[Playing Music in Industrial Building]Live Band teammates: This is our little world of slow life

Queenie (left) and Emily (right) are bandmates. They rent a Kwun Tong industrial building as a studio where they can play music and hold different activities.

[YahooNewsKwun Tong series reports]Queenie and Emily have been renting a studio in Kwun Tong for 3 years. The name is “Slow Living House”. As the name suggests, people who want to enter this space can calm down and rediscover the details of life and life. The two were originally “band” teammates, and felt that since they wanted to rent a house to play music every time, they might as well find a place of their own and settle in Kwun Tong from now on.

Hundreds of feet of space, divided into four quarters, one is a corner with a band, and there are sofas and drums under the “DO WHAT YOU LOVE” light sign; the other is a work table, and a small corner of coffee and plants; close to the gate There is a huge mirror that can be turned into a place for yoga classes at any time. Dou Da’s studio, which implements the character of Hong Kong people, is flexible and makes good use of every corner.

Text reporter: Shirley L.

Photojournalist: HLKP

The unit is not large, and a music live band event can accommodate about 20 people.

Small plants were planted in front of the windows to liven up the studio.

They all have regular jobs and feel that the pace of life is too fast and they need a place where they can be quiet. Before the epidemic, the studio would hold small concerts. “Few people have access to live bands. Generally, if they want to sing, they can only sing K. They can come up and sing, and we will accompany them,” Queenie said. In the past few years, many people have also been living in depression, but a few songs have allowed them to see long-lost smiling faces.

To hold live band concerts is to hope that people can share music with their friends. (Photo courtesy of Slow House)

Emily is the lead vocalist and also the drummer.

They were busking on the streets of Kwun Tong. (Photo courtesy of Slow House)

Connect with the Community to host a guided tour of Kwun Tong

Rent studios in industrial buildings to hold events is probably not new, but most of them just use a space and may not have a connection with the community. In Ngau Tau Kok, Tsuen Wan, Fo Tan or Kwai Fong, apart from the rent gap, there seems to be no big difference. They prefer Kwun Tong. They feel that the fusion of old and new here has a unique charm, so they organized a guided tour of “He, She, and It’s Slow Life Tour”. On the surface, it is a friendship activity, but at heart it is a person who makes people know Kwun Tong. In the local tour, “there are many different types of shops, blacksmith workshops, vintage shops, and bookstores upstairs. Once you enter the industrial building, it becomes a small world. Every time you go, you discover something new,” Emily said.

“He She She It Slow Life Tour” took the participants on a walk around Kwun Tong. (Photo courtesy of Slow House)

They have seen industrial buildings in different districts. Fotan is less crowded, and Kwai Chung is inconvenient. Some subdivided flats are too cloudy or noisy. After searching for half a year, they finally chose Kwun Tong. Said that traffic jams in Kwun Tong are inevitable, and we can only plan the time to take the transportation.

Tan Yuminfang changed the sky to cut off the context in the district

It’s a love-hate place, diverse and interesting, but full of people and cars. Queenie said with a smile that she often heard her mother talk about Kwun Tong when she was a child. At that time, it was an industrial area, and there was black smoke everywhere. After walking around in white clothes, it turned grey. Emily fell in love with the little surprise that the industrial building brought her, and she could go to the seaside park for a picnic anytime to enjoy the sun and sea breeze. But there is also a problem that bothers them. “The channel is very smelly! If the weather is hot and it hasn’t rained for a long time, the channel around Hoiyuan Road and Qiaoming Street will be very smelly!” Queenie said.

They didn’t see the old Kwun Tong, but they witnessed the demolition of Yu Man Square. Emily especially liked the small shops, stores and food stalls in the old Yu Man Square. After the change, Queenie felt that she lost the snack stall, as if she owed something. “The thing representing Kwun Tong was demolished, and a very expensive building was built. It looked strange and always felt out of place.” She described it as if the veins of the district were cut in half, with the old district above and the new building below.

During the epidemic, many activities were stopped, and the two relied on their regular income to support the studio expenses. In the fifth wave of the epidemic, they hoped that the landlord would reduce the rent by a few hundred yuan, but received a response of “I want to eat”. The landlord has more than one industrial building unit in the district. Have you thought about leaving? They all said that this is a place that carries dreams, and they can’t bear to leave. They can only do other things, such as selling coffee pods and jams, opening an online store, and just want to continue to survive.

Do What You Love.

Indeed, living in the moment, daring to think and act, is their motto. “I don’t know what will happen in the future. If you want to do something, just do it and try it boldly.”

Slow Living: Room 34, 11/F, Shing Yip Industrial Building, 19-21 Shing Yip Street, Kwun Tong