Nu Metal Revival: Q&A With Hong Kong Hard Rocker Niliu Ahead of Mar 15 Yue Space Gig

Kyle Mullin | Mar 15, 2018 3:30 pm | Add a comment | 2409 reads

Tempting as it is, you shouldn't pooh-pooh nu-metal. At least not until you’ve heard Niliu, a beloved Hong Kong band hell-bent since forming in 2011 on reviving the genre that was so dominant at the turn of the century, but that now is so widely derided. Ahead of the band’s Yue Space stop tonight (Mar 15) as part of the tour for their new LP Mortal World Chronicles, vocalist Kitlo (whose given name is Law Wai Kit) tells us more about working with the same sound engineer by Green Day’s American Idiot, weaving intricately quiet moments into their rough and rugged songs, and partaking in a genre that often doesn't get its due.

The Beijinger: Tell me about the name of your new album, and some of the songs that you are most proud of.
Kitlo: This is a concept album. The lyrics tell the story of five characters, each of which has his or her own idea about Hong Kong. And we explore their differing perspectives throughout the album. Honestly, we’ve put so much effort into this album that it feels like our own little child, so we are proud of all the songs. If we have to pick one, we'd say "Six Feet Under" is the song that helped us regain the feeling for our composition.

Tell us about how this album signifies your growth and evolution.
The sound arrangement on this album marks a breakthrough for us. We had invited three producers, including Wilson Chow, who produced our last album, and our friend Kin T Poon the drummer of Instinct of Sight, to work with us. And we had Adrian Chan, who once produced songs for [Hong Kong singer and actress] Faye Wong. All of them contributed a lot to the final result and made us find the unique feeling of each song. Moreover, they brought us tons of new ideas during the production process and helped us let go of our “selves” to accomplish our works. Lastly, we had the famous engineer Ted Jensen to deal with our master recording. Many bands like Bring Me the Horizon, Deftones, and Miss May had him managed their mastering [he also handled the Eagles' Hotel California, Green Day’s American Idiot, and Norah Jones' Come Away With Me] so we believe our sound is of an international standard on this LP.

Tell us about how your band formed and why each member of the band has chemistry and plays well together.
Our initial members include drummer SaNn, guitarist King, and me as the vocalist. Later guitarist Hala came in and we officially named our band Niliu. Finally, we have our new bassist, Ken, and that rounded out our current lineup. Each of us has different personalities. SaNn is more impulsive, while I am rather silent and calm. We balance each other out. And King, Hala, and Ken are more sensitive to the sounds. Hala likes experimenting musically, while King can often come up with solutions to help Hala realize them, whereas Ken has a high standard for quality. Such a combination led to our unique band sound, which is as noisy as it is quiet, as heavy as it is soft.

What can we expect at your Yue Space show?
Audiences in Beijing are probably not as familiar with us, for we are a band that speaks Cantonese. But we believe every language has its own ability to attract people, so we are excited to let people experience our sound. We have confidence in our pieces and would like to invite everyone to experience our style.

Tell us about being in a nu metal band these days. What is that like? After all, many people might argue that the genre peaked in the early 2000s.
Kitlo: Really, one should ask: “Are nu-metal bands nowadays still the same as those in the '90s or '00s?” We believe there have been great changes to the genre as time goes on. Everyone now is looking for a unique sound for their band, and the progression of recording techniques and performance skill makes the whole scene different than it was 20 years ago. So we are looking for our own breakthrough. Staying in nu-metal's glory days 20 years ago is not what we hope for. Nowadays making others hear us is not a difficult thing, but to let them understand us is the reason why we perform live. We are expecting to bring our music to the whole world and make more people hear our unique, oriental take on heavy music.