NEW MODEL ARMY INVADE HONG KONG

For over four decades, the Bradford, UK based rockers have defied genres and styles. Expect something for everyone during this week's two date engagement at The Wanch...

New Model Army (Photo Credit: Tina Corhonen)

New Model Army lead singer Justin Sullivan claims that the only time the group has ever been in Hong Kong was during a stopover coming back from a gig in Tokyo. So in between the band’s two night engagement at The Wanch on April 29th and 30th, there’s no “to do” list, no sights they must see, and no dim sum restaurant they absolutely have to post about for Instagram. They also don’t do Instagram.

“I keep up on what’s happening in Hong Kong,” says lead singer Justin Sullivan by Zoom from Paris, where he spends part of his time. “But we’re open to any and all experiences while we’re there. It’s a go with the flow situation.”

It could be said that the UK veterans have the same approach to their musical careers, 45 years after they formed in Bradford, England in 1980. While their early breakthrough was the anthemic and angry independent chart topper “Vengeance” in 1982, over 16 studio albums, they’ve flirted with being the UK’s “next big thing” before taking any number of musical detours, all the while retaining their gritty rock and punk attitude. “In any given summer, we’ll probably play a metal festival, a punk festival, a hippie festival, and a gothic festival,” says Sullivan with a smile. “All with basically the same songs. But no one kind of knows what we are, which is great for us because we don’t care what we are!”

(During this exclusive interview, New Model Army lead singer Justin Sullivan debates whether he’s more creative now or when he was younger).

What Sullivan is leaving out is that New Model Army is a super tight band who have pockets of rabid fans around the world, notably in South America and several countries in Europe, who call themselves “The Family” as they embrace the band’s core message. They remain faithful despite numerous personnel changes over the years (Sullivan is the group’s only original member) and seem to embrace whatever musical path the group goes down. “You know Dean’s (Dean White, keyboardist) a psychedelic guy, Ceri’s (Ceri Monger, bass) a metal head, Michael’s (Michael Dean, drummer) a rock man, I’m a soul guy, and our current keyboard player is a jazz guy,” muses Sullivan. “But just like 45 years ago, we get in a room and make a noise that you love. And all the other things, the method and the details are much less important than the communication of spirit. That’s what we’re doing. We’re communicating spirit.”

The group expect to be revved up for their Hong Kong shows for several reasons. In addition to being the first time ever performing in the city – and the Australian dates which follow – the shows at The Wanch will mark one of the only appearances so far by the group in 2025. Late last year, New Model Army were forced to cancel an entire section of their European tour after Michael Dean faced severe complications from knee surgery.

(Sullivan discusses whether or not he will write the definitive New Model Army story).

Sullivan is well aware of the cross-section of generational fans who may show up as they’ve played before a number that ranges from just 12 to 100,000. There will be casual concert goers who want to hear 80s band anthems like “51 State”, a critique of the relationship between the U.S. and England, the driving, brooding “Frightened”, or even one of the group’s dark ballads. Longterm followers will want to see how their critically acclaimed latest album “Unbroken” fares live. “I think there will be quite a few songs from “Unbroken”,” says Sullivan. “And because it’s our first time in Hong Kong and Australia we’ll do some older, well known things as well. We’ll mix it up like we did in South America last year.”

Justin Sullivan performing live (Photo Credit: Oliver Breit).

Beyond these shows, New Model Army is contemplating their next album, which is likely to be something completely different from “Unbroken’s” upbeat, inimitable, near-metallic sound. There may also be a soundtrack, which Sullivan is reluctant to talk about. In fact, the group’s only certainties are that they’ll continue to push their own musical boundaries and that they’re opening for, of all artists, Billy Idol on his summer tour. “We don’t have that 80s nostalgia audience really,” says Sullivan. “And in the nineties we were poised to be a big band and it never really happened because of arrogance really. Punk rock attitude if you like. We’re not here as a jukebox. But Billy asked us and it seemed rude to say no. It should be interesting.”

New Model Army will be playing at The Wanch (1/F Henan Building, 90 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong) on April 29th and 30th. Tickets are available at www.ticketflap.com

(POST SCRIPT: If anyone was to ask how I rate this story, I wouldn’t call it my absolute best work. But it provides good essential information, and zips along enough to be published in a daily or weekly publication which has limited space. As NMA lead singer Justin Sullivan recently spent nearly an hour and a half discussing his career exclusively, a lengthy, evocative feature may be reserved for a monthly music magazine, or a reputable global daily.

The reason why I mention this is because some of you may find it interesting as to what happens once an article is written. In this case, I’ve spent the last month sending a variation of this story out to several publications in and around Hong Kong. Two editors at the South China Morning Post — the city’s largest English language paper — batted the story back and forth before ultimately turning it down (this would have been an easy placement even a few years ago) as “it didn’t quite fit” (Kpop and easily digestible stars seem to be in vogue there now. And surprisingly, a promoter of another upcoming concert intimated to me that they were offered a “pay for play” deal).

The Editor-in-Chief at the Hong Kong Free Press also personally rejected the story, but for a myriad of respectful reasons that had everything to do with their own current limitations. The Beat, an emerging online local entertainment site, also turned it down, citing that “our platform is primarily built for businesses and event organizers, so a business email is required to sign up and promote events.”

Though disappointing, at least they responded. Time Out Hong Kong didn’t (though they did see fit to write about Air Supply’s umpteenth appearance in Macau). Neither did The Standard (Hong Kong’s other major English language paper). Nor did anyone from the Greater Bay region’s stable of magazines.

As a writer, it’s frustrating not to place a story after working on it for many hours. But the real losers are city dwellers, in this case Hong Kong. Regularly, I hear from residents that they miss events because they “didn’t know about it”. When weeklies disappear from a lack of advertising (and internet competition), and dailies struggle to survive (often for the same reasons), editorial gatekeepers (whether knowledgeable or not) now decide what you read, see, and learn about at nearly every publication, in every location.

These days, unless you read newsletters like this one, you better hope you like Kpop and Air Supply.