One-man band

Barnaby Bruce is a percussionist and composer who splits his time between running a record label, DJing, and playing live — most notably with Hong Kong Latin group Banda Orbita for the last eight years. He’s recently undertaken the personal and technical challenge of creating a solo act.

This employs an array of gear including a controller keyboard, drum pads, analog synths, a MIDI pedalboard, as well as acoustic percussion pieces.

The prolific musician, who releases his Balearicstyle dance tracks on his label Palms & Charms, found he preferred to create fresh material for the solo show. “Now I’ve got it all assembled, I’m writing material using this setup instead of trying to shoehorn something else I’ve written into it.”

Bruce recently debuted his act, the format of which can suit both dance venues and live houses, at the “Off the Record” music and art festival at the W Hong Kong hotel.

His sound blends ambient, funk, disco, house, and Afro-Cuban rhythms — all of which he’s absorbed at various stages in his life. “This project is an amalgamation of different music I’m into — I’m trying to fuse it all together. It’s all I can do really, because that’s what I know!”

A major motivating factor for Bruce is that “as a percussionist in bands you don’t often get involved in writing music. I’ve got total control over this and I can do exactly what I want”.