Hong Kong band Sagas talk Pixar's Up, and how they tell stories through their music

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We talks to Sagas vocalist and bassist Dani Kwok, and guitarist Teddy Fan about the meaning behind their music, and the band’s long-term goals

Chris Gillett |
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Sagas' style draws inspiration from the original heroic epics.

Hong Kong five-piece Sagas have been making a name for themselves. They recently performed at acoustic venue C+Club in Tsim Sha Tsui, as well being finalists in last weekend’s Planetrox Final, where the bands battled for a chance to perform at Canadian festival Envol & Macadam. 

Young Post caught up with bassist and vocalist Dani Kwok and Guitarist Teddy Fan ahead of the final to talk about their music, recent music video, and future plans.

“Sagas are modern heroic narratives, or long stories over a period of time,” says Kwok, talking about the inspiration behind the band name. “We’d like to share our different stories with the audience through our music.

“We try to make the simplest music arrangements, with effortless melodies, in the hope to connect with people, and hope they can relate to it, or hear their own stories in the music.”

Talking about the importance of music competitions – such as the annual Planetrox organised by The Underground – for Hong Kong bands, Kwok explains, “A competition such as this gives local bands like ourselves more hope, and goals to work towards. 

“In this instance, it even exports Hong Kong music to other regions.” Fan adds, “It also has a positive impact on gig-goers, allowing Hong Kong people to see more great performances from local bands in decent venues.”

Since forming in 2014, the band has been very active in finding ways for its music to be heard by new audiences. The song 88 was used as a theme song for a microfilm titled YouTube 2; the film and the song’s official audio have both gained more than 200,000 views on Youtube. More recently, Sagas released a lyric video for their single Paradise Falls, a piano ballad which builds to a cinematic pop song,

“It’s about a boy and a girl, and they both love the Pixar animated film Up,” says Kwok, setting the premise for the song’s inspiration. Similar to the film, the boy in Sagas’ song promises the girl that they will venture to the mythical Paradise Falls. However, their relationship ends suddenly, and he is consumed by sadness and feels like his world has turned upside down. 

Success makes the band hungry for more, and work even harder. They have another new song and music video set for release in next month, ahead of their eagerly anticipated debut album, set to be released over the summer. 

As for any long-term ambitions, the group are clear on what they want to achieve. 

“We want to make our voices heard,”said guitarist Fan. “We want to perform in new places, and bring our stories of love, hope and power to new audiences.” But what is the price of this ambition? “The studio rental bills every month,” he jokes.

Sagas’ next show is in Shenzhen on May 26.

Edited by Nicole Moraleda

 
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