Maybe Mars Records builds a scene to last
Beijing’s music scene has undergone great changes over the past few years, but local record label Maybe Mars isn't satisfied just yet-it's out to transform the entire landscape of Chinese music for good.

“There is no reason Beijing can’t be the music capital of Asia,” says Maybe Mars co-founder Charles Saliba. “It's equal to any city in the world in talent and quality. It just needs some nurturing.”

Founded in 2007 by the same guys behind D-22, Maybe Mars gives innovative new bands the resources to have their music heard by a global audience. Nevin Domer, the other half of Maybe Mars’ creative team, adds, “We used to shop bands around to other labels, but they just weren’t interested. Maybe Mars really rose out of a necessity to promote a sound that no other label was interested in.”

When it comes to defining what exactly that sound is, both Saliba and Domer hesitate. “That’s like trying to describe a color,” laughs Saliba. Indeed, with bands as aurally diverse as psychedelic synth rockers Snapline and experimental noise-machines White, Maybe Mars’ sound is ambiguous. “It’s probably easier to define us by what we’re not: We’re not into the trendy indie, or the Chinese pop, or the slick pop punk sound that [other labels] make," Domer explains. “We’re a different market.”

D-22 is ground zero for Maybe Mars band scouting, but it has also drawn the Chinese indie scene closer. “It wasn’t a natural community,” says Domer. “It was more an extension of D-22, where our bands told us about other groups they’d discovered and, after playing a few shows here, they would also get pulled in.” Despite recent success-PK14's upcoming album was listed among the “Top 8 Most Anticipated Albums in Asia” by TIME Magazine-Maybe Mars recognizes there is much left to be done. “We don’t want the scene to some day flare up and die. We’re committed to building a lasting community that is solid and substantial.”

Miranda Lin

PK-14: City Weather Sailing
Where: Stores around town
When: Release in July