Hailing from Rotterdam, Holland, The Netherlands (seriously, why does a country with 16-million people need two names) Ming’s Pretty Heroes play that sort of brand of femina-alterna pop music that wouldn’t have been out of place during the Lilith Fair heyday between 1997-1999.

Channeling artists like Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne and everyone’s favorite bitch Meredith Brooks, Ming’s Pretty Heroes are led by the sultry Ai Ming Oei, and will be kicking off their China tour this Friday, April 29th at Yuyintang. In advance of their debut Shanghai show, and their May 8th set at the 2011 Shanghai MIDI Festival, Ai Ming Oei entertained City Weekend with a quick “8 Questions with . . .”

City Weekend: Real quickly, describe your sound?

Ai Ming Oei: It’s usually like this: I write the song; lyrics, melody and chords. And then Sander and Frans, my guitarist and keys player, and I sit down to arrange and produce the track. Though I come from the singer/songwriter genre, we definitely go through great lengths to produce our own sound and so to stay away from the typical singer/songwriter acoustic sound.

CW: What are you expectations for your China Tour?

AMO: Last year we experienced that the Chinese audience was really inviting and ready to feel our music. We hope that this time it will be similar. Also, our tour now is an expanded version of the one from last year. So we will get to see more of the country while traveling to and from our shows. We’ll be playing at three music festivals and will play several clubs, so I think we’ll get to see and take in different atmospheres. Every city probably breathes its own vibe. [We’re] excited to be plunged into the Chinese culture.

CW What are your thoughts on playing the MIDI festival, Shanghai's first rock festival since 2007?

AMO: We are really really excited!! We played at MIDI Beijing last year, and that was pretty amazing. We hope to experience this again in Shanghai. Also, I’ve been in Shanghai a couple of years ago and have been wanting to come back for another visit. A couple of months ago I was made Rotterdam’s music ambassador for 2011. Rotterdam and Shanghai are sister cities, so I will gladly represent my city in Shanghai.

CW: What does Ming's Pretty Heroes have planned for your set at the Shanghai MIDI?

AMO: We’ve just finished recording our second album Karma. Our sound has evolved. We’re still alternative pop music, but now definitely include influences from the post-rock and electro genre. This means we’ve got a lot of new songs with a fresh sound that we are dying to play live, so lot’s of new material and probably the song that I wrote about my father, who is Chinese as well. It's called “Fled” and from our last album Ok Mr. Mix.

CW: What is the go-to song in your set?

AMO: We just released our single “25 to Life” so maybe that one? But [you’ve got to] understand that having just recorded twelve new songs makes me a fan of all of them. All the songs are quite personal and about recent emotions. So this means that they are all still close to my heart. A lot of the songs are about my heart.

CW: Aside from your musical gear, what do you always bring with you on the road?

AMO: My camera. We love recording short videos. Next to that [a] good book, looking forward to have some time to catch up on my reading, and I would love to bring my laptop since I’m as addicted to the internet and social media as everyone else, but that would be too much to carry. Don’t need to bring my jasmine tea, [because] I’m sure there will be plenty.

Listen to Ming’s Pretty Heroes

Ming’s Pretty Heroes - "25 to Life"