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Clockenflap: A Hong Kong Home
Posted on by Christopher Tuazon Posted in Lessons in Purpose
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Clockenflap: A Hong Kong Home

Every year, thousands of Hong Kong residents, young and young at heart, take to the West Kowloon Cultural District for another glorious Clockenflap Festival.  The warm November air and bright city skyline stew together a weekend of celebrating music, art, and people.  The best of Hong Kong shines for seventy-two hours of light and sound, and I wonder: what now?

It took me three years, but last winter came to an understanding: for all the gargantuan acts that attract the masses to this part of the city, something else entirely keeps us there: community.  Now, as a visitor – frequent that may be – I’m curious to see what Clockenflap actually does for the city of Hong Kong.  Does the magic of the Harbour Flap Stage flicker out with the Sunday headliner, or does it linger just long enough to inspire real action?

Golden Rules

Golden Rules

Low Bros

Low Bros

HKwalls

HKwalls

Pete Moser

Pete Moser

Jing Wong

Jing Wong

Mantung

Mantung

Campfire Kit

Campfire Kit

The Fire Nation

The Fire Nation

Titeretú

Titeretú

Finbarr Bermingham

Finbarr Bermingham

Shugo Tokumaru

Shugo Tokumaru

BOOMSHACK

BOOMSHACK

Silent Disco with Dad

Silent Disco with Dad

Mystery Parade

Mystery Parade

King Ly Chee

King Ly Chee

King Ly Chee

King Ly Chee

Cliff

Cliff

Cosmic Caravan

Cosmic Caravan

Potato Sack Race

Potato Sack Race

Saul Williams

Saul Williams

Broods

Broods

A Weekend for Friends

A Weekend for Friends

The Family that Skas together

The Family that Skas together

The Family that Skas together

The Family that Skas together

HKwalls: Laying a Foundation
Posted on by Christopher Tuazon Posted in Lessons in Purpose
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HKwalls: Laying a Foundation

In between the main stage and the rest of the festival grounds, Clockenflappers must cross a grated steel footbridge. Back turned to the Central skyline, as you descend the end of the bridge four shipping containers are stacked two by two ahead. Upon this makeshift canvas lay the outlines of a large mural, currently indeterminable. Aerosol cans hiss and spurt morse code against a rumbling loudspeaker.  Colors and lines take shape.

In a black and white letterman jacket, Stan Wu, co-founder of HKwalls, watches on, snapping pictures and explaining the work in progress to passers by.

HKwalls (4 of 9)

Christopher Tuazon: What is HKwalls?

Stan Wu: HKwalls is an annual event in which we choose a district in Hong Kong, and we ask local and foreign artists to paint over public spaces within a weekend or two. In between that main event, we do smaller ones like this.  These guys, Low Bros, came from Germany, and we flew them here this weekend to share some fresh ideas with the audience.

We want to bring more art that we love — street art, graffiti, exterior, urban, whatever you want to call it — to Hong Kong, because it’s dead right now.

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KING LY CHEE 荔枝王: Common Language
Posted on by Christopher Tuazon Posted in Lessons in Purpose
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KING LY CHEE 荔枝王: Common Language

King Ly Chee (11 of 20)

Adolescence in California lends a steady diet of local music to ignite a fire inside the youth. From the first NOFX Oy! Oy! to last TERROR two-step, punk and hardcore music armed kids like me with something to make us feel alive. For many of us in the West Coast, this music is at the very least is the soundtrack to our angst, and at-times the crucible that forged an identity.

To watch a punk rock scene, then, is to take an honest look at what the local kids are fighting for and against, and what language it speaks.

So what’s the Hong Kong flavor of this genre? If you’re going to ask anyone here, it’s King Ly Chee, a band who, sixteen years strong, has undoubtedly formed what anyone could recognize as the HK hardcore scene.

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Jing Wong: Tangled Up, Tango On
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Jing Wong: Tangled Up, Tango On

With his new ep, 生活的小偷, singer-songwriter Jing Wong offers a take on classic Cantopop, imbued with his jazz and Britpop upbringing.  These parts create a whole message for his Hong Kong.  On a surprisingly warm November noon behind the Clockenflap main stage, Jing lays out inspirations from and aspirations for a city he doesn’t wish to see leave so soon.

Jing Wong (2 of 4)

Christopher Tuazon: On any given Jing Wong tune, you play around with different genres.  What’s your musical foundation?

Jing Wong: When I went to university in London, my friends and I would mostly play a lot of Beatles covers. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to go to there. I love Britpop.  Radiohead, Blur, Suede. Plus, when you’re in art school, you get to listen to a lot of weird shit, like Sun Ra.

CT: Pop and jazz definitely come through in your music.

JW: On my own, I’m more of a folk player.  But I love laying jazz riffs with the guys on saxophone and harmonica.  The connection is irreplaceable. Without words, we know where we’re going, and we go there together. It’s amazing. That’s what’s beautiful about Clockenflap, too.

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Toasting for Five Past, to Five More
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Toasting for Five Past, to Five More

I, like many others in the Asian region, owe a lot of my self-discovery in the world of style to The Armoury.  It’s difficult to place a finger at what exactly this store does that holds such an influence, and it’s just as difficult to think where I’d be without their guidance.  In a city of fast and fused garments, the aptly-titled retailer uses a few hundred square meters of territory, holding strong in the battle for good clothing.

Now in their fifth year, The Armoury’s sphere of influence has expanded into New York, instantly becoming a hit to an America that is poised for a return to form – at least, so I hope.  In the meantime, we toast to friendships, success, and not spilling too much on a good suit.
  • The details of a Tailor Caid tweed jacket. Precise adherence to 60s Ivy style, perfectly executed through Japanese craftsmanship.
  • Another Tailor Caid: a heavy, chunky overcoat. An essential shield against fierce winters Hong Kong is lucky to avoid.
  • David Pan, Editor-in-Chief of Taiwans Weeknight Magazine, giving props to The Armoury with its Justo Gimeno teba.
  • Aside from the requisite champagne, new local jazz bar poured their own specialty cocktails sugary and strong.
  • Jerry of Ascot Chang embracing color and pattern beneath his safari jacket.
  • The ladies of The Armoury, styled ever-so-sweetly in their own tebas.
  • Mr. Johnson's very special Patek Philippe.
  • The gentlemen of Ring Jacket arriving most elegantly, as usual. Here, Mr. Hiroshi Tomioka admires a customer's jacket.
  • Halfway through the evening's barrel, a db tobacco linen finds itself lounging atop a counter, legs crossed as if it were ready for story time.
  • Arnold Wong, ready to tell a few tales himself.
  • Armoury Co-founder Alan See.
  • Justin of Ascot Chang catching up with Arnold and Patrick of WW Chan.
  • For a store like The Armoury, a cocktail party is the ideal event to don classically chic, hearkening back to the golden age of mens clothing, when the gentleman earned the title not only for wardrobe, but for conduct.
  • Once the mixtures of the house drinks were empty, we found ourselves venturing into more inspired cocktails. Sam giving it a go.
  • Tailor Caid's founder, Yuhei Yamamoto, effortlessly owning his house style.
  • The evening settling down.
  • Even during the party, Armoury co-founder Mark Cho is focused on the task at hand: fitting a customer for a last-minute chance to order from Tailor Caid.
  • Ring Jacket president Kunichi Fukushima, and Manager Hidetoshi Sasamoto
  • The pattern of the jacket, cummerbund, and tie is a collage of every Ring Jacket logo in its sixty year history. Sasamoto-san, killing the room in his own eccentric way.