This Saturday, Shanghai’s indie rock scene is going all tree hugger and hippy dippy for the third Rock for Roots and Shoots show at Yuyintang.

With a line-up featuring local staples Boys Climbing Ropes, Boojii, Duck Fight Goose, Triple Smash and Resist Resist, joined by Norwegian experimental outfit Varde, Rock for Roots and Shoots is a semi-annual event sponsored by the Jane Goodall Institute to raise money to plant trees in Inner Mongolia and, thankfully, left the drum circles out of this giant love fest.

Just a few days before this year’s installment of ‘RfR&S’, Boys Climbing Ropes front man Jordan Small (pictured right), who’s been involved with every rendition of the event, sat down with City Weekend to talk about the show, the band, their forthcoming EP and the universality of Rivers Cuomo.

City Weekend: How did you get involved with Roots and Shoots?

Jordan Small: Three-and-a-half years ago my girlfriend started working at the Roots and Shoots office in Shanghai in a full time program manager position. She has since moved on from R&S but we have built long standing ties with the organization. I first went up to Inner Mongolia to plant trees with them in 2007. I have been apart of many of their local fundraisers and even got to hang with Jane Goodall when she came to Shanghai. The wonderful people working at the Shanghai Roots and Shoots office have meant very much to my life here in Shanghai.

CW: How/why do you think a rock show is an effective way to promote charity? Is your guitar made from eco-safe wood or something?

JS: I think it was 3 years ago on a cold clear day on Zhening Lu actually. Just walking along the street thinking about music and upcoming shows. It occurred to me that I had forged a few strong inter-musician relationships in the city and maybe connect this sonic resource in a way to help replenish some of earth's more leafy resources. I think rock for charity often comes off as a collection of pretentious wealthy artist offering their faces to a cause. In Shanghai this is very much not the case: we have a largely unknown collective of musicians dedicated to their art, making no money but whom are still willing to give their time for a good cause. To me this is the perfect unison of grassroots bohemia, artistic and environmental power that is needed to create positive change. And no my guitar is the non-sustainable brand but I have seen a bamboo prototype cleverly crafted by Brad Ferguson.

CW: This is your third go at putting on Rock for Roots and Shoots? How have you seen the shows evolve or grow since the beginning?

JS: This is the third Rock for Roots and Shoots, and I have to say first off that I have played a minor role in comparison to all the hard work the volunteers at Roots and Shoots have put in. It is because of the dedication of everyone involved that this 3rd event is even happening. The first show really blew out all our expectations. Again, it was Brad Ferguson who, at the time, was managing Live Bar. He kindly offered the venue for free and help promote and do sound at the show. This guy is basically one of the most important people behind music in Shanghai. Live Bar was packed beyond belief, with people crammed in and spilling out on the streets waiting for one person to leave so one more could get in.

The second one was held at 4 Live. Again it was quite a big success with local-ish legends the Honeys drawing quite a crowd for their headlining set. This years show at Yuyintang will be the perfect fit! With the nice park out back and the fact that this venue is the stalwart of Shanghai's live music scene we couldn't ask for more. The managers at YYT have also donated 100% of the door to Roots and Shoots, which really goes a long way to raising funds for trees in Inner Mongolia.

CW: Similarly, Boys Climbing Ropes is the only band to participate in every installment of Roots and Shoots. How has the band grown and developed in the meantime? And how have your musical surroundings and Shanghai counterparts evolved?

JS: Boys Climbing Ropes has been together for almost three-and-a-half years now and I feel like we have shed our skin after each one. In the beginning we searched for a sound, experimented with acoustics, pedals and other equipment. Of course after Xiao Pengke crashed into our lives we shifted again. Over the past year and a half especially we have become less and less four individuals in a band and more limbs on a single beast. Have you ever played the old Sega Genesis game "Altered Beast"? It's kinda like that. I feel like B.C.R. no longer exists as four people but rather one big sonic wave of claws, jaws and some soft fur on the underbelly.

As far as music in Shanghai goes, like all else here, it has consistently been mutating, for better or worse, as fast as the cityscape... I am saddened by the losses of great bands such as Hard Queen and Banana Monkey but I have found that with each loss a few more bands come crawling up out of some dingy practice space somewhere. I am really inspired by what bands like Duck Fight Goose and Boojii do onstage. I am eternally optimistic about Shanghai's music! I have seen a gradual trend for domestic bands to move away from genre-based carbon copies which previously dominated the music-scape into a more strange and experimentally Chinese/Shanghainese form of beautiful!

CW: The lineup this year is pretty diverse, how'd you go about choosing bands for this particular show?

JS: Well, Devin [Gallery] actually gave me some good ideas about considering which bands people like to watch, to see play real and live. A lot of bands in Shanghai have a tight sound but simply lack that last element of pure performance power. My first thoughts were Duck Fight Goose, since we have been playing with them a lot lately and like what they are doing. Boojii have played Rock for Roots and Shoots before so they will be representing the "old timers" with us. Resist Resist is of course the brain child of a certain handsome bass player! Triple Smash come highly recommended by Yuyintang and hot off the release of their first EP. Plus I have a real weakness for post-rock! Varde is the only wild card here, experimental Norwegian!!?? Who knows what to expect.

CW: BCR is just coming off a successful show on bigger Mao stage and now you're going back home to Yuyintang's familiar, cozy confines. How do you and the band treat performances at different venues? What can fans expect from BCR on Saturday night?

JS: The Mao show was one of the most enjoyable of my time with BCR. I think we operate well on a larger stage; we are big Canadian guys, and Xiao Pengke is always everywhere. This said, there is something to the intimacy and sweat of Yuyintang shows. Nothing beats beer/sweat soaked crowds bouncing off each other. We never purposefully pre-plan any stage stuff. People can expect what we always try to give: huge sound, huge feet and a little crazy girl in a trance. We will have a new song and some old ones that people haven't heard in a while!

CW: I know you guys have another EP in the works. What's the status of that?

JS: Yes, yes we are in the midst of a long recording process. We are trying to capture some of our latest songs on a 7 or 8 song album/EP. We have completed all of the instrumental recording and are hoping to get in to finish the vocals this weekend. Release date is still up in the air. We want to make the release something that will help the entire Shanghai scene. Something that will operate as a catalyst to drive bands' and audience's expectations about what type of music can come from Shanghai. Brad Ferguson is the producer on this and he has been very gracious and patient with us. It is his magic touch behind the progress of this album.

CW: What are your ultimate hopes for Rock for Roots and Shoots? Is this something you hope to continue to do on a larger level?

JS: My hopes for this Rock for Roots and Shoots is for high attendance which coincides with more trees bought, which leads to more trees planted in the deserts in Inner Mongolia, which means less sandstorms in Beijing, which means a happier government, which means more happy people who want to come out to watch live music. It is basically a positive feedback loop.

CW: Will there be Weezer?

JS: Isn't there a little Weezer in all of us?

Photo courtesy of Abe Deyo