Who we are?
The Balloon Club aka T.B.C. is a part of Amusix Productions led by Joul Jacquin. The four band members were all born in Hong Kong and have known each other since they were 6 months old through a group of international families. After many birthday parties (with balloons) and endless rehearsals, the boys all ended up at the French International School and discovered their passion for music early on in their lives. By age 7, they began studying with a musician named Joul, and have been rocking out since. Zaide and Taye Sani (ages 12 on lead guitar/vocals and age 10 on drums) are brothers whose parents hail from HK/India/Thailand, while Tahir Tourani (age 12, on electric bass) comes from an HK/Indian/Japanese family. The lead singer, Kairo Taylor (age 11) is HK/Korean/British. The band enjoys performing at schools, gigs and charities. Music Asia Shanghai was their first international gig.
Our experience
It was electrifying. MusicAsia is a gathering where FIS Music teachers bring music students from each French School in Asia to show their talents. March 2019 brought students from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh to the Shanghai campus for a weekend of performances. The most rewarding part of MusicAsia was to be surrounded by so many musicians for the whole week and proved to be inspiring. We were honored to be selected alongside classical, pop and jazz musicians.
All four of us were happy and excited to participate.
The TBC were:
INQUIRERS– over the 4 days as we showed CURIOSITY to the different styles of music and instruments. We were exposed to everything from jazz musicians, classical violinist, vocalists to an entire orchestra.
PRINCIPLED– by representing FIS Hong Kong and playing with fellow students.
RISK-TAKERS– by performing a different style of music in front of the largest crowd we have ever performed for, plus in front of skilled musicians. We were both excited and nervous at the same time.
OPEN-MINDED– as we respected and enjoyed the different styles of music that were performed.
MINDFUL– as we acknowledged how hard the musicians worked on their pieces.
INNOVATIVE– when we had a problem with the drum (the cymbal was loose) we used blue-tack to fix it.
SMART– as we worked well as a band and listened to all the band members ideas.
EMPATHETIC- as we made a positive influence and played a fantastic show!!
On 21st March 2019, Thursday, we woke up at 6:45 am as we had to head to the opening ceremony. We could only understand a little of what was being said because it was in advanced French!! After that, we practised for 6 hours. Soon after, our music teacher Joul came and helped us do the soundcheck. At this point, despite being exhausted, we still had a show to perform in! Finally, when our show started, Zaide was so tired he forgot to tune his guitar. He realized in the middle of the song, he managed to tune without too many people realizing. Besides that, we played a decent show. After the show, we were told by Ms Wang that the audience were blown away by our talent at such a young age. That made us all very happy!
The next morning, 22nd March 2019, we woke up at noon because we were wiped out! We went to check out the Bund river and a few sites in Shanghai city. The city was impressive. The Pearl Tower and the European architecture of the buildings were outstanding. That afternoon, we continued to practice our music at the hotel rooms. The key to music is practice, practice and practice so that’s what we did.
23rd March 2019, Saturday was the finale and we were ready for it! All the musicians put on an outstanding show! The 3 hour concert brought was a success. It was sad to see it end but look forward to the next MusicAsia show.
Our style of music is influenced by Green Day, RHCP, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Metallica, Clash, Queen, Linkin Park, Suicidal Tendencies, System of a Down, Germs, NOFX, The Offspring and The Hennessy Roads.
Overall, we think that we had an amazing time. We would like to thank Ms Wang, Joul and all our parents, the experience was invaluable.