Underground Music Reaches New Heights at the Modern Sky Music Festival

The heart of China’s underground music scene, Modern Sky is a cultural institution in Beijing. Over the past 10 years, Modern Sky has released definitive Chinese underground pop punk, electronic and indie albums by New Pants, Supermarket and Hopscotch respectively. This year, the seminal record label celebrates its 10th anniversary with the Modern Sky Music Festival featuring a roster of label veterans, as well as headliners Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.

In December of 1997, designer Shen Lihui invested a small portion of the profits from his printing company to release a cassette of his band, Sober. Shen’s label has since turned into a small media empire at the locus of underground culture in China. In its 10 years, Modern Sky has grown to include four subsidiary record labels, a book publishing company and an in-house design firm.

“I started Modern Sky for fun,” Shen explains, “but I soon learned fun can be difficult too. Running a magazine, for example, is a great way to waste money. It made us really happy, but we hadn’t thought that money would be a problem. I soon had to face serious questions about how to manage a record company.”

During Modern Sky’s most difficult years in the early 2000s, Shen never thought of quitting. “After graduating in 1990, I started a printing company with YY1000. When I handed the company over to my younger brother, it was worth six million RMB,” Shen recalls. “From that experience, I had already faced a lot of the same problems: the possibility of closing, not being able to turn a profit … I had learned about starting a business and how to sacrifice to make a business work. But at the same time the pressure was greater: I was better known, a little older and still not able to make a profit.” Ultimately, Shen’s instincts proved correct as he snapped up some of the most respected bands in China. Ironically, some, like New Pants and Supermarket, were signed mainly because Shen was friends with them. “Signing bands has been different at different stages,” Shen says. “Now, we listen to find something special in the band. When we started, I didn’t have the choice. If I was friends with a band, we put out the album no questions asked.”

In keeping with Modern Sky’s diverse approach, the Modern Sky Music Festival won’t just feature a series of performances. “We’re just trying to do things our way,” Shen says. “We’ll have the bands we want to see, but we’re also going to have art events, such as an exhibition of music videos and music-based short films, one of which was directed by Jia Zhangke.”

“I think this festival is representative of the direction Modern Sky is headed,” Shen muses. “We’re keeping up with music, but we’re going to do what we want to, and we’re going to do it our own way.”

Hedgehog: The Next-Generation of Beijing Punk

When Zo and Box decided to start a band at the end of their college days, finding a drummer was the hardest part. “We tried a lot of people who weren’t right,” Zo says. “Then the drummer of Queen Sea Big Shark introduced us to Atom. I said, ‘You’re joking. She’s too little to be a drummer. She’s just a kid!’ Then, we heard her, and she was absolutely amazing.”

Hedgehog’s drummer, Atom, is indeed amazing. Though not quite five feet tall and not looking a day over 12, she plays the loudest drums in Beijing with a flawless sense of rhythm, at the same time alternating between beautiful whispers and screams in pitch-perfect key with Zo’s vocals. Despite having earned a reputation as Beijing’s best live band, Hedgehog is still surprised to find themselves releasing their debut LP, “Noise Hit World,” on Modern Sky. “We tried to send our demo to a few places,” Zo says. “I didn’t think Modern Sky would take it, but Atom sent it anyway. An hour later, we were signed.”

“It was such a surprise,” Atom enthuses. “That afternoon was the happiest of my life.” Despite all Hedgehog members’ working full-time day jobs, the band continues gigging weekly. “We don’t have to practice that much,” Zo says. “We’ll just play out.” Like Hedgehog’s astounding live shows, the music itself seems almost effortless. “I write my songs walking home, humming into the voice recorder on my cell phone.”

“It’s pretty easy,” Box muses. “If it weren’t easy, or if it weren’t fun, we wouldn’t have any reason to do it.”

New Pants: Modern Sky’s Flagship Band Takes Center Stage

New Pants’ synthesizer-fueled pop punk drew the first wave of international attention to Beijing’s underground music scene. Lead singer Peng Lei attended Beijing Arts and Crafts Institute just a few years behind Modern Sky helmsman Shen Lihui, and in 1998, New Pants’ eponymous debut became the second full-length album on Modern Sky.

Ten years later inside his small vintage toy store in Beijing, Peng Lei looks back at the interim years with amusement. “Beijing bands don’t do music for a living. If they try, they’ll have a hard life. So, we can do lots of different things: art, music, film and a toy store.”

In contrast with many of the contemporary punk bands crowding the Beijing scene, New Pants has always emphasized the joy of music. “A lot of the angry punk bands out there right now, I’m not interested in,” Peng says. “They like to yell, ‘Life sucks,’ but actually life’s okay. As long as you have food to eat and a place to sleep, life’s okay. I prefer the sound of ‘70s and ‘80s bands like the Ramones.”

The appeal of New Pants continues to grow in some unlikely quarters. New Pants recently opened a concert for Mandopop superstar Jay Zhou, and Peng Lei has just completed a solo show at Beijing’s prestigious Arario Gallery.

“Like Modern Sky, we’re trying on the business aspects of our music now,” Peng reveals. “Rock never really belonged to the mainstream in China, but that’s changing.”

Ten Years on Cloud Nine: The Trajectory of Modern Sky

1997

Modern Sky (MS) launches with the debut album of Shen Lihui’s band, Sober. The album “Hao Ji Le” finds success with audiences across China.

1998

Release of debut albums from New Pants and Supermarket, as well as two compilations of Chinese rock and electro acts, establishes MS as a legitimate label.

1999

MS rules Beijing with new releases on its label and its Badhead indie rock subsidiary. Issue 1 of Modern Sky magazine is published.

2001

MS signs deal with EMI and Columbia to distribute Radiohead and other acts in China.

2002

Numerous MS releases including Hopscotch’s debut. MS establishes Modern Sky books and its electronic subsidiary Guava.

2003

MS publishes two books. Supermarket tours Europe. Guava alone releases seven discs.

2004

Dozens of new releases including PK14’s debut and Muma’s “JELL-O Empire”

2005

Brian Eno swings through the MS office and ends up playing keyboards for three songs on the Re-TROS debut.

2006

MS launches its World Music label with the release of Touch Tibet.

2007

MS celebrates its 10th anniversary and launches the first Modern Sky Music Festival with 30 bands, including Hedgehog, Supermarket, New Pants and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.