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 real show, though, were the bands who flew in from Beijing to kick off their first USA tour. I was honored that P.K. 14, Carsick Cars, and Xiao He played 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 videos of their performance thanks to Punkcast, and check out the catalogue text from powerHouse below:
Even after hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, China remains in a liminal realm caught between the socialist idealism of old and a calamitous drive for wealth spurned by free market reforms. This seemingly unbridgeable gap tears at the country’s social fabric while provoking younger generations to greater artistic heights. The unique sound emerging from Beijing’s underground delves deeply into this void, aggressively questioning the moral and social basis of China’s fragile modernity even as it subsists upon it.
This formidable new wave of Chinese musicians is taking the city by storm. Revolving around four venues spread across Beijing, a burgeoning group of performers continues to work outside of government-controlled media channels and, in the process, tune the ears of the international music community to Beijing. They now constitute a fresh, independent voice in a country renowned for creative conformity and saccharine Cantonese pop.
In Sound Kapital, photographer Matthew Niederhauser presents a powerful portrait of the performers and personalities at Beijing nightclubs including D-22, Yugongyishan, 2 Kolegas, and Maolive House. These clubs remain at the core of the city’s creative orgy by hosting an eclectic mix of punk, experimental, rock, electronic, and folk performances. Additionally included are concert posters and illustrations that encapsulate the underground scene in Beijing as well as a sampler CD of music. There is no doubt that these musicians will continue to break ground within Beijing’s nascent artistic landscape and magnify an already expanding realm of independent thought and musical expression in China.
