I put together a video slideshow for my recently published monograph, Sound Kapital: Beijing’s Music Underground. It features the song Hard Heart from my favorite electrosurfer band in Beijing, Queen Sea Big Shark, which is also included in the compilation CD packaged with the book. The slideshow was also presented at the New York Photo Festival as part of a warm up for Lou Reed’s Hidden Books, Hidden Stories presentation.
P.K. 14, Carsick Cars, and Xiao He – three of Beijing’s preeminent underground musical acts – toured the United States for the first time in November of 2009 under the auspices of the Maybe Mars Chinese Underground Showcase. It was easily one of the most successful international tours pulled off by Chinese performers to date as they drew large, enthusiastic audiences up and down the east coast. Proving themselves more than just a novelty act, these musicians upped the ante and expectations for new music out of China which now incubates fresh, independent, and frequently irreverent voices in a country renowned for creative conformity and saccharine Cantonese pop. Even though it is too early to tell what may come of the innovative strides made by these musicians, there is no doubt that they will continue to break ground within Beijing’s nascent artistic landscape, helping to push the boundaries of an already expanding realm of independent thought and musical expression in China. I was lucky enough to be embedded with the bands throughout the tour.
After three years of photographing and months of preparation, my first monograph, Sound Kapital, finally launched at the powerHouse Arena in New York this past Thursday. Hundreds of people showed up and the prints looked wonderful in the large space. The guests of honor, though, were the Chinese bands who flew in from Beijing to kick off their first USA tour. I could not have been more honored to get P.K. 14, Carsick Cars, and Xiao He to play short sets at the opening. These performers provided a great deal of inspiration to commit to the Sound Kapital portrait series. They are easily making some of the best music coming out of China. You can see some video of their performance thanks to Punkcast.
Joyside’s riotous, eight-year run of booze-driven concerts and five album releases came to an end in October of 2009 after a tour across Germany and Austria with Carsick Cars in support. Easily one of the most influential underground bands in China, they consistently flaunted their outright disdain for social mores and popular opinion through their bacchanalian performances and rebellious personal demeanor. High expectations were met in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Vienna and then topped with a massive concert at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. I luckily got to tag along. Although fans mourn the loss of Joyside, most are thankful that something as uninhibited and wild as Joyside lasted so long in the first place.
Modern Sky is definitely one of the pioneers in bringing large-scale music festivals to China and were planning something big this year. However, thanks to the sensitive nature of the sixtieth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, all foreign acts were canceled last minute. This is going to be a huge blow to Modern Sky’s ticket sales and confidence in importing foreign acts in the future. It is also a bit of a scare tactic employed by the local government who like to let people know who is in charge every once in awhile. Nonetheless, the festival continued with its domestic lineup and rocked out Chaoyang Park to great acclaim. Maybe next year.
Carsick Cars just released there sophomore album, You Can Listen You Can Talk, at Yugong Yishan this past weekend. Overall it was a solid show, and I hope that it will bring them continued success. They are definitely the brightest stars in the Maybe Mars stable of bands. They should also be traveling to the USA later this year.
