After a long dry spell, the beast of rock 'n' roll is slouching back toward Beijing. Outdoor festivals are on, stadiums are humming, and there’s an explosive show every night. We talk to the local bands and international stars revitalizing the city’s rock scene.

By Jessica Beaton, Miranda Lin and Blake Stone-Banks

Sk8r Girl

Avril Lavigne is pumped for her first China tour

So, how is the tour going? Good, I’m just getting ready for the last leg. I’ve done North America, Europe and now I’m coming to see Asia. It’s our last stop, and the tour is really tight. Good to hear. You were in China just last August, what made you want to come back again so soon? Last August, I came on a promotional tour. I got to put on a quick show for some of the fans, and I learned that very few Western artists who had gone over to China had had the opportunity to put on shows. So it was an honor, and I’m excited that we’re going to hit you guys back up for a full tour. Awesome. Now there were rumors going around before your last trip that you were going to sing in Mandarin live. Is there a chance we’re going to finally see that happen this time? Um, I wish, but no. Out of the seven different languages that I recorded, Mandarin was the hardest, granted it was a very cool sounding one. I’ll say some Mandarin on stage, like I’ll learn a few things to greet the crowd. But I don’t think it’s possible for me to sing it. Everyone would think the original version sounded better! So what are some of the Mandarin phrases that you’ve picked up? “Ni de nu pengyou” is the one that I remember best. Where did the idea to sing that song in different languages even come from? Because I have so many different fans around the world who speak all these different languages, so we wanted to give back to them. Are there any other neat surprises we can look forward to once your concert hits town? Um, I don’t know … I have dancers. Chinese dancers? Hehe … No. Is there anything in particular you’d like to see or do in Beijing? I like Chinese cuisine. The food. Yeah, and I hear you’ll be traveling to some smaller cities, like Lijiang. What was your motivation for wanting to go outside the typical Beijing-Shanghai-Hong Kong major venues? I didn’t want to just, like, play two cities. I wanted to try and see everybody. Alright, final question: Your latest album is called The Best Damn Thing. What would you say is the best damn thing about playing in China? The fans are the best damn fans. They’re really excited. I've heard that a lot of people here haven’t been to very many concerts. That’s what’s so cool and what makes performing here so unique. Before my concert last August, I was told that the majority of the people at the concert, it was probably their first concert ever. And that was really unique and special for me to be on stage thinking, “Wow, I’m the first person these guys have seen! I better put on a great show!”

Bringing it to the Stage

Snapline’s Li Qing talks about the key ingredients for a life-altering live show

For live music, what kinds of performances impress you most? There are two experiences I find particularly moving. One is when the band’s skill and musicality is beyond my expectations. The second kind of experience happens when perhaps their skill isn’t that impressive, but they play with such energy and sincerity that I’m moved anyway. How do you feel before going on stage? I’m usually pretty nervous. Still? It’s not like in the beginning. I’m not nervous about playing in front of the audience. It’s more because I’ve worked hard for this moment, and I want to achieve what I’ve been preparing myself for. What’s one of your favorite memories of playing? The moments I appreciate most aren’t necessarily when everyone’s moshing or pogo-ing. It’s when the audience is paying close attention, when they seemed stirred up by what’s happening on stage. Do you ever improvise on stage? For Snapline, it’s not so easy to jam because everything is programmed on the drum machine, and the bass lines are fixed. But sometimes when I’m playing guitar, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do. Sometimes, I’m surprised by what comes out. What do you think the best live acts in Beijing right now are? Hedgehog and The Gar. Their live shows all add something extra, some color to their music.

Hardcore Hooligans

Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park talks about the new album and China tour

Minutes to Midnight marks the band’s third studio album. What are the differences this time around? Hybrid Theory was the introduction we wanted to make to the world, and Meteora was the follow-up ... when we wrote something that sounded like it belonged on those albums, it felt like we were just ripping ourselves off. We then went into the studio with Rick Rubin and did a ton of experimenting. Over the course of a year and a half, we came up with the songs that you hear on Minutes to Midnight. Minutes to Midnight is a pretty dark title. It’s about the Doomsday Clock, right? It’s whatever you want it to be. It was originally inspired by something Chester [Bennington] saw on TV, a special on the Doomsday Clock. How do you interpret it? I first interpreted it with a positive meaning, referencing the turn of a clock and the change to a new day which is exactly what this record was. You guys have continued doing charity work through your foundation, Music for Relief. Why did you create the foundation? Music for Relief was started after the tsunami hit South Asia where we had recently toured. That made us feel like we needed to do something. Are you going to do anything for the Sichuan earthquake victims? We’ve tried to provide relief to a number of people who've been affected by natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina victims, victims of the California wildfires and now the Sichuan earthquake victims. If you’ve bought tickets to the show, a portion of those proceeds will go to that end.

Gar-age Rock

Zhan Pan, frontman of one of Beijing’s wildest live acts, The Gar, enters the studio

What stage are you at in the process of recording your album? We’re still recording. Our producer, Chen Yuli, was involved in the Olympics, so we had to take a break from recording. So, how did the album first come about? Well, I became friends with Michael (Pattis from D-22). He was real supportive, and he liked the band. When he was starting Maybe Mars, we started talking about putting out an album. What kind of sound are you going for? Something live? Something more produced? We want the sound to capture the energy of a live performance. But, it’s not going to be exactly the same as a recorded performance. It will expand on the live performance a bit. We won’t add extra instrumentation, but we are working on perfecting what we have. The vocals will be clearer. You’ll be able to hear things in the music that perhaps aren’t obvious in a live performance. Excepting all the scheduling difficulties, what other obstacles have you come up against in the process? There haven’t been too many. When we first went into the studio, we were really green. We weren’t used to working with all the equipment, but once we got used to it, things went relatively smoothly. Are going to mix and master here? We’re probably going to master it in New York. Why do so many Beijing bands master their albums abroad? It’s really a matter of equipment. The equipment abroad tends to be a little better than what’s found here in Beijing. Mastering is very technical. It’s an album’s finishing touch, which gives an album its sound. The best equipment and technical expertise are still usually found abroad.

Leaving the Mainstream

Helen Feng's record industry adventures

Can you tell us a little about how China Warner first got involved with Ziyo? I met one of the marketing people from Warner at our first show. We were out for fun and were pretty crappy, but because I had a media background as a VJ for MTV in China, I packed the place with marketing people. Before companies wondered, “Can I sell this to the kids?” Now, they wonder, “Can I sell this to a marketing executive, so they'll give me an endorsement deal?” So, we left a bit of an impression. You've said that the deal with Warner shaped Ziyo and motivated you to buckle down. Did that come out of a dialogue with Warner? One of the most positive things that happened to us musically was becoming one of the abandoned projects of a major record company. We got signed by people who thought they could pair us with a nice producer, do the arrangements, change band members .... They had the record company mindset of taking the raw material and carving it into something they could sell. When the executive that signed us left the company, our band got shelved … We realized they weren’t going to develop us, so we decided we to do it ourselves. But you didn't release your EP on your own. No. After six months of waiting on Warner, I got a lawyer and started pounding on tables. They decided to give us an EP. Thankfully, our contract had a release clause that if we didn't release a full album in our first two years, we could walk off scott free And, now you’ve signed to Pilot? Why not go out on your own? The one thing artists don’t have is a crew of people working for them. I’m in two bands, we’re touring Europe, and that's impossible without a team. Do you have a release planned with Pilot? We’re considering creating a new label with Pilot to promote Ziyo and other bands that fit along the same line. What indies do well is define a certain feel or genre … a cultural niche. Leaving mainstream pop has been a very comfortable move for us.

Is Rock Really Back?

2007 saw Sonic Youth at Star Live, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Modern Sky Fest, Soundtrack of Our Lives at Midi and Nine Inch Nails at Beijing Pop Festival. 2008, on the other hand, has seen little more than delays and cancellations. But, that’s about to change.

The next few weeks see the arrival of AIR, Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne, as well as the Modern Sky Festival in Haidian Park. (Midi is once again delayed.)

While it’s a little late for 2008 to eclipse last year’s acts, there have been significant developments in the local scene, which is what Beijing rock is really about. First, there are the new labels: Maybe Mars, which formed at the end of 2007, led Beijing’s indie scene out of D-22 and MAO Live's dark halls and into studios. Upcoming releases include Ourselves Beside Me, The Gar, White and a second album from Snapline. Then there’s Pilot, which is representing a number of the city’s top punk metal acts, as well as indie pop powerhouse Ziyo. And Tag Team has releases in the pipeline for Beijing’s experimental, space-rock quartet RandomK(e) and Arrows Made Of Desire.

In addition, to pressing CDs like madmen, Beijing’s rockers are also finding an audience abroad. Lonely China Day is touring the States, Pet Conspiracy is headed to Europe, and it’s hard to forget PK-14's winning accolades from Time magazine as one of Asia’s five best bands. New foreign fans mean more money and connections to grow the scene back home, as well as more connections with foreign acts and music industry kingpins abroad.

As the spotlight shifts away from the Olympic stadiums and back onto Beijing’s artistic culture and music, the rock scene will continue growing. As the schedules of Modern Sky and Midi show, rock isn't just about foreign acts selling out stadiums. It's also about building a local community of talented artists and fans.