Tux (a band from Hong Kong)

Tux
Background information
OriginHong Kong
Genrespsychedelic rock, indie-pop, dream pop, shoegazing, post rock
Years active2012-2013, 2015
Members
  • Dawn
  • Victor
  • Kevin
  • Tak
Past members
  • Ajax
  • Cat
Websitetuxbandhk.com

Tux is a Hong Kong alternative rock band formed in September 2012, consisting Dawn (Vocal, Synthesizer, Guitar), Victor (Guitar), Kevin (Bass) and Tak (Drums) [1]. Beginning with a shoegazing sound, Tux add more psychedelic and pop element into their songs with also will to try music with more variety. The band have released their first EP named after the band’s name in November, 2013. Tux are now preparing for their second album, which is going to be released in 2016, according to their own website[2].Though young, the band have been active through the years, having performed for various venues around Hong Kong as well as other places such as Taipei.

History

edit

The founding members of Tux, Dawn and Victor were school mates in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They began writing songs at school when Dawn decided to start a band. She went to Victor, a talented young man whom she met in a school club[3], who later became the guitarist of the band。After collaboration on a song called "Nothing To You"[4], which was later included into their first EP, the idea was accepted. They also met Kevin, Ajax and Cat, whom they found sharing the same interest on music with, the latter two then joined the initial band. The band took off in September,2012, named with the simplified form of the Tuxedo Cat in memory of a cat once kept by Dawn, whose sudden death saddened her so much. The image of the cat also appears on the coverage of their first EP, which shows a cat floating in a heaven-like blue. The image is also used as their symbol on their own website[5].

 
Tux Vocal Dawn

One year after the band started out, in November, 2013, the Tux released their first EP Tux. It consists six tracks, one of which, Yellow Pills was later made to a music video. “We are trying to make songs that sound underwater—like you are swimming in the sea alone”, remembered by Dawn. Two gigs were held to celebrate the launch on 2, November and 23, November.

In 2014, due to some personal reason, the band once had a period of breaking up for about one year. The Tux re-formed in the beginning of 2015 with Ajax and Cat leaving the group. That is when Kevin and Tak joined in respectively as bass player and drummer. The band then became the four-piece band people see today. A second album by Tux is going to come out in 2016.

Music Style

edit
 
Tux band Interview

Being influenced by The Cardigans, Tux are also trying to produce a contrast between the brisk up-beats and the lyric with deeper, darker core. “It was like sadness wrapped with sugar,” said Dawn, “ Things happen in my life, but there’s nothing I can do. The only way is to fake myself with delight thus expressing the helpless.[4]” According to themselves, they don’t have “any programmed elements” and the music “could range from indie-pop to shoegaze, or anything they could possibly think of creating[6]”. However, there are certain elements of dream pop shoegazing in the music, “…the long, extended notes in shiny guitar tones, with the intense drumming set behind to contrast it are there in droves”.The keytar and programmed synth also add an element of 80s synth-rock, with the powerful drumming and insistent, loopy basslines. “In all, they put me in mind of the mood of the Smashing Pumpkins' Drown mixed with some 70s dance-rock and 80s synth-rock,” commented by Shashwati Kala of the UndergroundHK[7], “There are times when this mix gets a little lost in itself, and can be stuck in the doldrums a bit, such that it feels like the song doesn't know where to go and things go a bit flat.”

Band members

edit
 
Tux band
members function
Dawn Tsoi Vocal, Synthesizer, Guitar
Victor Guitar
Kevin Bass
Tak Drums

-Past members:

Ajax: Bass Cat: Drums



Discography[8]

edit

TUX EP (2013)

  • Intro
  • Yellow Pills
  • Over The Sea
  • Intermission
  • Nothing To You
  • One Man Island

Videography[9]

edit
  • Nothing to you (2013)
  • Yellow Pills (2013)[10]

-22nd October 2015 JUBA CU Station

-16th October 2015 Young Screaming Vol. 3

-14th October 2015 珠海書院 Onight

-4th October 2015 Beastie Rock 巨獸搖滾音樂祭

-27th September 2015 中秋游擊Show

-9th August 2015 Music Surveillance Indie Salon

-19th July 2015 紅磚現場音樂會 Warehouse Music Gig

-27th June 2015 Shaw Band CHUK Annual Performance

-6th June 2015 自由文化音樂節

-17th April 2015 薄霧輕煙 Foggy Mist Band show

-23rd Nov 2013 TUX EP Release Party 2

-16th Nov 2013 JUBA Final Show[12]

-2nd Nov 2013 TUX EP Release Party

-14th Oct 2013 RTHK “The Works”

-30th May 2013 Yeah! Show! 4

-28th April 2013 Guinness Sunday Acoustic Session

-11th April 2013 ShawBand Loud N’ Raw

-8th April 2013 UC Band Soc 草地音樂會

-9th March 2013 Carousel Music Series

-1st March 2013 SR Presents

-7th Feburary 2013 Bunny Warren Showcase

-20th January 2013 反轉天橋底游擊Show

-18th January 2013 Joven Goce Album Launch

-1st January 2013 1231 除夕 / 元旦游擊show

-19th December 2012 Guinness Sessions presents HK Live!

-17th November 2012 Bud Rocks Final

-7th November 2012 Bud Rocks Heat


References

edit
  1. ^ "Tux EP Launch Parties". hk-magazine.com. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  2. ^ "TUX". tuxbandhk.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  3. ^ "專訪 TUX 、Fantastic Day、與搞手談一連四場的 The Void Noize 本地音樂節". thestandnews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  4. ^ a b "专访香港乐团Tux黑白猫(采访原文)". site.douban.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  5. ^ "TUX黑白猫 不太一样的猫系盯鞋乐队". www.kanjian.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  6. ^ "[專訪] TUX:是不太一樣的瞪鞋團". bitetone.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  7. ^ "TUX". undergroundhk.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  8. ^ "Discography". tuxbandhk.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  9. ^ "MUSIC VIDEOS". tuxbandhk.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  10. ^ "Yellow Pills". Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  11. ^ "GIGS". tuxbandhk.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  12. ^ "Tux(Interview) -- Joint-University Band Association (JUBA) Final Station". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.