Kurt Vile, the Jimi Hendrix of folk rock, on his upcoming Hong Kong gig
A man who says he’s ‘just possessed by music’ talks about the evolving style of his woozy slow-burn songs of love and loneliness and how he has no idea what to expect from his first appearance in Asia with his band The Violators
If you thought US indie icon Kurt Vile’s lugubrious singing style was the product of a similarly laid-back character, you’d be mistaken.
The composer of some of the sweetest folk music of the past few years is a verbal dynamo. Slovenly and doleful on record, the Hong Kong-bound performer is supercharged in conversation.
“My wife studied Chinese and has been there a few times and I know a little bit from her and I’m 36 years old so I know a little bit about Chinese culture to some degree, but once you get over there it’s always a little different to what you imagine,” he says in a verbal assault so quick it almost trips over itself.
Vile is, of course speaking of his first gig in the city on October 19. It comes at the end of a world tour in support of last year’s sumptuous B’lieve I’m Going Down, an album of such ethereal beauty it’s capable of providing the backdrop to a night out or a lazy evening in.
He’s looking forward to the gig because he’s never played in Asia before – and has no idea what to expect.
“I’m open-minded; they won’t know what to expect when they see me and it’s probably the same deal for me,” he adds, with a very loud nervous laugh that’s more cackle than giggle.
