Steve Hui Ngo-shan: From Teen Raver to Leading Sound Artist
Steve Hui Ngo-shan was born in 1974 and grew up in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. He attended Sam Yuk Middle School (now Hong Kong Adventist College), a coeducational boarding school located in Clear Water Bay. The school, housed in a red brick building, followed a Christian ethos and served vegetarian meals. Sometimes after lights out at 10pm, Hui and his classmates would sneak out of bed to eat cans of twice-cooked pork.
Early Musical Influences and Improvisation
At the age of 12, Hui listened to The Checkers and often wore checked shirts he bought at the Ladies’ Market. Throughout his school years, he played the piano, but instead of learning new pieces, he experimented with sounds and improvisation. This early exploration shaped his decision to study contemporary music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2002, where he now teaches composition and electronic music.
Experiments with Electronic Music
Hui and his boarding school friends were not primarily focused on mastering instruments but enjoyed sharing music and meeting others with similar interests at record shops. His father owned a synthesizer, drum machine, and mixer, which provided Hui with a simple setup to recreate his piano experiments on electronic instruments around age 15.
International Exposure and Rave Culture
Hui studied abroad for two years, spending time in Toronto, Canada, and Florida, USA. During this period, he asked his father to send him a keyboard by mail. It was also then that he attended his first rave party, further inspiring his creative journey.
"I didn’t learn new songs at boarding school, but I would play notes and try to come up with sounds. That was my first experience with improvisation."
"My boarding school friends and I weren’t really trying to learn instruments; we were just listening to music together and hanging out at record shops to meet other like-minded people."
Author’s summary: Steve Hui’s early passion for improvisation and electronic music, combined with international experiences and rave culture, shaped his journey into becoming Hong Kong’s foremost sound artist and educator.