Volt in Music certainly like to push the boundaries. The electronic duo of Honhim and K create their own instruments, wear digitalised eyewear during their (rare) live performances, combine their music with swirly trippy visuals, and the artwork for their soon-to-be-released 12” EP doesn’t merely incorporate painting or graphic design, or a fancy hologram, but rather a futuristic style of 3D head scanning. It’s all part and parcel of their vision to “convert voltage into music”.

“I like exploring some new possibilities in music. I want to make our own instruments, new sounds and explore stage setup,” says Honhim, the male half of the VIM. “It always includes some electronics, soldering and wiring. So, most of the time it’s like converting voltage into music. That’s the idea.”

Voltage, in the case of VIM at least, translates to eerie and atmospheric dance tunes, driven by myriad synth tones, heavy helpings of white noise, and sprinklings of vocoded vocals, channelling the likes of Kraftwerk, Radiohead, Bjork and the French triumvirate of Daft Punk, Justice and Air. But for the duo, it’s not just about the music.

“We care about the visual experience as much as the listening experience. We are strongly influenced by video art, VJ culture and new media art,” says Honhim. “We love Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze’s music videos. We are trying to combine both parts to give audience a new experience in electronic music concert.”

In many ways, a VIM gig is an experience, and in addition to the audio-visual there’s also a wacky instrument ‘show and tell’ element to their performances. In their previous live gigs, they’ve utilised a theramin (Think Hitchcock’s Spellbound on acid), a talk box (eat your heart out, Peter Frampton), and various other bizarro devices. “We like to use strange things. It gives a fresh experience for the audience in watching the performance,” says Honhim. The latest addition to their instrumental stable is the self-created Stroke, a touch-based Midi controller that looks like an orchestral lightsaber. “We have been working on different kinds of creations last year. We finally have the chance to reveal all of these in our upcoming concert.”

Since first appearing at the New Vision Festival in 2008, Volt in Music have kept a pretty low profile, making only the occasional appearance, such as at 2009’s Clockenflap, our own Big Night Out and at last year’s Asia Live Case at M1. But their debut solo show this fortnight may be their biggest yet. They promise to unveil ten new tracks and a handful of new videos – each a collaboration with a different animator – all on a stage that’s apparently going to be a musical installation in itself. Indeed, we can feel the boundaries being pushed further already.

Mark Tjhung 

Volt in Music play HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity on Sat April 23. Tickets: 2734 9009; www.urbtix.hk.