With the cancellation of Midi Carnival, lack of foreign acts in Shanghai and the closure of local live music venues this past summer, 2008 has thus far been a low point for Shanghai rock. But the return of rock festivals featuring local names and an insurgence of foreign acts is about to change everything.

By Jessica Beaton, Abe Deyo and Miranda Lin

Avril Lavigne

Teeny Bop Vixen
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!”

Queens of the Scene

Hard Queen's Sheena
Hard Queen went by the name Hard Candy for a while, why the name change? Easy, we searched Google and there are so many bands called Hard Candy–and also movies and album titles–so we changed it to Hard Queen. Hard Queen's been around for a while now, what was your favorite and craziest show in Shanghai? The last show we had at Windows Underground was the craziest. That night we damaged all the sound equipment there–except our own stuff–our drummer nearly broke every piece of the drum kit. Why? We wanted the owner of Windows, who thinks Chinese bands are sht, to remember Hard Queen is good at live music, as well as damaging and destroying sht. What did you say to the crowd on the night of your infamous departure from Windows Underground? Sorry, the words that were said were only for that night, so I don't want to repeat them. All I want to say is, we play music for fun, not for any one who merely judges good music by one's nationality or appearance, that's just ridiculous. We hear you have a new EP coming out, what can we expect? Yeah, with the help of a few friends we've finished recording the EP although five songs are being mixed and need some adjustments. Hope it'll be out in the near future.

Sonnet's return makes waves

Sonnet's Zhu Baixi
Sonnet played a lot back in 2007, why the break-up? Our break-up wasn't a sudden decision, it was a combination of separate pressures that each band member was facing which suffocated us as a group. We later found out one of our bandmate's fathers was suffering from a terminal illness and died at the end of 2007. Sorrow, and the burden to support our families, took priority over playing gigs. How does Sonnet's new sound compare to its previous sound? Our music is heavily influenced by post-punk, disco-rock and garage. Our sound is more about our passions and playing what we find interesting, not about making others happy. We heard you originally planned to re-form just for a Battle of the Bands in Macau, is that true? Not quite. It wasn't a band competition, the Macau government sponsored a cultural event with rock performances–it's the largest cultural festival in Asia–called HUSH!!. It's just a marathon of rock (www.ccm.gov.mo/HUSH/mainpage.aspx). What made you decide to keep playing more shows? Many of Sonnet's original members have joined other bands which helped create a bigger sound; the new sound and new members have reinvigorated the group. But at the same time, we can't forget the impact the old Sonnet has had on ourselves and Shanghai. Shanghai needs Sonnet, and Sonnet needs Shanghai. Any plans for a new CD? This is something we have been discussing and are working on. So, who'd you like to see play in Shanghai? We like the uniqueness and energy of a relatively new band so we'd like to see the Ting Tings, Klaxons and These New Puritans play. Do you like any big name performers? We're not really into watching big performances, even though we could learn a lot. We prefer smaller gigs.

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda

Hardcore Hooligans
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.

The Foreign Contingent

Rogue Transmissions's Dan Shapiro
So give us a little history about the band, when did you guys form and why? Fabien [Barbet], John [Lynch] and I [Dan Shapiro] were in the huhumamas before. One day, Fabien brought Clement [Bouvron], his college friend to rehearsal. He started playing some Queens of the Stone Age tunes and it became apparent that we needed to start a band together. We just wanted to write some good, heavy, melodic rock songs and play some kick-ass, rad shows. Hear you got a new EP out this fall. What can we expect to find on it? Yeah, the EP will be out in late October and it's titled Illicit Intercepts–it's basically the greatest five songs ever recorded. We're working with Albert Yu who we previously recorded a single with. Being a self-financed venture, any advice for bands looking to do the same? My only advice would be to be really creative and innovative during the recording process. You don't need fancy studios and consoles to create something worth listening to. If you had the chance, what Chinese label would you like to work with? Well, we haven't been approached by any, so that's kind of a moot point. We're big fans of a lot of bands on Mars and Modern Sky though. So what's the best gig you guys have had in Shanghai? It would have to be the show we played with Demerit and the Cardinals at LOgO. It was a more intimate affair but the atmosphere and crowd were amazing and it got hella-sweaty. Garage rock has started to gain a following in China. Is there a band that stands out from the rest? The Re-Tros and SUBS are a little ahead of the curve but China has a ton of rad bands, some that are doing well and getting attention, others that are rather unknown. PK-14, Casino Demon, Banana Monkey, The Scoff, Carsick Cars and Hedgehog are all making great music.

Is Rock Really Back?

CW asks people in the scene to tell us what it all means

It's the age-old question, can Shanghai rock? While Shanghai’s northern brethren in Beijing have an undisputed, kicking, live music scene, Shanghai’s has been slow to take off. With the closure of 4Live, Windows Underground going cover band-only and the live music dry spell this past summer, it seems like Shanghai bands can’t catch a break … or can they?

"It seems the venues and market are slowly becoming of higher quality and a standardized level of ability is becoming the norm," says Sonnet front man, Zhu Baixi, but he still harbors some reservations. "It seems there's an economic problem in opening up the market to the mainstream." Brad Ferguson, live music scene stalwart and promoter, agrees that there is a progression. "The scene will develop at its own pace–there’s no way to force it," Ferguson said in a recent interview with CW. "It's better now than it was a few years ago and a few years from now it’ll be even better still, but it could be ten years–or more–before it’s proportional to the size of the city."

The economics of live music seems to always tie back to space. Where do you host the bands that make the Shanghai scene? Hard Queen's Sheena explains, "We need the venue space for underground bands to increase and become larger in Shanghai, with less limits and more freedom." With respect to recent restrictions, JZ Club's international liaison, Mark Elliott, acknowledges the recent dry spell but points out that, "I don’t ever think that live music really floundered. If anything [last summer] was a time to pay attention to the local scene and stop worrying about bringing in famous acts from overseas." Elliott sees many of the problems people bring up about the live music scene in a pragmatic light; although not optimistic, he acknowledges that the issues people bring up are ever-present factors that should be expected at this stage of live music development. "People are always talking about license problems and visa problems. These are not really problems" explains Elliott. "These are integral parts of the job, which promoters should deal with rather than grumble about. In the end, we have to make people excited about the music, not only the lifestyle associated with the music. Anything else is just background noise."