**p=por, f=for

Can you tell us who is in your band and what they do?

22 cats: por (gtr, vox), kit (gtr, vox), yin (bass, vox) and for (drums)

How did 22 Cats start? What bands were you guys in previously?

p: i was playing in my first band dead fish and little dog and i wanted to try more new things, 

different from what i was playing with that band, more experimental and more...do whatever 

i want, so i started to push my friends to start 22cats with me. 

i was in dead fish and little dog. kit is also playing in sonnet now. yin was in mazer and for was 

in locusts (he's also in a band called sparkling toes now).

How did you meet your band members?

p: kit and i were secondary schoolmates. we met in F.1…oh yeah its been 17 years already!

i cant remember how i met yin...hm...maybe the year when suede came to play? for was a

friend of my friend shadow. by that time they were playing in the same band, and i kept pushing

him to play with me, and now he's in.

What did you find in common with your band members that made you want to come together?

f: we enjoy noise but also beautiful melodies at the same time. 

p: i gotta say it's all about the passion of playing music. it's true it's really really true. another 

thing is that they can stand my childish {nature}...i am so silly sometimes as everybody 

knows...and we enjoy hanging out together (not just music).

When did you guys start to play music?

p: all started in our secondary school years.

When you first started playing music – what was your biggest influence? What type

of music or singer/songwriter/band?

p: i started playing when i was around 16 by attending folk guitar lessons at the teenage

centre next to my home. my biggest influence...it's gotta be kurt cobain! i was so crazy

about nirvana at before and now i still enjoy listening to their albums. grunge grunge grunge grunge yeah!

f: my biggest influence were the pixies and the smashing pumpkins.

What was the first show you guys played? How did you feel about it? Who played the show?

p: the first show was probably 百音交集 infinite music in 23/2/2002 at the amphitheatre city 

university. i remember while we were playing the audience were walking around looking for better seats. 

anyway the show was ok. at that time samuel from laughitoff was our drummer. riz, i remember you were also there!

You guys wrote a song/video where you named a lot of HK bands in the song, why did you guys do that?

p: at first we were just jamming for fun, singing lyrics about “abcde”, a for apple and b for boy...later on i

thought it'd be interesting to fill in indie band names (at that time so many good bands that i liked had split up…).

i liked those bands and i missed them so i wanted to tell people about it...then all the names went into a made-up

story imagined by me. and the lyrics for the chorus is for kurt. 

also, i want to say that throughout these years, i have seen so many good bands start up, write some good

songs, play them on stage, and then split up without releasing anything. that's bad. all bands should release

their songs! bad recording? no problem! as long as the heart is in it, it's good and it's alright! come on come

on come on!

What current Hong Kong bands do you guys like?

p: hang on the box, the pancakes and dzap dau dau!
f: thelovesong, innisfallen, and 在草地上.

How many CD’s have you released and what was the process of releasing the CD? Did you do it through

DIY-means or did a label help you?

p: so far we have released one mini album in 2004 titled “all the good people will shine”. the next album is

coming out in may or june this year! for the process, everything starts with the songs, and we always have a

lot of changing in the arrangement of the songs when we record them. unexpected stuff come out, surprises,

then mix the songs ourselves, then artwork...babababa

we started harbour records with false alarm, my little airport, 在草地上, 人頭馬, and our dear alva to

release albums by ourselves. it's good to have control in everything although most of the time it's a tough

job too. we only do what we want and that's great. harbour records also works with other bands.

we mainly focus on the promotional stuff (actually everything is related to putting out an album) because

sometimes it's just hard for some bands to know everything about releasing music.

What is your ideal show to hopefully play one day? What bands? What venue? What type of atmosphere?

p: a 3-day music festival in victoria park with all the indie bands from hong kong, china and taiwan! lots of

people and lots of stage divers!

What is your favorite place to play in Hong Kong and why?

p: it's gotta be at room 1303 (false alarm’s bandroom). we held a festival called "Unknown Festival" there twice already!

i just felt so warm and excited to play there with all our friends as the audience.

What are the top 5 CD’s you think we should check out and why?

f: 1. red house painters “ocean beach” - simple and beautiful.
2. sonic youth “daydream nation” - noise as an art form.
3. broken social scene “you forgot it in people” - they sounds messy but organized. it sounds like a

compilation but in a good way.
p: 4. motorpsycho + jaga jazzist horns "in the fishtank 10" - feel so comfortable to listen at night.
5. pavement "slanted & enchanted: luxe & reduxe" - it's all about one song, box elder!

Any last comments?

p: one may only break a row, two make a hero to free our souls. thanks riz!


one little advertisement: the release party for our next 
album will be held on 18/6 (sunday), pls check out 

www.22cats.com or www.myspace.com/22catshk around 
mid-may for more details.  

22 Cat's music:
22 Cats

22Cat's
下一場show
NEXT SHOW:
June 18!
CD RELEASE SHOW!!!

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