Early 2024, a leaflet was spread around the Hong Kong local music communities. Besides the patterns of telephone handsets and the gradient of seething orange, there were the written names of established Hong Kong DIY (Do It Yourself) bands: David Boring, Wellsaid, An Id Signal, etc. It was an advertisement for an upcoming concert organized by the collective ‘un.tomorrow,’ headlined by a memorable slogan, “Tomorrow never knows; it is being.”
The formation of un.tomorrow dates to the Pandemic—when live music and indie music in general—went through a slow but evident evaporation. The idea came to the collective minds of the Hong Kong DIY bands and show organizers, to “put together a gig only showcasing Hong Kong indie artists,” offering them the support that the collective thought they deserve: “a bigger stage and more support from local audiences.” The consciousness grew to un.tomorrow, as Jason describes, “an on-going endeavor where we don’t exactly know where the end of the road is.”
Un.tomorrow’s focus right now are the local artists, as that’s where their resources and networks lie. They already aided with releasing REGRETOPIA, Wellsaid’s 2024 album, and A Night to Call, Tales to Tell, a 2023 live recording of singer-songwriter Wong Hin Yan. The wax pressings were distributed in the most eminent areas of Hong Kong’s record collectors, including White Noise Records, Infree Records, and Desperate Infant Records. He additionally notes that the collective is willing to collaborate with artists afar. “We do not limit ourselves to the boundaries of genres or aesthetics,” he adds, “we want to find out about fresh sounds that excite us.”
But perhaps the most unique aspect of un.tomorrow as a record label is its DIY qualities. “To ‘do it yourself’ means you really do it yourself!” he emphasizes, “We reach out to artists, liaise on the production of recordings and artworks, promote the music and ship the records to people’s doors. We also collaborate with various parties in the scene to keep things interesting.” However, the collective is not entirely operated by DIY. Instead, another agenda lies on DIT—Do-It-Together, in which they help gathering local resources, to push exciting new sounds into the wider world.
In another part of the interview, he mentions existing DIY acts in Hong Kong, including Desperate Infant Records, Ying Dak Collective, RICE.HK and milkteawithoutmilk. He shares his positive view on their presence in Hong Kong’s local scene: “it is still very uplifting to see promoters new and old trying their best to gather local and foreign artists and audiences against all odds.”
Organizing a show was not an easy step, even for such established musicians like Jason. Holding their first showcase “Assembly #1,” obstacles such as “high production costs,” “locating a suitable venue,” and “enough attendance to offset the costs” were inevitable. It’s nothing new that after the COVID outbreak, musicians and promoters were indefinitely forced to deal with obnoxious costs. However, Jason sees a positive light, “We were blessed that the support from audiences was overwhelming, which culminated in a great occasion and memories for everyone involved.” Still, he firmly advises against organizing and performing simultaneously in a same show— “Your body and mind just wouldn’t allow it…”
Finally, we were able to hear more about the label’s plan and prospect. Its upcoming artists will include improvised percussionist Brian Chu, hardcore band An Id Signal, and newfound indie act Restless Waters, accompanied by their respective shows. By the time this article was written, Brian Chu’s new album MANNAKA was already released on their official Bandcamp site.