Hong Kong Counterfeit - Cult Heroes Radio - Apr 2004

Biography of Hong Kong Counterfeit

Hong Kong Counterfeit, a fantasy world of robotic beats, synthetic sounds and futurist style conceived and performed by John Langden aka Inform3r and designer/DJ Katya Casio. Their new 12' single 'Emotion' pays tribute to the dance music of days gone by and a future that will never be.

Hong Kong Counterfeit is a collaboration between a retro-futurist artist John Langdon (aka INFORM3R of Gigolo Records) and Eastern European designer and deejay Katya Casio.

The name Hong Kong Counterfeit was inspired by a famous discotech in Hong Kong during the 1980's named Hollywood East. It catered strictly to eurobeat/italodisco fans and managed to release a lot of counterfeit italo disco records/tapes in their time.

Katya and INFORM3R met in an underground nightclub in NYC where they were experimenting with avant-garde performance art and breaking the rules of fashion. At the time, Inform3r was working on his debut EP for Gigolo Sex Offender and Katya was designing clothes using plastic bags and left over junk from industrial factories. Her original creations have been showcased by the NYC Downtown Costume Institute amongst famous designers and performers like Vivienne Westwood, Klaus Nomi, Keith Harring, etc.

INFORM3R was the first artist from NYC who was signed by Gigolo Records, and he not only brought the sound but also revolutionized the record label's image. It was John and Katya who developed the concept for International Deejay Gigolos logo featuring Sid Vicious. At the time DJ Hell was facing a law-suit from Arnold Schwarzenegger for using his photo as the label's logo, so he asked Katya to design a new updated logo. It seemed only logical to put the same body builder outline but with the head of Sid Vicious, after all; a dead guy can't sue you!

HKC recorded their first EP Metal Disco in 2001 as a picture disc. The record fused retro-futuristic cover-art with the sounds of electro-disco bleeps of analogue synthesizers. It featured three original tracks plus a remix by Legowelt and Orgue Electronique. Songs from the album have appeared on various compilations. Most notably: Disco Nouveau (Ghostly International), Kapital Electro (Universal France) and Vanity Case (Universal France).

After long nights in the studio the duo likes watching low-budget movies on late night channels. One of the B-movies inspired the song 'X-Ray Eyes,' in which the protagonist acquires x-ray vision during puberty. This single was released on Lasergun Records (the German label run by Savas Pascalidis and known for releasing Ural 13 Diktators) with remixes by David Carretta, Savas Pascalidis and Tampopo.

Hong Kong Counterfeit has also released an EP under the name Lectronix, on which one of the tracks features vocals by electro pioneer Man Parrish. This was followed up by a collection of remixes by artists such as Capri (Gigolo), Tampopo (Gigolo), Swimming with Dolphins (Johnna of Le Tigre) and Kit Builders (World Electric).

At the end of 2001 a Japanese vocalist named Ayumi P. joined the band. Currently all three members are working on new material for an upcoming full length LP release, which stylisticly ranges from modernized Hi-energy Italo Disco, to dark grooves with a punk-gothic slant.