to 12 minutes. The song is called Save Me and it appears they have decided to drown me first, to make the saving all the more spectacular but, by God, it really works!

We say our goodbyes and I head out onto streets even more barren than before. I walk the 10 minutes back to the KCR station not seeing a single person. Passing through the turnstiles, the place is empty. I stand by the tracks and wait for my train. Suddenly it arrives, all noise, chatter, arguments, cell phones, coughs and laughs – time starts again. I join the flow and let myself be carried off into the night.

- chris rees , bc magazine]]> sleptinspray Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:24:18 GMT http://www.neocha.com/sleptinspray/blog!14561.html