music of the spheres

20 the Beijinger / May 2009 www.thebeijinger.com

COVER FEATURE

Something To Their Name BEIJING ROCK ROLLS ON by Berwin Song

Beijing has one of the best local music scenes in the world.

It may seem a big statement, but the flow of local bands booked

for overseas tours and foreigners coming to Beijing to check out the noise is proof of deepening maturity and incredible diversity. Nor has it lost any of the spontaneous energy that’s been its trademark since blasting off 20 or so years ago.

The Golden AgeLike abstract art, rock & roll only began to seep into the country in the late ’70s, arriving on cassette tapes brought in by journalists, stu-dents, diplomats and suits. Copied and passed along, these scratchy mixes of Paul Simon, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were eagerly coveted and soon emulated by China’s sheltered youth. The icon of early Chinese

rockers was a young, classically trained trumpet player named Cui Jian, who earned his place in history with his legendary 1986 concert at the Capital Gymnasium, when he performed a song entitled “Nothing To My Name” (Yi Wu Suo You). The concert came to mark the birth of Chinese rock & roll, and the song would become an anthem for Cui’s generation.

“The first time I played rock & roll music, I felt I could say no to everybody,” he says. “It was the start of being able to show certain people: I’m different, I’m special. It was a good feeling, because everyone said yes – to tradi-tions, to politicians, to teachers. I think we were the first generation to say no. For me, that is the meaning of rock & roll.”

It didn’t take long for other bands to form: harder-edged rockers like Black Panther, with Dou Wei on vocals and Ding Wu on guitar. Ding would go on to form China’s first metal

band, Tang Dynasty, with China’s first guitar hero, Liu Yijun (aka Lao Wu). Beijing’s budding yaogun scene broke out of the student scene for the first time when it was given an unlikely mainstream stage at the 1990 Asian Games. Eager to show off China’s open-mindedness and “modern music,” authorities sanctioned a large-scale rock concert – the first of its kind for Chinese musicians –at the Workers’ Stadium, featuring Black Panther, Tang Dynasty, Cui Jian’s band Ado and the all-girl rock quartet Cobra. Suddenly, music industry eyes focused on Beijing.

ScreamThough high-profile performances were few, yaogun continued to simmer under the surface. Cui Jian, for instance, held unannounced gigs at small venues. Meanwhile, the increasing flow and variety of Western music spawned new

20 the Beijinger / May 2009

21www.thebeijinger.com May 2009 / the Beijinger

Something To Their Name Beijing bands. By the mid-’90s, groups were playing forms of yaogun more raw and furious than anything seen before.

There was the grunge-reviving Cold Blooded Animal, led by a Kurt Cobain-channeling, guitar-smashing Xie Tianxiao (aka XTX), and the nü-metal Thin Man. In Wudaokou, China’s first punks congregated, in every flavor of the genre – from skater to gutter to don’t-give-a-f**k. These bands – dubbed the Wuliao (“boredom”) Contingent for their youthful anomie – was led by hard-charging, leopard-headed Brain Failure frontman Xiao Rong, the wayward son of a Party official. Tired of having no voice, these bands were ready to scream.

Their base was the now-defunct Scream Club in Wudaokou. Riot girls Hang on the Box made their debut here – to the sound of massive booing – by bum-rushing the stage

and taunting the audience with their musical inexperience. The Scream Club venue was short-lived – though from its ashes emerged Scream Records, which released the seminal 1999 compilation of all the Wuliao Contin-gent bands.

At the end of the ’90s, the local scene began to benefit from better music infrastructure. In addition to Scream, other record labels were launched, including Modern Sky (which would release albums by alternative rock acts such as MUMA, Sound Fragment, Ruins, P.K.14, Re-TROS and Joyside). New venues fostered new scenes: River Bar, on Sanlitun South Street, supported folk bands like Wild Children (who ran the club) and Buyi, and inspiring acts like Glamorous Pharmacy and IZ, as well as solo artists Wan Xiaoli, Zhao Laoda and Zhou Yunpeng.

The capital’s longest-running outdoor rock

festival dates from those times as well. The first Midi Festival was held in 1999 and continues on today (see “Music Mayhem,” p74). “That first festival was just for fun,” recalls Midi dean (and festival director) Zhang Fan. “I still remember it like it was yesterday – there was free entry, free beer, about 800 people – all in the school concert hall. It was like a crazy college house party!” The Midi Festival showcased countless young yaogun bands, and helped establish the live reputations of Brain Failure, Reflector and SUBS.

It was also 1999 that yaogun began grab-bing attention in the West. Hang on the Box made the cover of Newsweek (in the first of the many “China has punks?!” pieces), while Xie Tianxiao became the first Chinese representative at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. Beijing’s folkies also made a splash, with Wild Children’s

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1. Cui Jian 崔健loathes title “Godfather of rock”

2. Dou Wei 窦唯founder of 3

7. Wood Pushing Melon 木推瓜

9. Cobra 眼镜蛇

13. He Yong 何勇

8. Wang Lei 王磊

17. Girl Kill Girl 女杀女vocalist Wang Yue (王悦) formerly of 16

18. Ourself Beside Meguitarist Yang Fan (杨帆) formerly of 16

21. Snapline 粉笔线guitarist Li Qing 李青 plays drums for 22; bassist Li Weisi 李维思 also a member of 22

19. 24 Hours

Sonic BoomBEIJING'S MUSICAL COSMOS by Lisa Liang and Wang Ge

The birth of a universe has happened in our lifetime: Chinese rock & roll. For a long, silent age, there was nothing. Then, suddenly, a musical explosion. A continuum

of star clusters burst into existence – and the whole shebang appears to be infinitely expanding. (Radio signals from the neighboring galaxies of Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Guangzhou grow

stronger every day.) Nonetheless, Beijing is where the Big Bang happened, and where the vast majority of China’s musicians

continue to orbit. Key word: vast. It’s nearly impossible to map out this entire cosmos, let alone do it across a span of six pages. The fact

is, we don’t even know how far this universe extends. And as with any proper galaxy, new stars are being born all the time.

So every night, as soon it gets dark, we’re keeping our eye out for the next big band to ignite ...

22. Carsick Cars 晕车的车also see 21, 93 and 94

6. Zhang Chu 张楚

14. Rhythm Dogs 节奏之犬also see 109

15. Zuoxiao Zuzhou 左小祖咒

16. Hang on the Box 挂在盒子上also see 17, 18 and 94

20. Guai Li 怪力drummer Shi Xudong 施旭东 also plays bass for 23 and was formerly of 45 (drums) and 51 (bass)

3. Black Panther 黑豹also see 2

4. Tang Dynasty 唐朝also see 57

10. Cold Blooded Animal 冷血动物also see 31

11. Compass 指南针

5. Wild Children 野孩子also see 114

12. Overload 超载



25. Hedgehog 刺猬

27. Sound Fragment 声音碎片

28. New Pants 新裤子

29. Bigger Bang 大棒

36. Caffe-In 咖啡因

44. Tookoo

39. Candy Monster 糖果怪兽

30. Re-TROS 重塑 (aka Rebuilding the Rights of Statues 重塑雕像的权利), lead singer Hua Dong 华东 was the former drummer of 23

40. Perdel 逃跑计划

42. Nancheng Erge 南城二哥

43. Ziyo 自游lead singer Helen Feng also of 72

50. Demerit 过失24. Queen Sea Big Shark 后海大鲨鱼(aka Houhai Sharks)

53. SKO 死抠

56. Left-Right 左右

54. Second Hand Rose 二手玫瑰

PLANET ROCK

26. Casino Demon 赌鬼

23. P.K.14also see 20 and 30

52. Reflector 反光镜

61. Twisted Machine 扭曲的机器(aka 扭机)

60. Egofall 颠覆M

46. The Gar 嘎调

55. AK-47

49. Joysideguitarist Liu Hongwei 刘虹位 also plays for 38

31. Xie Tianxiao 谢天笑(aka XTX), founding member of 10

32. Arrows Made of Desire 欲望之箭

33. Lonely China Day 寂寞夏日35. MUMA 木玛(aka Muma & Third Party), also see 110

37. Fire Balloon 火气球also see 123

38. The Moldsalso see 49 and 86

51. Brain Failure 脑浊also see 20

45. SUBSalso see 20

47. The Scoff

48. Steely Heart 钢铁之心

57. Spring & Autumn 春秋guitarist Kaiser Kuo was a founding member of 4

58. Suffocated 窒息

34. Random(K)ealso see 121

41. Zigzag

59. Voodoo Kungfu 壹零


THE ELECTRONOSPHERE

71. Dead J 邵彦棚

74. Dr. Feel Good

72. Pet Conspiracy 宠物同谋also see 43, 73 and 75

77. Sulumi 孙大威

ELVIS.T Pancake Lee 李宏擘

Ivan Zhang 张宇

X.L.F. 肖林丰

Weng Weng 翁嗡

62. Acupuncture Records 针刺疗法唱片

63. Patrick Yu 余吉来

64. Yang Bing 杨兵

65. Mickey Zhang 张然

66. DIO

Terry Tu

75. Huzi 虎子also guitarist for 72

Big MaxFlo Eysler

67. BaiCai 白菜affiliate of DeepSpaceMafia

73. LIman, former DJ of 72

SlideD-RailKay CDJ Blackie

Elemental

78. The Syndicateaffiliate of 98, also see 81

68. J. Swarzaffiliate of 67

69. Zhi Qiaffiliate aof 67

80. DJ Mataffiliate of 97

79. DJ Oscaraffiliate of 97

70. Donald Summeraffiliate of 67

76. ME:MO 翟瑞欣



89. FM3

92. Zafka 张安定

93. Shou Wang 守望(aka Zhang Shouwang 张守望 ) , guitarist and lead singer of 22; collaborates with 105; also see 94

91. Mafeisan 麻沸散

85. DJ Shorty S

84. DJ Wordyaffiliate of 82

87. Shuangzi 爽子(with Yihetuan 与义和团)

80. DJ Mataffiliate of 97

79. DJ Oscaraffiliate of 97

94. White comprised of Shenggy 沈静(former drummer of 16) and 93

90. Yan Jun 颜峻

95. Xiao He 小河founded 113

88. CMCB(aka Chinese MC Brothers 中国说唱兄弟)

81. MC Webber 王波affiliate of 78, 82 and 99; formerly of 83

86. In3 阴三儿MC Jia Wei 贾伟 plays drums for 38, also see 99

83. Yin Tsang 隐藏also see 81

82. Section 6also see 81 and 84; affiliate of 99


EARTH TONES

96. Long Shen Dao 龙神道

99. Citizens of the Earth (aka Beijing Live Hip-Hop Experience), clarinetist Chen Haoren 陈浩然 raps for 86; also see 81 and 82

101. Traveler 旅行者

102. Hanggai 杭盖

120. Laoliu & Sand 老刘&沙子乐队

121. Black Cat Bone 黑猫骨drummer Jon Campbell also of 34

100. SambAsia 桑巴亚

122. Bad Apples

123. Wu & the Side-Effects 吴的反作用bassist Checo Fernandez also of 37

124. Woodie Alan

97. Meiwenti Sound 没问题音乐also see 79 and 80

98. Upstepper Soundalso see 78

DJ Dan

Steve BarkerMael

Damon

26 the Beijinger / May 2009 103. Panjir


111. Hao Yun 郝云112. Buyi 布衣

113. Glamorous Pharmacy 美好药店(aka Glorious Pharmacy), also see 95, 105 and 114

116. Zhou Yunpeng 周云蓬

117. Wang Juan 王娟

118. Su Yang 苏阳

104. No Name Trio 无名乐队

107. Xia Jia 夏佳plays keyboard for 108; former keyboardist for 1

108. Red Hand Jazz Band 红手爵士乐队also see 107

115. Xiao Juan & Residents from the Valley 小娟 & 山谷里的居民

124. Woodie Alan

119. Wan Xiaoli 万晓利

114. Zhang Weiwei 张玮玮original member of 5; accordionist for 113

109. Zhang Ling 张岭 (aka “Big John”), former bassist and vocalist for 14

105. Li Tieqiao 李铁桥former saxophonist of 113; collaborates with 93

106. Liu Yuan Jazz Band 刘元爵士乐队former saxophonist for 1

110. The Verseguitarist Guan Wei 关伟 also of 35


“The first time I played rock & roll music, I felt I could say no to everybody. It was a good feeling”

invitation to perform in London. These first forays into the Western world became a trend: SXSW has since seen several waves of Chinese bands: Brain Failure and Hang on the Box in 2003, and Re-TROS and Lonely China Day of Tag Team Records in 2007.

Riding the No WaveBy bringing niche artists and ultra-arcane genres to the attention of local bands, the rise of Internet culture helped open up the scene far more than daoban (“pirated”) CDs or imported expat mix-tapes had. Music critic Yan Jun, with his interest in esoteric sounds, helped turn the city’s avant-garde leanings into a full-on artistic noise movement. In 2005, he began Waterland Kwanyin, a weekly experimental music show-case at 2 Kolegas, which eventually led to his own imprint, Kwanyin Records, featuring a roster of obscure noise artists. As a music critic, Yan publicized the “No Beijing” movement in 2005, which included bands like Carsick Cars, Snapline, Houhai Sharks and Nezha (now The Gar), who took their cue from the 1970s New York underground No Wave noise-rock scene. These bands are now hailed as some of Beijing’s brightest talents.

As Beijing bands proved their mettle on the international stage, the Western music establish-ment began to take a serious interest. Foreign artists came to China looking for collaborations, and the foreign media came looking for stories, particularly in the lead-up to the Olympics. Michael Pettis, an American economics profes-sor at Peking University by day, opened D-22 in 2006 to provide a space for a new generation of bands. Pettis, who had managed a club and written for the Village Voice in early-1980s New York, saw parallels with contemporary Beijing. “One thing that was interesting about the New

York scene back then was the way that every-thing was sort of mixed together,” he says. D-22 has since become a “hardcore music dive” (to use Pettis’s words) that regularly hosts now-familiar yaogun names: Carsick Cars, Joyside, Hedgehog, The Scoff and many more.

Other important venues opened around the same time: MAO Livehouse, Jiangjinjiu Bar and The Star Live. With these stages and other stalwart venues like Yugong Yishan, 13 Club and 2 Kolegas going strong, Beijing had the elements of a thriving scene. Meanwhile, in a musical universe far from the No Wave movement, local heavy metal acts continued to make their mark. The tight-knit metal scene produces international-caliber music spanning the range of the metal spectrum – from black to death, doom to goth, thrash to power, industrial and beyond. Painkiller Magazine (重型音乐) has been the genre’s leading voice since 2000, staging large concerts with foreign and local acts. Followers of the rock scene may find this surprising, as metal gets nothing like the cover-age of indie rock, even though filmmaker and metalhead Sam Dunn came to Beijing to film a segment for his documentary Global Metal.

Breaking Even?In 2008, the D-22-related record label Maybe Mars broke new ground by bringing in overseas producers to work on a series of albums. The aim was to give local musicians new produc-tion skills. The label’s initial releases included Snapline’s debut, produced by UK musician and producer Martin Atkins (of Pigface and PiL). P.K.14’s fourth album featured production help from Sweden and was mastered by Greg Calbi of Sterling Sounds in New York (whose credits include Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Sonic Youth, and the Strokes).

Maybe Mars has also branched into hardcore punk with Demerit, whose album was produced by Brian Hardgroove, bassist from Public En-emy. Hardgroove has sought out other bands to work with, including Brain Failure, for whom he produced a 2008 single featuring Public En-emy’s Chuck D on vocals, adding to the band’s celebrity-vocal collection.

Yet, for all the steps yaogun has taken, com-mercial viability is a long way off. “A lot of people don’t believe that rock & roll really has a chance to make money,” says Cui Jian. “And this is pretty tough – yes, piracy is terrible … but the performance business is also not set up for yaogun. There aren’t sound engineers, no lighting engineers … there’s no concept of beauty in rock & roll yet.”

Ultimately, despite the lack of commercial viability, the rebellious draw of making noise seems as strong as ever for some Chinese youth. Being stuck in the underground gives yaogun an authenticity and innocence that even the greenest of music followers can experience. Walk into any one of Beijing’s venues, and you’ll easily find a place in the front row – or you might be offered a drink by a nerdy-looking dude whom you recognize as the singer of the headlining act. Want to catch a peek at a burgeoning metal scene? We got it. Wigged-out experimental machinery? Check. Jazz-lite and genre-busting free-form? Uh-huh. Punks straight out of the streets of 1976 London? Oi. Shoegaze, indie pop, post-rock, prog rock? Yup, yup, yup and yup. One of the best live music scenes in the world? Find out for yourself.

Excerpted from the 2009 Insider’s Guide to Beijing. To order a copy, e-mail [email protected] or call 5820 7700. www.immersionguides.com

COVER FEATURE


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music of the spheres

Entertainment & Humor

rock roll music

beijing bands

beijing rock rolls

meaning of rock roll

birth of chinese rock

largescale rock concert

local bands

chinas openmindedness