Voices From The South Goes North! 在台北放映！

中文板: 從南方來的聲音

"Voices From The South: Kaohsiung's Independent Music Scene" will be shown on January 3rd, 2009 in Taipei at The Wall!! Also, four of the five bands featured in the film will also be performing live!! Fire Ex, KoOk, Shy Kick Apple and Orange Doll will rock the place after the screening of the film. Tickets are $400 NT, and includes a free drink, and as an added bonus, TO THE FIRST 50 PEOPLE WHO BUY TICKETS, WE WILL BE GIVING AWAY A FREE DVD containing live performances from all five bands (Maho, Fire Ex, KoOk, Orange Doll, Shy Kick Apple) and outtakes/scenes that were not included in the film!! Four bands, a free drink, a movie, and a free DVD! Not a bad deal for $400 NT! Advance tickets are available through The Wall's website. Come celebrate the first weekend of the New Year in a really fun way!!

The Coolest Thing I Ever Saw...

...was at the park tonight. Shy Kick Apple, in preparation for their first-ever unplugged show at Womb Bloc December 19th (see the previous post), rehearsed in the park on Ming Cheng Road Thursday night, December 18th, with nothing more than acoustic instruments and a bag of Taiwan beer. There was not another living soul in the vast expanses of the park at this hour, other than the band and me.

In the whole year I've spent filming all these Kaohsiung bands, I've never seen anything cooler than seven guys sitting under a tree in the middle of the night rehearsing. Even their flute player, who's now in the army, came back from Taipei to take part in the Womb Bloc show. Wen-Han played a melodica, PiPi played an acoustic guitar instead of bass, and Popo played his drum parts on a cajon borrowed from Fire Ex's drummer Indoa. There was a bit of a chill in the winter air, so everyone was bundled up in heavy coats and hoodies as they worked out the unplugged arrangements of their songs. At precisely 12:35 AM, a policeman came by and told everyone to shut it down, as the neighbors (who were hardly within earshot, as the nearest building was at least 200 yards away) decided to be tight-ass bitches and phoned in a complaint. The band complied with the cop's order, and trekked off to the nearby steak house for a late-night meal, lugging all their gear with them.

Those who will be at the Womb Bloc show are in for a real treat, as the unplugged versions of their songs are just as cool as the electric ones!!

VFTS @ Womb Bloc!!! 在子宮藝文放映！！

Only the second public screening to date! If you missed it the first time, here's another chance! On December 19th, Womb Bloc Arts will be screening Voices From The South after live acoustic shows from three of the five bands from the film! Fire Ex, Shy Kick Apple, and the FIRST-EVER ACOUSTIC SHOW from KoOk will take place on this evening, and the screening of the film will follow!!!

Location: Womb Bloc Arts 2F, #18, Lin Nan Street, Ling Ya District 高雄市苓雅區林南街18號2樓
Date: December 19th, 2008
Time: 8:30 PM- 12:00 AM
Bands: Fire Ex, Shy Kick Apple, KoOk
Tickets: $200 NT

It will likely be the last chance to see the film for awhile in Kaohsiung, as we will be doing a mini-tour of the island, with shows in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan in the works.

OR from Shy Kick Apple/Fire Ex talks about VFTS

This article originally appeared in Chinese on the Megaport Association website.

Voices From The South: S.K.A./Fire Ex Guitarist OR

Two years ago I got an unexpected phone call from a Chinese-Canadian guy who said in unclear Chinese, “Hi, I’m Don from FYI South, I want to interview Shy Kick Apple for the magazine.” During the course of the interview, we drank a lot of beer. In addition to discussing Shy Kick Apple, we told him about other bands and the underground scene in Kaohsiung. Don’s reaction was one of amazement; he rightly believed that the indie scene should not be like this. Afterwards, whenever S.K.A. had a show, he would almost always be there. Each time I would see him his first words to me would always be “Hey OR! Beer?” Over time, everyone got to know more and more about this new friend with whom we could practice English and drink beer.

One day I got a phone call saying Don wanted to make a documentary about Kaohsiung’s bands. This news made me feel both nervous and excited. Finally, more people could get to understand Kaohsiung’s music scene. Even if just a little, that would be just fine. Our surroundings are not like that of the north, so it’s easy for us to become idle. Because of this, we all know we must work a little harder.

Once, Don came from Kaohsiung to Dan Shui to film Fire Ex. It was only a minor thing, he needed a sound recording to use in the film. When we finished our show, I saw him sitting alone at the side of the stage looking dejected and angry, smoking a cigarette. I asked him what was wrong, he said the sound recording was corrupted and it couldn’t be used. He blamed himself over this little thing, and he felt that he made a mistake. I also blamed myself for not paying attention to this matter and helping to avert the mistake. After I consoled him, he immediately threw all his equipment bags on his back and walked off into the sunset to return to Kaohsiung. Watching him walking away, I almost cried. But of course, in his hand was a bag of beer…

This documentary not only shows Kaohsiung’s bands, it also shows his care and love for us. I often think that maybe we’re not important people, but we definitely make up a page in Kaohsiung’s history. Thanks to this documentary for capturing these bands for posterity. So, see you at MegA on the 18th. I hope everyone can have some drinks, enjoy the bands and the movie. If you happen to run into Don and have a drink in your hand, don’t be shy and say to him “Thanks and Cheers!”

Sam from Fire Ex talks about VFTS

This article originally appeared in Chinese on the Megaport Association website.

Voices From The South: Sam Yang, lead singer for Fire Ex

Never before has there been a person who possesses such an earnest attitude towards Kaohsiung’s music scene. We all love Kaohsiung and love our bands as a matter of course. However, there’s a guy from Canada, a guy who at all times can produce a bag of beer, who picks up a digital video camera and with great conviction tells us that he too loves Kaohsiung and its bands. Furthermore, he tells us he wants to carefully document the scene, and let the whole world see it.

At first, we all thought this wouldn't be such a difficult task. But after watching him and a couple of friends working hard filming every single performance, and arranging and filming band interviews, we slowly started to think that is not so easy after all.

One day, Don called me up and said “Join Us lost all the sound recording files, can I come film your show in Dan Shui?” I told him that this was only a small-scale performance, and it was not too convenient to get to the location of the show. Nevertheless, he still decided to come. Below the setting sun in Dan Shui came the man carrying two bags of equipment and a bag of beer. He came all the way from Kaohsiung. Immediately, my esteem for him went off the charts. The degree of importance he attached to this project far, far exceeded my imagination.

Folks in Kaohsiung haven’t really said thanks to him, so I want to tell you, Don, you’ve done an excellent job. We all admire you and want to thank you. On the 18th, let’s party! We wanna get you drunk!

As for what changes or influence this documentary will bring about, I don’t even want to take a wild guess. After all, I’m not a professional movie critic. I do hope that we can look back at this precious movie again and again when we’re old. I also hope it can let more and more people know about Kaohsiung rock music. Of course, if Don can make a bit of money from the movie, that would be good. At the same time, I hope the film will carry the sounds of all of our bands’ laughter throughout all of Taiwan.

Video of the Trimester!

Given the languorous frequency at which we post videos, the title is more or less accurate! Here's Fire Ex from June 28, 2008 at Join Us. Tell all your friends!!

All's Quiet on the Inner-City Front

Slow month for activity, November is. Fire Ex will not be touring/performing for most of the month, as they have dedicated this time to songwriting and songwriting only. KoOk will be performing at Join Us on the 15th along with several other bands, but other than that, Kaohsiung will be pretty quiet. We are currently arranging further showings of "Voices From The South" for the month of December, both in Kaohsiung and around the island. There are tentative plans for a screening at Shu De University, and also Womb Bloc has contacted us about arranging a screening/live show featuring some of the bands from the film. A college in Taichung has also inquired about arranging a showing there, so we have a busy month ahead!