Emissaries of underground

It was a reaction no one expected. From Maine to Manhattan, American audiences clamored to see what the best of Beijing's punk and experimental scene had to offer.

In the US as part of a promotional tour for Beijing photographer Matthew Niederhauser's recently published book Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground, the bands P.K. 14, Carsick Cars and Xiao He performed across on the eastern seaboard for the first time after a brief stop in Europe.

"We were shocked by the response," said D-22 punk bar owner and Maybe Mars record label founder Michael Pettis. "Other Chinese bands have toured the US to pretty much empty audiences."

"You know how snobby New York is. There were seven shows and every single one was packed, really," he said.

"Beijing has one of the most interesting music scenes in the world. And now they get it."

Carsick Cars frontman Shouwang was also surprised by the turnout.

"It was very cool," he said. "Especially the shows in Brooklyn and Manhattan. They were sold out, which is pretty much impossible for first-time bands touring there."

D-22, a small venue in Wudaokou in Beijing, is considered by many to be the heart and soul of punk, experimental and noise music in China. Opened in 2006 by Pettis, his philosophy is to simply support what he considers to be the best artists out there.

"We're not concerned about popularity. We try to support the music musicians like," Pettis explained.

And he would know. Former owner of Sin Club, a popular punk venue in the 1980s in New York, Pettis is no novice when it comes to developing a music scene or eyeing rare talent.

"You know, I did shows with Sonic Youth and The Swans, and when you saw them you knew how good they were," he said.

"Xiao He is like Tom Waits. Shouwang - definitely one of the most important musicians to come out of China."

But if Pettis can be credited with nurturing talented youth and creating a scene, it is photographer Niederhauser who made them iconic.

Niederhauser said that as a photographer his decision to document the bands came naturally.

"In whatever city I'm in, I always check out the music," he said.

"It was the first few weeks after I'd come back to Beijing in 2007 and I'd heard about D-22. I had a good friend who was doing the sound for them, but still I was just bound to end up there."

"At that time they had a ton of concerts - Joyside, the SUBS, Queen Sea Big Shark, the Carsick Cars," he recalled. "I was blown away. So I just started taking photos of their live shows."

After showing Pettis and staff some concert shots he had taken, Niederhauser was signed on to be D-22's in-house photographer, which played a crucial role in helping his photos reach a wider, global audience.

"Whenever they got photo requests they would push them on to me," he said.

"Michael (Pettis) and D-22 were instrumental in getting me into the New Yorker and Time."

It is these very same photos - live shots and band portraits with the red wall background - that visually articulate both the dynamism and scope of Sound Kapital (the title was derived from Karl Marx's political treatise Das Kapital).

The photo album was originally published locally, as D-22 financed it for the pub's second anniversary in 2008.

According to Niederhauser, who came up with the idea for the book and put it together, the newer version published by powerHouse Books is similar, but more complete. It also includes a CD that features music from 17 bands.

"The first book comprises a third of the new book," he explained. "I had considered it a complete document. Not final or ultimate, but thorough.

"I have almost an OCD temperament in how I try to include everyone."

The promotional tour for Sound Kapital served as the impetus for bringing the bands over to tour the eastern US in what was called the Maybe Mars China Underground Tour. Niederhauser coordinated both.

Equipped with an RV, the bands played shows in venues all along the east of the US: galleries and famous clubs in New York, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh as well as auditoriums at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Colby College campuses.

The tour also provided Chinese bands the opportunity to meet the groups that influenced their own music. At a show in Washington D.C., the band P.K. 14 had a chance to meet members of one of the bands they most idolize.

"The band Fugazi and its lead guitarist Ian MacKaye bridged the gap between the China and DC underground (music movements)," Niederhauser said.

In many respects, the tour functioned as a homecoming for Niederhauser - a West Virginia native - and a road trip with friends.

Shouwang noted "it was great" staying with Niederhauser's parents, but told the photographer playfully: "Your mom was much nicer than you."

Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground is available online at amazon.com and locally at the Bookworm, D-22 and Plastered 8. Price: 150 yuan