Hello- wow, so I am terrible at keeping an alive not dead profile. I might as well be dead.... on here. :(

So in the *ahem* few years I have been absent, I've probably been back and forth to Hong Kong a dozen times- as well as a notable first trip to Taiwan this July. Man, I love that place!

In terms of work, I've probably seen more interesting developments in this period than ever before. I've had lots of highlights (and lots of low points) over the course of the last... 3 years (?). Here are some of them, in bullet point form.

- I toured with Coldplay in the support band, playing bass. Was pretty sweet, but I've never felt so sick with stagefright- or champagne. Last year I also did a one of gig, playing bass again, supporting Paul Weller and Graham Coxon.

- I recorded a few Skunk Anansie albums- I love those guys- but one of the best things about those (2 month) sessions was that we (1st time round) got a private chef to cook us dinner every night and (2nd time round) went out to a restaurant to dinner every night. Sweet as.

- I worked on a UK #1 single, (Wretch 32 - Don't Go feat. Josh Kumra)

- I performed (and Pro Tooled) on a Grammy Nominated album (Violin, Oumou Sangare 'Seya' 2009)

- I worked with these lovely ladies: (and I expect big things from them. Hong Kong, look out- Lucy Rose is coming to Hong Kong to play at Clockenflap)

http://thecryptsessions.com/watch/shiver/

http://thecryptsessions.com/watch/the-motherlode/

- I run my own studio now- well co-run (the wiring-up almost killed me - I still have nightmares); Alive Not Deaders, come check out www.thecryptstudio.com if you are in London town! (btw those videos above were shot and recorded there)

- I'm currently (well I've finished for the day) in the studio with UK legends, Madness! (I'm mixing and recording new tracks with them)

And here is a brief list of people I've worked with (or for) lately, in no particular order:
Devlin, Katy B, Tinie Tempah, Madness, Wretch 32, The Magic Numbers, Battles, Skunk Anansie, Tony Allen, Lightning Seeds (!), London Community Gospel Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucy Rose, The Staves, The Barr Brothers, Michelle Stodart, Bluey Robinson, Cults, Spiritualised. et al.

I also had a great chat with Herman Li, of Dragonforce guitar hero fame (at a games expo) and we lamented how few Chinese people- nevermind Hong Kong folk- working in music in the UK! I've met one Hong Konger in the 7 years I've been doing this- that's not great a stat is it?!

I'm looking at coming back to Asia at some point to try and drum up some work stuff in the next year or so- very keen to get some projects on the go, so do give me a shout if you have something interesting or suggestions for how I should go about it!.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll post something within the next 3 years! (woe.)
anthony
 

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I am currently on hols around Japan (and cannot find the apostrophe key) but thought I would mention the Rock and Roll gig I went to on Friday. Ive been a Beyond fan for ages, so it was pretty awesome to hear the songs played live, but moreover to see the audience respond so passionately. I cant really think of any other bands in Hong Kong which have had such a profound impact- listening back, lots of the songs also carry a real message, which I think is really missing in a lot of music in the HK scene today. Was really inspiring hearing the guys play and talk about their ethos. I like to think it wouldve inspired some kids there to pick up instruments and give it a go. Good stuff

Right, so this is my first entry. I just filled out the About Me bit in my profile. I always find it slightly odd, as I'm never sure how much detail to go into. Do I talk about moving to Hong Kong, going to school, my influences, what I like to eat, my favourite colour, my favourite time of the day etc. etc. I aimed to 'average' detail, whatever that is haha.

So I'm in Hong Kong at the moment, visiting my parents who still live here. I was pretty much just nosing around people's facebooks the other day when I saw a link to an alive not dead page and clicked on it. I lost about 3 hours that day clicking about on profiles.

I actually first heard early this year, when I was chatting to this dude who used to run a bootleg music dvd shop in Sino. I wanted to drop by again but alas it seems the shop is no more.

Anyway I've been talking to some of friends lately about the underground music scene in Hong Kong and how there are loads of amazing musicians out there who seem to be really under appreciated. I also watched this ace RTHK documentary (on youtube) about underground bands in HK- it was really quite inspiring to see the conviction these guys and girls had- their resolve to keep going with the odds stacked against them, and the love they had for doing what they do. Hong Kong underground musicians 加油!