Chochukmo () is a 5-piece

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, with Jan Curious on vocal, Mike Orange on guitar and synthesizer, Les Hunter on guitar, Fai on bass, and Kitty Trouble on drums and percussion. Formed in the summer of 2005, the band has experienced a few member changes, with the current line-up formed in the spring of 2008. The band's sound is always being described as a genre-blender, experimenting rock with some other different styles of music. The band is generally being categorized as

while some considered the band's style as math rock.

History

First generation (2005–2006)

In the summer of 2005, Jan Curious (from League of Heroes) and Mike Orange (from Homework) suddenly came up with an idea of having a side-project when they're jamming at a studio, while at that moment they were both belonged to different bands. With the joining of bassist Yanyan Pang (from Hard Candy) and drummer Cheong Ho (from Innisfallen), the first generation of Chochukmo was officially formed, with its sound characterized by punk and garage rock influences. Considering the band as solely a side-project, the members of the band had no plan of recording anything. In the spring of 2006, guitarist Mike Orange decided to leave the band due to his personal reasons.

Second generation (2006–2008)

As guitarist Mike Orange departed, Ka-sing Law was then being recruited as the new guitarist. The band has toured to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 2007, and had their self-recorded demo CD distributed there. In the spring of 2008, guitarist Ka-shing Law and drummer Cheong Ho decided to leave the band to concentrate on their own music projects.

Third generation (2008–present)

With the joining of new guitarist Les Hunter (formerly from An id signal) and new drummer Kitty Trouble (former from League of Heroes), plus the return of former guitarist Mike Orange, Chochukmo has come into a 5-piece. With no intention to play any formerly written songs (except the track "Caroline"), the members came into a new set of songs and had their debut gig in July 2008. The band has made part of a compilation album released by The Underground HK by contributing 2 tracks to the double CD album. The band was then being selected as "Top 20 musicians in Hong Kong" by ''

Time Out Hong Kong ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'', along with the acclaimed musician

Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming Anthony Wong Yiu-ming (; born 16 June 1962) is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and political activist. He rose to prominence as the vocalist for the Cantopop duo Tat Ming Pair during the 1980s before embarking on a solo ca ...

and alternative singer Denise Ho. The band has been touring to

(with Carina Ho on bass and Chi-kin Wan on drum) and

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in 2009, alongside some indie bands around Asia such as I am David Sparkle, Free Love, Everybody Loves Irene etc. Bassist Yanyan Pang announced her departure after the Malaysia tour, due to the creativity differences. With no replacement to the bassist position, Alvin Lo came into the band as a supporting bassist. The band has won the "We'll Make Your Album" contest hosted by ''

'' and

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

in September 2009, which the contest promised to release an album for the winning band. Chochukmo was chosen as the winner by a team of judges including Kelvin Avon,

Wong Ka Keung Steve Wong Ka Keung (; born 13 November 1964) is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and the bassist for the rock band Beyond. He is also younger brother of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wong Ka Kui, who died in 1993. Life and care ...

and Wong Chi-Chung. With the support from ''Time Out Hong Kong'' and Diesel, the band then released its debut album ''The King Lost His Pink'' on 28 November 2009, with the album mixed and mastered by Kenneth Tse from The invisible Men, and the album cover designed and painted by Simon Birch. Being described as "The most charismatic band to have emerged in southern China in recent years" by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine, the band has been selected into the "Hong Kong Top List: 20 people to watch" by CNNGo in December 2009. Yanyan Pang departed from the band in July 2009. Since then the band went on as a 4-piece with supporting from different bassists namely Vanilla Lau (aka Winnie Lau) (Tacit Closet, Noughts and Exes) and Alvin Lo. Kento Anything was then being recruited as bassist in February 2010.

Discography

Albums

*''The Underground: Something Alternative #1'' (compilation) (20 September 2008) :21. Number One :22. Head To Toe *''The King Lost His Pink'' (28 November 2009) :01. Child Heights :02. Tell Her (Laura I Love Her) :03. Number One :04. Let Her Go :05. Head To Toe :06. Till Late No May :07. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 To You :08. Something Special :09. Caroline :10. Welcome to the Graveyard *"Good Night" (single) (26 May 2012) :01. Good Night :02. Good Night (instrumental) *''A Tragedy Your Majesty'' (12 October 2013) :01. Gull up in the sky :02. 23 :03. Sister :04. Higher Higher :05. The Band :06. K.L.L.S :07. Roll the dice :08. Love ain't red :09. Caroline (Tragic Version) :10. One O'clock :11. Get off my dance floor (feat.

Ellen Joyce Loo Ellen Joyce Loo Hoi Tung (; 27 March 1986 – 5 August 2018) was a Canadian-Hong Kong musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. She was the guitarist, backing vocalist and a co-founder of the folk-pop rock group at17. Early life Loo was b ...

) :12. Good Night

References

* Fitzpatrick, Liam (15 February 2010)
"Loose Canon"
''

''. Review of ''The King Lost His Pink''. * Shamdasani, Pavan (21 October 2009)
"Clockenflap Festival: Try a Little Grass"
''Time''.
CNNGo: The Hong Kong Hot List: 20 People to watch

CNNGo: What's that sound? Chochukmo

Bitetone: The King Lost His Pink Album Review Bitetone: The Pink Is Back: Chochukmo Interview

External links

Official site

Chochukmo on MySpace

Chochukmo on Facebook

Chochukmo's YouTube Channel
{{Authority control Hong Kong musical groups Hong Kong music