Band on the run remains hometown boys

One of Liu Kun's favorite foods is his mother's handmade noodles which combine flour with wormwood juice. The commonly used plant in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu province, is also a herb with multiple functions, such as antioxidant and blood depurative. Besides cooking with it, his mother often burns the plant as incense.

When Liu formed a rock band as a teenager with his childhood friends, he named the band after the plant. In 2003, he formally launched a career as frontman with his band, and he bestowed on the band a new name, Low Wormwood.

"Usually the plant grows in poor conditions. It's often hidden by other foliage. However, it is strong and tough," says Liu, 39. "I named our band after it because it symbolizes the spirit of our music."

At that time, he didn't know how long the band would last. Along with his band members－all born and reared in Lanzhou－guitarist Zhou Xudong, bassist Xi Bin, and drummer Wen Feng, he focused on writing songs inspired by their lives and their hometown.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the band is one of the most active and productive bands in the vibrant indie music scene. They've released 11 albums and tour nationally with over 30 shows every year.

On Aug 21, Liu was scheduled to participate in the TED Zhongshan Bridge, an independently organized TED event, as a speaker. The event was supposed to held in Lanzhou. The Zhongshan Bridge, dubbed the "first bridge on the Yellow River", is a key tourist site in Lanzhou and sits in the middle of the city's White Pagoda Mountain Park.

The event was postponed to Sept 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Liu plans to share stories about his band and his songs inspired by Lanzhou.

The city of Lanzhou is known for many things. For example, the galloping Yellow River passes through the city. In the 1980s and '90s, rock music captivated the city. One of the best-known bands is Wild Children, which is known for its fusion of local folk songs played on Western instruments such as the guitar, accordion and harmonica.

For Low Wormwood, one of their biggest hits is titled Lanzhou, Lanzhou, an ode to their hometown was released in their second album in 2011.

Lanzhou, the endless Yellow River runs to the east. Lanzhou, the end of the east is the entrance into the sea, as the song goes.

With simple, poetic lyrics and guitar-driven melodies, which, as Liu says, reflect the characteristics of Lanzhou people－straightforward and honest, the band has gained a large fan base across the country.

For Liu, one of the best parts of being in the band is that the original band members never changed. They also have new members, including guitarist Guo Yang and keyboardist Guo Ge, who also plays bandoneon－a small Latin American accordion.

In early 2020, after the pandemic hit, the band moved back to Lanzhou from their studio in Beijing. Like many musicians, they stopped performing live for about seven months due to the pandemic.

"We had to postpone our plans, such as touring and new album. For the first time, we tried to perform online at home, which, unexpectedly, gained us a larger fan base," says Liu.

The productive singer-songwriter is self-disciplined. He writes songs every day and exchanges ideas with his band members. Three new songs were released during the pandemic, including a romantic ballet, I Love You.

In late 2020, when bands were able to resume their live shows, Liu invited more musicians to join his band, rearranging their classic songs with more sounds, such as percussions, trumpet, piano and electronic music. They toured around the country by visiting cities, such as Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Guangzhou, Guangdong province and Beijing, where they met new and old fans.

Their latest album, Famous Trademarks, which was released in December 2020. Featuring 10 songs, the album is an apparent departure from the band's previous works.

The title song, Famous Trademarks, was inspired by a lipstick with the same name as the band, which was sold out within minutes during a livestreaming show by Li Jiaqi, a celebrity live streaming host on Taobao, Alibaba's e-commerce platform.

"We registered a trademark for Low Wormwood so we contacted the company, hoping to resolve the trademark infringement matter. There were lots of discussions back and forth and the answer is the name can exist in different categories unless the trademark is very famous," says Liu. "Then I wrote the song to tell the story and instead of being cynical, I tried to make the song fun to listen. We should work harder to make Low Wormwood famous as a band."

"As a singer-songwriter, I show my attitude and views through my songs. As I grow older, the attitude is still there but I express it with easiness rather than anger," he adds.

The band also made a decision to move their studio to Chengdu, Sichuan province, which is described as "milestone" and "getting out of comfort zone".

According to Liu, the band has performed many times in Chengdu but none of the members has ever lived there for a long time.

The main reason for the change is that Chengdu has great soil for indie rock music and live music is booming in the local scene.

"We spent a few months in Chengdu last year to record the latest new album, which allowed us to know more about the city," says Liu. "The city has great food, bars and most importantly, people are patient and live their lives with a slow tempo, especially the local young people."

"Of course, it's a big challenge for the band since all of the members have to move to a new place and start a new life. It's not easy for us because we are all in our 40s and we have our own families. This new lifestyle may be good for the band to write fresh original materials," he says.