Call it a barbershop, call it a hair salon. Call it blues, jazz, old school Chinese folk – under any name, the music nights at Benky Chan’s Visage One are beyond definition. Twice a month, this tiny space on a back street in Hong Kong’s Central district turns from mild-mannered hair studio to one of the most unique and intimate live music venues in the city.
For nearly two decades, those in the know have been following these nights from locale to locale for the atmosphere, the whiskey, and the breath-stopping improvised music. By dimmed lamps and tea-lights in jars, 30 to 50 people squeeze in wherever they can fit – bar stools, barber chairs, staircase, the tiny loft above – and as the night goes on, more and more join in the songs.
Over the phone, owner Benky Chan (陈色能) chatted with NeochaEDGE about the story and ideas behind a vital spot in the Hong Kong music scene.
For more Chinese creative culture interviews on NeochaEDGE, link here. /// AJJ
Would you call your place a barbershop or a hair salon?
Not a barbershop, but not really a hair salon. I call it a hair studio, because I just do cutting and coloring. That’s it.
How long have you had your hair studio?
Almost 8 years.
And how long have you been cutting hair?
Over 20 years.
Do these music nights have a special name?
A special name? Not really. At first I just did the nights for me and the musicians. Just maybe Saturday nights, we’d do some jamming. But we’d welcome people from town to drink and listen. That’s how it happened.
I heard from other musicians that the event has actually been going on for about 20 years. People come and go, and the location keeps changing, but the event itself stays strong. Can you talk a little about the story of these music nights themselves?
Yeah, I think in about 1992, me and a few friends opened a cafe-bar. In the Shek O village. Visage Two. We did four years in Shek O, and then later on we moved to Central. In Central we did it differently – it’s a long story, because sometimes we couldn’t get a license, sometimes there were contract problems, sometimes the places were really expensive so we had to move somewhere with reasonable rent. Sometimes we couldn’t get an alcohol license for some places. I think the neighborhood complained.
What about now? Do you have a [liquor] license?
No. Now we just do two nights [a month], and I don’t want to apply for a license, because now I don’t want to be a bar, you know? I just want to do something where me and some musician friends just can really take a break and have that space. Because if you do the cafe-bar you have to entertain lots of people, to balance the business. Now I don’t really like to do that. So I just keep the hair and music licenses.
What instruments do you play?
Me? I don’t play. I just organize people to play. I want to play but I can’t [laughs].
What inspired you to start this in the first place?
Why? I wanted to do it. So I opened my shop, and invited my musician friends to come here. They felt they could play something in my shop, so they did. I think the place is important because for me, for the musicians, they feel they can do something from this space. So they do.
I’ve heard these nights called jazz, blues, bluegrass, but there are actually a lot of traditional Chinese instruments being played – er hu, ruan, whatever. The biggest hit last time we were there was the old folk songs everyone remembered their parents singing to them at night. How would you categorize the kinds of music that get played?
Categorize? I don’t. It’s just natural, yeah? I just let people do something natural.
How secretive do you think this is? Are the music nights well known in Hong Kong or are there just a few people that know about it?
I’m not really sure how people know about it. I’m just thinking, if I do the thing I like and I do it well, I think that – well, especially in Hong Kong, too many places are the same. You go to shops, restaurants, they’re all the same. So I think maybe if something is different people will know. I just make it happen, but I’m not sure even what IT is.
What role does your hair studio play in the Hong Kong music scene?
I think my place can make musicians forget about money. Some musicians, especially professionals, play in Hong Kong for money. It’s important. But when they play at my place, it’s like playing at a friend’s house, a neighborhood party. Maybe through this moment, they can bring something more from the heart. Sometimes they just play folk songs, very simple songs – they want to play so they play. I think musicians in the world now have to focus on the boss, or on the trends. For me, I think the trends are a very big problem.
To make every country be united, to make people feel the same, that’s one idea. The biggest idea is for people to have a neighborhood. Every simple thing you do in life is important.
Who are the regular musicians who come, who’ve been coming for years and years?
Yeah you know when you came that last time, it was blues night. Usually there’s a friend of mine, a musician and painter, Yan Wong. And then there’s one guy called Biu Luk. Those two guys come regularly. And then the jazz night – sometimes some of the top Hong Kong musicians come here. Like Eugene Pao, Ted Lo. They’re top Hong Kong musicians. But they come here just to go to a friend’s house, you know? Just to share their time with some new friends.
Who are your favorite local musicians?
I’m lucky because Yan Wong and Eugene Pao are my favorites. I’m lucky that they can come here.
What do you see as the future of those traditional Chinese music elements and instruments? Do you see young people being interested or is it dying out?
I think Chinese songs should stay traditional. Jazz and blues have their own original roots. For me every song has its roots. When musicians have those roots, they play the song and it’s more human. The power will come out. Now so many Chinese songs have Western background music and Chinese lyrics. I don’t like it [laughs]. I’m Chinese, I want to show my Chinese character.
I think music can bring people of different countries together, and they each bring something from their own country. Learning other countries’ styles is not the most important thing – you can learn them, but it’s more important to learn your own.
What countries do most of the musicians come from?
Japan, England, the U.S….and of course Hong Kong.
Do you have any stories about the shop or the music nights that you’d like to share?
No, I just hope more people can do the job they want to do. Now I do the job I want to do. Hair and music. I want people to think about trying to do something from the heart. That’s my story.
Do you have an email address? We’d like to send you a link when the interview gets published online.
No, I’m sorry, about 7 or 8 years ago I stopped doing Internet and cell phone.
Uh…
So I just live in a cage, you know? [laughs] But I feel great.
[...] scene might change for a while and that’s not the greatest thing in the world, but then I read this interview on Neocha about a Hong Kong hairstylist who has hosted a small weekly jam session in his studio for 20 years. [...]