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The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges and this includes taking local musicians to perform on an international stage. This year, two local indie bands: GDJYB and A New World If You Can Take It (as known as ANWIYCTI), through the introductions and support of the Authority, will represent Hong Kong at the renowned Iceland Airwaves Music Festival 2017. This is an opportunity to take Hong Kong’s independent music to music lovers from around the world.
GDJYB and ANWIYCTI, who have both performed at the Authority’s Freespace Happening events, were invited to perform at a music showcase for participants during the annual Producers’ Network Meeting and Forum (PNMF) organised by the Authority’s Performing Arts Department this May. The bands came to the attention of Grímur Atlason, manager of the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival and a speaker at the PNMF. Grímur was impressed by the high quality and artistic innovation of the bands’ performances, and subsequently invited them to perform at the legendary Festival on 2 November 2017. Their participation marks the very first appearance of Hong Kong indie bands at the Festival.
“We have invited musicians from around the globe to perform and exchange ideas with their local counterparts at Freespace Happening,” says Michelle Rocha, Producer, Performing Arts (Music and Outdoor) of WKCDA. “We are very excited about the invitation for these two outstanding bands to participate at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, which is a celebrated international platform. GDJYB and ANWIYCTI have an amazing opportunity to showcase their original work to an international audience, helping further expand their overseas networks, facilitating future opportunities for exchanges and performance and, equally important, raising Hong Kong’s status as a centre for creativity in Asia.”
Founded in 1999 in Reykjavik, Iceland, the annual five-day Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is known as one of the international premier showcase of new music from established and emerging artists from Iceland and around the world. This year’s headliners include Ásgeir, Emiliana Torrini and the Colorist, Fleet Foxes, JFDR, and Mumford & Sons. Performances are scattered at different venues around Reykjavik from 1-5 November. For details please refer to https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/whats-on/current-forthcoming/iceland-airwaves-music-festival-2017.
Artist Profiles
ANWIYCTI
Members:
Joey Pui – Vocal / Bass / Keyboard
Edward Chiu – Bass / Programming / Effects
Eqqus Lee – Bass
Pie Wong – Drums
ANWIYCTI, whose full name is A New World If You Can Take It, is a local indie band that abandoned the guitar in exchange of three basses all as lead positions plus a drummer to be a guard along with the captivatingly dreamy music journey. Together, the sound of these instruments takes audience to the dimensions beyond.
Performance:
Date: 2 November 2017
Time: 11:20pm
Location: Gaukurinn, Iceland
GDJYB
Members:
Soft Liu – Vocal
Soni Cheng – Guitar
Wing Chan – Bass
Hei Hei Ng – Drums
GDJYB is a Hong Kong-based indie math-folk girl band established in 2012. By fusing the song structure of math-rock with the presentation of folk music in Honglish (Hong Kong English), GDJYB brings something distinctive and fresh to the indie music scene through changing tempos and patterns. The band have played at various live houses and festivals, including Clockenflap. In July 2015, they took part in the Taiwan Wake Up Music Festival and organised their first mini concert in Taipei. In 2016, the girls were invited to be the first Hong Kong band to play at the Laneway Festival Singapore. They took home the Foreign Composition Award for their latest album at the 2017 Golden Indie Music Award Presentation Ceremony held in Taiwan on 28 October 2017.
Performance:
Date: 2 November 2017
Time: 12:20am
Location: HARD ROCK Café, Iceland
Date: 3 November 2017
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Bryggjan Brugghús, Iceland
Date: 4 November 2017
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Bar Ananas, Iceland
Remarks
About West Kowloon Cultural District
Located on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest cultural projects in the world. The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong. With a complex of theatres, performance spaces and M+, a museum for contemporary visual culture, West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances and cultural events, as well as provide 23 hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.
About Freespace Happening
Freespace Happening is a series of free outdoor events initiated in the WKCD in August 2015. Each event features a broad range of programmes including music, literature, dance, handicraft markets, DIY workshops and other interactive art activities. The new season of Freespace Happening takes place on the second weekend of each month from September 2017 to March 2018.
Editorial
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