Albino are an indie rock band formed in Hong Kong in Nov 2002. Now the band is comprised of Albert Ng (vocal, guitar) and Ben Lai (guitar). They have released two singles – Read My book (2008) and Entire (2014) – with a third in the works, expected to be released sometimes in the summer.
Formation and early years: 2002-2006
Albert and the band's first bassist Liam Wong met at High School, and both of them were impressed by the 90's Britpop. Until Nov 2002, Albert introduced one of his friends, Joe to be the drummer of the band.
New line-ups: 2006-2008
After playing numbers of live shows, Liam was replaced shortly afterward by Martin Ko in May 2006. In Dec 2006, Martin left the band; meanwhile Galant Lau had joined as a second guitarist.
After few months without an official bassist, the band recruited Carina via the net in March 2007. ChiWai, formerly of Fantastic Day, played guitars and keyboards for the band from June 2007 and left the band in Nov 2008.
First single and breakup: 2008-2009
The band's debut single "Read My Book" was released on 1st July 2008, the free and limited 100 copies are considered amongst the fans through the Internet and some CD stores.
With the successful single tour, the band then found a manager who was interested of the band in the summer of 2008. During the recording sessions of the debut album in April 2009, the central member, Joe left the band to work on another project, and few days later Carina and Galant quit as well.
Semi-hiatus: 2009-2012
Soon after reconciling, Albert called up Simpson as the drummer in May 2009. After few rehearsals with Simpson, they finally recruited Louis Hon as the bassist, and Denver, the ex-Gaze member, be the guitarist of the band in July 2009. Louis left the band in October, and Timmi Ma, the former bassist of Survivor, joined the band in Dec 2009. Denver left the band in May 2010; meanwhile Simpson had gone to New Zealand on his personal trip. Albino had been working on their second single before he left, but the recording sessions were never completed.
After the drummer came back from his trip in June 2011, Albino appeared a music festival with the new members of guitar and bass players, Chan Ka Long and Jacob Yu respectively; both were Albert's primary schoolmates. After 5 months on hiatus, Albert decided to play another show in 2012, with the new rhythm guitarist, Ben Lai.
Reunion and new single: 2012-present
Albert and Ben reunited Joe, the original drummer, and started rehearsals again from Nov 2012. Although the previous members Liam and Galant had joined the reunion, eventually they left within a year. However, the rest of 3 members kept recording between February 2013 and January 2014. Before the release of Entire, Joe decided to leave the band.
The band’s second single Entire was released on 31st March 2014, five years since their last studio release. Same as their previous release, it was free and limited to 100 copies only.
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