Making modern music

A recent show in Beijing celebrates the release of an album, Modern Sky 9, the ninth compilation released by indie record label, Modern Sky, aiming to introduce new voices.

It's a Thursday night. With breeze delivering the relaxation of summer, chic young people gather outside Tango Club, one of the most popular indie live house venues in Beijing, waiting for the show to start.

As the time approaches 8 o'clock, they flood into the venue and are ready to greet six groups of indie musicians, who they may never heard of.

When the light goes out, three triplet sisters walk onto the stage with a variety of musical instruments including a harp, a drum and handbells.

The three sisters - Du Bing'er, Du Fei'er and Du Xue'er - known as Floruit Show, all graduates of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, were trained in classical music since they were children. They performed two of their original songs, How Can I Let You Stay and Horse.

"The independent music sector is larger and stronger than ever," says DJ Fang Zhou, who was the host of the show. "The night is a big one for the young artists."

The show celebrates the release of an album, Modern Sky 9, the ninth compilation released by indie record label, Modern Sky, aiming to introduce new voices.

Besides Floruit Show, the album also features 11 young artists, including So Far So Good, which comprises five members from the Chinese mainland, the United States and Italy; Sugar Cat, an indie band from Taiwan, and singer-songwriter Wu Xuwei, better known by her stage name, Noshiva.

Modern Sky, one of the largest indie record labels in China, was launched by Shen Lihui, lead vocalist of rock band, Sober, in 1997. Now, it's home to over 100 bands from China and abroad.

Since 2007, the label has also held the annual Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing and now the outdoor music festival is held in around 20 cities in China every year attracting tens of thousands of music lovers.

In 1998, Modern Sky released its first compilation, Modern Sky 1, celebrating the country's most popular and pioneering indie bands and artists. So far, 53 indie bands and artists have been introduced through the compilation series.

Bands, such as New Pants and Re-TROS, whose early songs have been released through the compilation series, are now sought-after Chinese bands.

"The first compilation of the series I bought was Modern Sky 5 when I was a university student. Through the album, I listened to New Pants' song, Bye Bye Disco, which is still popular," says Fang Zhou. "If you want to hear the most vibrant sounds from young artists, the compilation series is a great start."

According to Zhu Yanfeng, marketing director of the album, Modern Sky 9, the young generation indie musicians open to various music genres, and with the help of the latest technology they complete their original works by themselves.

Unlike the previous compilations under the series, which include some well-known bands, the ninth edition totally embraces new ones.

"If you look back over the past eight compilations, it's a little snapshot of a time, which showcases the evolution of China's indie music scene," Zhu adds.

"Young indie musicians are changing the traditional image of indie bands, which were earlier associated with anger and rebellion. Their songs now have different colors and mix various genres."

Since Modern Sky expanded its territory by opening its first overseas office in New York in 2006, the label has held outdoor music festivals in New York, Seattle and Helsinki, showcasing Chinese talents.

Moreover, it has signed foreign bands and artists. One of the foreign artists is Bika Breezy, a singer-songwriter from Kazakhstan's Alma-Ata, who signed with Modern Sky in April 2018. Her latest single, You Are the One, has been included in the ninth compilation.

Speaking about her experiences at Tango Club, she says: Everything is new to me here in China.

"I am about to give my debut show in Beijing and I am very excited."

The 28-year-old rapper was trained as a soccer player since she was about 10 and then she was in a national soccer team of Kazakhstan for 10 years. She gained a fan base after sharing her life on YouTube and Instagram. Last year, she met a lot of Chinese at a New Year party in her home city and then decided to visit China.

She also opened her account on popular Chinese short video platform Douyin, also known as TikTok, and now she has over 1.4 million followers.

In 2017, to seek new talents, the label launched its Young Blood project, which has a judges panel, including music producers, singer-songwriters and DJs.

Berlin-based Enrico Tiberi, music producer and sound engineer, is one of the judges.

And he was in Beijing and produced six songs for the indie rock band, So Far So Good.

Speaking about his experiences, he says: "I didn't know what the project was about and then I was astonished. There are so many good bands and so much good music. It's very broad genres, like trap, funk and rock," says Tiberi.

"This music scene is young and there is a lot of space to innovate and experiment."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Global 08/21/2019 page16)