Chinese indie bands rock US
By Mike Fuksman (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-17 09:22
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American audiences got their first taste of Beijing's indie rock scene last month when local record label Maybe Mars Records sent three of its best-known artists to tour the United States.
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Beijing's indie rock band P.K.14. |
From Nov 4 to 22, the bands Carsick Cars, P.K.14 and folk artist Xiao He, embarked on a tour of 11 different American cities, from Manhattan to Washington DC.
"It was an extremely tiring experience, but I think it was worthwhile," says tour manager Charles Saliba.
According to Saliba, nearly every show was sold out and the bands managed to sell nearly all the merchandise they brought with them.
"We assumed that Americans are fat, so we brought some very large shirts. But people that are into the indie scene tend to be skinny, so we had to bring our XXL shirts back," he says.
For Beijing music club D-22 owner Michael Pettis, the American tour was a chance to prove something to the world.
"We are starting to get serious interest in the Beijing music scene around the world. When we started the tour, we were nervous because we knew we would find out if we were right or not," he says.
A native of New York City, Pettis noted the pretension and snobbishness of music fans in that city.
However, the bands found the American audiences to be very receptive, says P.K.14 lead singer Yang Haisong.
"We had people tell us that even though they couldn't understand the lyrics, they could feel what we were trying to express," he says.
In addition, the bands had good experiences interacting with the American bands they played with, according to Carsick Cars percussionist Li Qing.
"Basically all of them were friendly. Some of the bands, we had toured with before, so we are good friends anyway," she says.
In addition to American bands and music lovers, the bands got to meet iconic indie rock godfather Ian MacKaye, famous for fronting the influential bands Minor Threat and Fugazi.
"He (MacKaye) gave us a lot of advice. He's like a hero to us, it was really surreal," says Yang Haisong.
The bands also learned about some interesting facets of the American indie rock scene, and expressed a desire to bring these ideas back to Beijing.
"I was really impressed by the DIY (Do It Yourself) scene. I thought it was fantastic. We saw a lot of underground bands that did their own booking, recording and touring. I hope that young bands in Beijing will start doing these kinds of things," says Carsick Cars guitarist/vocalist Shou Wang.
Although the tour ultimately ended up becoming a financial loss for Maybe Mars Records (roughly $15,000), the positive aspects of the tour made up for it, says Saliba.
"For our first American tour, everything went pretty OK. We'd been waiting to introduce our bands to America for a long time; it's kind of like a Mecca for our bands," he says.
Of course, not everything was perfect. When asked what he would do differently next time, Wang replies: "I hope we can eat better. Maybe get bigger hamburgers next time. But if the next tour is as good as this one, we'll be pretty happy."
