As the city's flagship annual music event headlined by globally recognized stars opens tonight, Rob Garratt is curious about Clockenflap's role in promoting local talent and building audiences.

For many of the 70,000 people expected to descend on Hong Kong's Central Harbourfront this weekend Clockenflap is the most eagerly anticipated music event of the year. But for the 40-plus home-grown acts the chance to share the stage with international headliners could prove life-changing.

The three-day music and arts festival will showcase performances by art-rock icon David Byrne, indie quintet Interpol, R&B sensations Erykah Badu and Khalid, and a dozen more A-list names already familiar to Hong Kong residents - from the colorful posters pasted on the city's walls, if not from their music.

Nestled in between these banner names, sharing the same spotlights and backstage bars will be dozens of local musicians more used to playing in underground venues to niche crowds, now afforded the meatiest mainstream platform of their careers.

"As a local band from Hong Kong, playing in Clockenflap is a big deal for us, it's like a celebration of our passion for music," says Yanyan Pang, the Hong Kong-born guitarist and lead singer of ironic indie-punk trio After-After-Party, who will make their Clockenflap debut tomorrow when they open the Fwd stage.

"It is the biggest music event in Hong Kong and an opportunity for the band to reach new audiences. They may be from Hong Kong or somewhere else, they may be teens or mums and dads, but definitely a much wider audience group who might not go to local shows on a regular basis," says Pang.

Local voices

Since its inception 10 years ago, Clockenflap has always programed a mix of international and regional acts, never repeating performers in consecutive years. All that's changed is that the visiting names have got bigger over time.

"Every year with the line-up we try and mirror the best traits of the city - it's a very East-meets-West approach," says Hong Kong-raised festival co-founder and music director Justin Sweeting. "It's all case by case. Every single artist has to justify their position on the bill."

Of the "hundreds" of local acts who submitted their music to Sweeting's team for consideration, the synth-soaked pop quartet Dusty Bottle and Cantonese reggae troupe Sensi Lion are getting the honor of opening the hallowed Harbourflap stage tomorrow and Sunday respectively. Late-night slots on the YourMum stage, devoted to breakout acts, are shared by The Low Mays, GDJYB and Instinct of Sight - an edgy Hong Kong cross-section of hip-hop, math-folk and metal.

Paul Sedille is co-founder of The Week, an annual seven-night showcase of strictly Hong Kong-based bands, gearing up for a third edition in March. He sees Clockenflap as complementary rather than competition.

"They could very easily have done a Hong Kong show completely disconnected to the local scene," says Sedille, noting that local presence in mega-scale international expositions in other creative fields such as fashion and contemporary art can be "depressingly low". "It is a good example of being successful while caring about local bands."

He seems impressed that Clockenflap's programming is far from predictable. "I do The Week and I know the scene a little bit, and I'm always surprised by their selection. Old bands come back together, new bands that I haven't heard of - they do a great job."

Giving back

Alicia Beale has been presenting local acts for three years as the promoter behind live music event company All That Junk and co-founder of new live music venue The Aftermath, on Wyndham Street in Central, which has hosted dozens of original bands.

"Clockenflap is definitely positive for the scene," says the 35-year-old American. "In general, you want people in Hong Kong who appreciate music and culture and that's what Clockenflap is offering on a larger scale - the chance to spend three days discovering and being involved in a cultural activity.

"If smaller organizers could use the larger Clockenflap platform to gain more followers and attention to other events, that would be great," she says.

After-After-Party's Pang, 34, mooted the idea of a boutique "mini-Clockenflap" event focusing exclusively on local and regional bands - an idea echoed by Twisterella*, a Hong Kong-born shoegaze group which celebrates its 10th anniversary and excellent first album Seasons Over the Years with a Clockenflap debut, opening the YourMum stage tomorrow. "That would probably help bring the local music scene to the next level," adds 35-year-old Hong Kong-born guitarist Hanes Cheung.

Bigger and better

Launched in 2008 at Cyberport as a modest one-day event that attracted some 1,500 punters, Clockenflap has grown at a phenomenal rate, increasing its audience 60-fold in just a decade. Building its reputation over five editions hosted at West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, from 2011 to 2015, Clockenflap upped capacity by shifting to the iconic Central Harbourfront in 2016, last year clocking a record turnout of 80,000 over three days.

After 10 years of meteoric growth, there is a perhaps inevitable post-anniversary fatigue perceptible among fans approaching the 11th Clockenflap, which Sweeting expects to attract between 65,000 and 75,000 visitors.

But the entrepreneur shows no sign of curbed ambitions, sharing hopes to grow the event beyond the current venue's confines to "sell-out quickly" status. Looking ahead, Sweeting names Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Stevie Wonder as top among the dream bookings he would like to bring to Hong Kong, adding that in many cases conversations have been ongoing for "years and years".

"I'm more confident than ever - in terms of the depth and quality of the line-up, this year our strongest ever," adds Sweeting. "People are going to be absolutely blinded - and perhaps not by something they were expecting."

(HK Edition 11/09/2018 page11)