The Young On The Run

INTRODUCTION
As China continues to develop at a breakneck pace, youth culture in China is becoming more diverse and
more energetic by the day. What effect is this having on the China’s indie music scene? As a younger,
post-90’s generation of kids comes of age, what is the role of indie music in their lives? How and where
do they find new music? What’s happening outside of Beijing and Shanghai? How do they feel about
the involvement of brands? And what does the indie music scene need next? These are just a few of the
questions explored in The Young On the Run. Thanks for reading.

OUT FROM
THE
UNDERGROUND

Look back only 20 years or so and indie music culture was at its very infancy in China. For those who
didn’t understand or hadn’t heard these new sounds, it was considered at best ‘underground’ or
‘non-mainstream’ and at worst ‘negative’ and ‘destructive’. At that time, the people who played this
kind of music were considered ‘rebellious’, ‘anti-society’, ‘without future’, or even ‘strange’. It was only
some 10 to 15 years later, around 2000, that thanks to the concerted effort of select media, several
music labels, and in particular, brands, that the indie music scene really began to come into the
public eye.

Today, with this greater exposure, people no longer feel strange about those young things wearing
colorful clothes, tight jeans, waving guitars and singing in crazy voices. Nowadays, indie music is no
longer considered as a ‘dark’ or ‘underground’ among young kids. Indie in China, has come of age.

“I think it’s a good change. Indie music is now considered as a brighter thing rather than associating
it with just drugs or sex” said LeZi, owner of ZhuLuHeFeng, an indie music label in Shanghai “People’s
attitude is more open to it, and it’s more positive. As a result more young people are getting interested
in indie music. Some young people are exploring making their own music, meanwhile, there are others
who can support their choice.”

“I have tattoo, I smoke and drink. Some people may consider me a bad girl and a
player, but actually I’m not!”
Yo, the vocalist of PinkBerry

“I call myself ‘earnest girl’ online because actually I am. People may think kids who playing rock music
don’t study well, but actually my score is good and I’ve got a good job now. What’s more, our music and
lyrics is really positive. It doesn’t mean anything angry.”

Indie music has become a lifestyle for young people. It has become a little more mainstream, but it also
means that more young people have started to understand and enjoy this kind of lifestyle, which gives
more opportunity to the development of this culture.

A
sk any young Chinese way for obtaining new sounds.
person how big a role the Emule(VeryCD), Rayfile, 115NetDisck
internet plays in their music are some P2P and cloud storage
life, and the majority will websites for people to share big files
answer above 70%. The reverse is online. In recent days however China
also true – a recent study by CNNIC has started to take some actions on
has shown that listening to music copyright protection, so things are
is now the second largest online getting more challenging.
activity in China. When it comes to
indie music specifically, Douban is However, when their are losers there
the first port of call for most young are also winners, and Xiami is one of
people to obtain the latest indie them. With millions of songs for users
music news. Almost every kid we to stream, Xiami has successfully
spoke to said they started to get in attracted hoards of indie music
touch with indie culture via Douban. lovers to use it as a daily online music
The biggest advantage of Douban player. It’s even easier for users to
is that it provides young people switch among songs without the
with a simple platform to choose need to buy or download. Users can
what they like by selecting different also share the music on SNS’s like
networks and information sources Douban or Weibo.
to follow. Furthermore, it is easier
for indie fans to find people who Finally, with the rapid rise of Sina
have the same interests as them on Weibo (a Chinese microblogging
Douban than offline: the functions platform) in the last 2 years, it also
of ‘group’ and ‘artist mini site’ provide has become an important tool not
them with a free space to discuss just for music lovers, but also bands.
and communicate with their favorite More and more bands are using
artists. Weibo to update their fans on news,
gigs and other gossip direct to their
Another important function on phone or computer. As a result
Douban is its ‘TongCheng’ section, Weibo is an increasingly important
which publishes all the events that way for bands to build and maintain
have happened in recent weeks. connections with their fans and
Almost all the young indie music fans other bands. So without a doubt
in China use Doban ‘TongCheng’ to the internet is playing a big role
keep themselves informed of when in helping to expand China’s indie
and where gigs will take place. Live music scene. However, many believe
houses also have their own mini- there are still challenges to overcome.
sites through which they can keep The Great Firewall of China still limits
in touch with followers. As a result, the majority of kids exposure to new
‘TongCheng’ has become a very sources of inspiration. They are at the
efficient and useful online tool for party, but it is local one, not a global
fans to manage their offline time. one.

At the time of writing, iTunes is not
available for buying music in China
(and may well never be), and as most
know, few Chinese kids are willing to
pay for digital music. Even though
downloading music is technically
illegal as in other countries, for young
people in China, downloading music
from the internet is a very important

F
or post-90s kids in China, the readily available access to information and content
(compared to their elders) has given rise to a much broader range of music tastes and
inspiration. For many, their likely route into indie music would be from online discovery
and downloading, while in stark contrast, the post-70s and post-80s generations grew
up on a mixture of smuggled cassettes, CDs and the occasional radio program. Without a
doubt, the rise of the internet has given this younger generation access to many new artists,
but at the same time we can see it is shaping their perception of bands and artists.
Because of their limited access, post-70s and post-80s people’s interest in indie music
started with some typical or classic bands like Nirvana, Eagles, Bob Dylan. Memories made
a big influences on them and in time made these kind of bands and singers become iconic
rock idols in early Chinese indie fans’ hearts. However, nowadays kids no longer have the
unique feeling of ‘iconic figures’. To them, the music of Nirvana or Bob Dylan is no longer
considered as classic, it’s just another kind of music, the same as any other music that they
listen to.

“Maybe we don’t have the same feeling as post-70s and post-80s if we were
at Bob Dylan’s concert because we don’t have the same memories – it doesn’t
resonate the same way with us”
Xu Yan’er

For this same reason, younger kids may seem to lack a little of the ‘rock & roll spirit’ of their
predecessors, they’re listening is less serious and more playful in outlook.

But their is a positive side to this: not having biases or preconceptions makes post-90s kids
more accepting of upcoming bands, more willing to embrace new sounds for what they are
and not who they’re played by. It is very possible for them to be a fan of a new band when they
hear it for the first time and it happened to match their music taste. It’s therefore easier for the
upcoming bands made up of younger members the same age as the audience to relate both
on and off the stage, newer bands like Gala and PinkBerry being two such successful examples.

THE SEARCH FOR
YOUNGER
AUDIENCE
According to gig organizers and ticket sales at live houses, young people
below the age of 35 are the main stay of live gigs in China. Among them, young
students account for about 2/3rd, most of them being university students. For
students, high school and university have always been a prime time to absorb
new things and cultivate their own interests and values. Live houses know this
well and target students when doing gig promotions. They send out flyers
and stick posters in schools, some of the even have specific contacts in each
university to help with promoting.

Such promotions are important ways of bringing new & younger audiences
to gigs, and some brands are getting involved as a way to connect with
these younger audiences. Dickies recently did a national music road show
in shopping malls around 6 cities, and a music tour within universities in
Shanghai. ZhuLuHeFeng (a label) played a big role in the tour. ZhuLuHeFeng
manages several indie bands in Shanghai including Pinkberry and The Sonnet,
and helped organize the tour while Dickies provided free T-shirts as the lucky
draw prizes during the tour. ZhuLuHeFeng is planning to continue this kind of
university tour as an annual music project, and is hoping to bring it to other
cities as well.

In Wuhan, the people at VOX live house are also doing a similar music project
with universities. It’s the same as what ZhuLuHeFeng did in Shanghai, but not
sponsored. “It’s a bit hard,” said manager Li Ke, “There are a lot of limitations
to hold these kind of activities in universities in Wuhan. They consider that
you are doing a commercial activity and charge you with high fees.” But they
are planning to do this every year. “I think it’s great” said Li Ke, “It’s easier for
students to accept new culture. So they will get interested in indie music, and
more willing to come to the gigs.” As for these kind of organizations promoting
indie music culture in universities, students embrace them.

“As students have fewer opportunities to go outside for gigs, they are even more
passionate than the people in live houses.” said Le Zi. Some of them have never
even experienced indie music live before they started going into universities.
So for bands like PinkBerry, the tour has been an opportunity to build a bigger
fan-base: “Through the tour, more people get to hear our music style, and if
they like it, they come to see more of our gigs” said Yang Fu, PinkBerry’s guitarist.

While there are more and more young kids going to live houses to see indie music gigs, seldom do they
go alone. Meeting friends and having fun together at a gig is a big part of the reason for going. Most
kids either intend to make friends there or bring friends along with them. Music festivals are gaining in
popularity precisely because there are more things to do and see there - meeting friends, dressing up,
taking pictures, going to flea markets and eating snacks among other things.

“I love going to gigs. All the people there love the same music and same bands as I do. I
feel that it’s a place I can belong in”
Xu Yan’er

“Lots of my best friends, we just met each other at gigs. We hung out to eat after the gigs, and we took a
taxi together to share the cost” said Chen Yue.

“I think the role of music is becoming an essential element in young people’s social life now.” said He Zhiyao,
the boss of Freedom House in Changsha. Since there are more gigs and music festivals all over the nation,
music has become one of the core ways to spend time with friends - same as going to night club, cafe or
karaoke.

After all, gigs are still different from just listening to music online. Live shows have a unique, unrepeatable
attraction.

“I went to my first gig in Changsha when I was in high school. I didn’t know what it was
about at first. But as soon as I listened to the music bursting out, I felt in love with it. Live
shows are different. It’s more powerful and touching.”
Chen Yue

DIVERSTY
BRINGS

MORE
POSSIBILITIES.

The flourishing cultural environment has also benefited indie bands. Post punk, synth pop, no wave,
disco rock, electronic, experimental noise... various music elements are added into songs, which has
formed different genres of indie music in China.

This kind of diversity is certainly a good thing for indie music. It provides fans with more possibilities to
explore, and bands with new opportunities to experiment. Bands like Carsick Cars have already started
to do this, as well as other upcoming bands. For example, Mini Train Heart is a new indie band in Wuhan
with a very alternative style - “they are too indie to reach a big audience, but they are promising. I love
them” said Li Ke.

This kind of diversity is creating more possibilities for the whole Chinese indie music scene. Wuhan was
considered as a city of punk rock several years ago, when there were a lot of well-known punk bands
there. But now, there are more bands playing in different genres. It’s a sign of an improving indie music
scene even in small cities.

EACH CITY
HAS ITS
OWN
IDENTITY
While Beijing and Shanghai continue to be the two biggest (and most publicized) centers of indie music
in China – the vanguards of indie music all over the nation – pockets of bands and fans are emerging
across the country.

For kids in Beijing, there are almost too many interesting things and events for them to play with. As a
result, kids are not so passionate about all of the activities associated with indie culture happing around
them unless something very rare and unique raises their curiosity. As Chen Yue said, “I just saw too many
gigs. I felt a bit bored. Compared to gigs of international bands, I went to fewer gigs of local bands.” On
the other hand, the many bands in Beijing give live houses a wide range of choices when holding gigs.
But most of the people just tend to choose bands they are familiar with to watch, and it’s sometime more
difficult for new bands to attract enough audiences to their gigs. In order to ensure the income from
tickets, live houses may tend to choose those bands which have already become a little famous.

“Going to Beijing is like a so-called ‘glory’ for bands” said Li Ke, “But get famous in your city first, and it’s
easier for a band to go further in big cities like Beijing.”

In Shanghai, the situation is slightly different. As a financial center, people have greater buying power
in Shanghai. A very obvious phenomena is a greater foreign contingency in Shanghai, especially at gigs
of international bands. But in Shanghai, there are fewer local bands, fewer live houses, and fewer labels,
than in Beijing. The market is more hungry in Shanghai, but also more commercial. ZhuLuHeFeng’s tour
with Dickies is a good example of how a music label is collaborating in a commercial way.

Compared to Shanghai and Beijing, the indie music scene in more inland cities like Chongqing and
Changsha is less developed, and people are less exposed to live indie music. Organizers face many
challenges from the government when holding events. In these cities, young people who are into
indie culture are often considered as un-obedient, rebellious, or bad kids. They don’t have as much
opportunity to fully express their individuality. “Music is an essential element in my life and I can’t live

without it. Sometimes it’s hard for me to find somebody having the same hobby as I do” said Deng
Jingqiu, an indie music lover in Chongqing. But the situation is improving. In Chongqing, although
the indie music scene is just starting to emerge, it has attracted a lot of young students in universities
who love to experience in new things. “Students are the main audience in gigs.” said Deng Jingqiu, “The
indie music scene has been developing in Chongqing for several years now, and it’s easier to approach
younger people.” Chongqing just held a music festival inviting many bands from both home and abroad.
The music festival was held by the government for improving the culture development in Chongqing. “I
think it’s a good thing. We will have more similar activities in the future.”

“We need a real live house because there isn’t one” said Xiao Ao, the manager of 46Bar in Changsha. It
shows how important having a real live house is to the development of indie music in China. 1 year ago,
46Bar was closed down due to rent problems. Before that, 46Bar was the main live house for holding
music gigs in Changsha. During the year it was closed, gigs moved to a new pub called the Freedom
House, but with 46Bar re-opening in the coming months at a new venue in Changsha, Xiao Ao is
optimistic about the future, “As we are returning, the atmosphere in Changsha will get better.”

In Wuhan, the indie music scene is as flourishing as that of Beijing. This is mainly thanks to the best live
house in Wuhan, VOX. Aside from holding indie music gigs, they also collaborate with other communities
- for example skate and hip–hop - to hold parties. VOX has become an indie landmark in Wuhan, just like
D22 in Beijing. But unlike Beijing, Wuhan’s music scene is based more on collaboration between bands
and live houses. Since the number of bands is not as high as in Beijing, it is easier for the live house to
maintain a close relationship with bands.

OPPOR
JUSTFOR
FORFACING
LOOKS?
TO
YOUNG

RTUNITY
In recent years, music festivals have mushroomed across China. In 2010, about
40 music festivals happened and in 2011 even more are slated. Is it all too
much, too fast?

Indie music promoter Splitworks have a suspicious perspective.

“It’s like a fever. Most of the music festivals are initiated by the
local government, real estate dealers or the tourism bureaus as
a commercial – not creative - venture.”

G
“It’s all a bit superficial and I don’t know how long the trend will last, not all of
these music festival can be held as annual things”. And for the bands that play
them, seldom do they get paid well. Instead, the local government and real
estate dealers are the biggest beneficiaries of these events.

Do fans really need so many music festivals? They want authentic and high
quality festival: “I will check the line up before I decide whether to go to a
music festival.” said Chen Yue, “There are too many music festivals in China.
Basically I always go to the old ones like Midi and Strawberry.”

Many bands share the sentiment. “As indie music culture gets closer to the
mainstream it becomes more commercial. There are more bands in China
now, but I haven’t found better ones than before” was

GER AUDIENCE.
a thought echoed by many we spoke to. So for the
moment, while it is great to see a flourishing scene,
many hope it is more than just that.

The biggest challenge facing indie

BRANDS
culture is that it is not “inside”
Chinese culture – it is an import,
not something naturally rooted
inside Chinese culture. Although
not all brand activities are
improving the longterm future of

X
indie music culture in China (which
is an issue), they are offering help
in the short-term.

“The big brands have resources

BANDS
and money, so I feel that they have
the ability to do something to help
indie music in China.” said LeZi,
who collaborated with Dickies for
the university tour. But what looks
like help can also harm the scene.
Too much endorsement, too much
involvement destroys the very
independence which it is founded
on.

“Brands in Wuhan just invited us to perform for them, it’s so terrible because it’s just a
totally commercial road show. It’s nothing to do with indie music or bands.” In China,
although a lot of brands are involving indie bands in brand activities, they don’t yet know
how to use them to reach a win-win relationship. A lot of brands tend to use indie bands
to improve their own brand images, but they don’t care about what bands get. For bands,
perhaps the only benefit for being involved in is
greater exposure and a chance to make quick buck.

“We not only welcome brands with strong
abilities to support indie music in China, but
also need brands which really understand
indie music culture to do something really
authentic and cool.”
Li Ke

“In cities like Wuhan, there is a diverse
sub-culture, but we lack of a force that
can organize all of the tribes and do some
good to really help and improve the
culture. Vox is doing something, but we
don’t have enough power and resources.”

Apart from doing something useful, ‘doing
something continuously’ is also important
because it’s far from enough to have one
event or one brand activity happening at
a time. “I saw some advertisements featuring indie bands” said Xu Yan’er, “But I don’t
think it’s unique because brands now all want to use something different in their ads
to attract young people. For me, I may just pay more attention to those brands when
I’m shopping, but it doesn’t mean that I will love the brands just because they are
using indie bands in their ads.”

What is needed are more brands that understand culture to do something that
really helps the development of indie music in China continuously, rather than
simply using indie music as a tool to improve their own brand image.

GENERATION
ME
The purpose of putting together this paper was to gain a greater understanding of the so-
called “post-90’s generation” perspective on music. But what does that term mean, and who
did we speak with?

China “post-90’s” generation were born into whirlwind of economic and social development, exposed from
a young age to influences outside mainland China. Compared to the “post-80’s” generation that preceded
them, raised in the more staunchly communist China, post-90’s kids are comparatively far away from
‘tradition‘ and ‘convention’. Western culture has deeply influenced their thoughts, values and attitudes.

They are a lucky generation growing up in a lucky time. They are more open to challenges and have more
courage to try something new. Online, they have easy access to all sorts of information, and a bigger stage
to cultivate and develop their independence. They have greater material and monetary support to fully
express themselves. They started listening to indie music in high school or even middle school, and started
going to live gigs before or after their high school graduation.Their parents are younger and more willing
to give them a looser environment to grow up in. A post-90’s kid would have started to date in junior high
school, while a post-80s would have started at high school or university. They can choose to have tattoos,
dye their hair, wear strange clothes, or do anything that older people didn’t do before. They are more
confident in themselves.

In short, so the saying goes, “post-80s care more about us, post-90s care more about me.”

Xu
Yan’er
Shanghai, 18, born 1992
Currently a freshman in Fudan university, Xu started
listening to indie music in high school and loves
watching folk and rock concerts. She hasn’t yet been
to music festivals but is keen to go soon.

Deng
Jingqiu
Chongqing,19, born 1991
Started listening to indie music in junior high school.
Loves all kinds of music except metal and hard rock, and
western indie music more than local. Loves beautiful
clothes and vintage fashion.

Peter
A diehard fan of rock music, he is able to comment
on bands from a technical perspective. He is a
student leader at university and always helps
organize events. He has been to gigs across China,
and also gigs in the US.

Xiudi
Beijing, 17, born 1993
Xiudi is a high school student preparing for his
art university entrance exam. He loves indie
rock and experimental music. He also does
some experimental music projects himself, and
has performed several times at D22 in Beijing.

Chen
Yue
Beijing, 20, born 1990
Chen, an indie music fan & artist from Changsha and now studying in Beijing, began by learning classical
music and is an accomplished pianist. More recently she has done some personal music projects with the
vocalist of Joyside. She is now a regular visitor of music festivals.

Wu
Weichun
Wu is an indie folk singer and songwriter on
the ZhuLuHeFeng Label. He has held small
concerts several times in Shanghai, and
performed on the Dickies University Tour as
well as the recent ModernSky ZhouZhuang
Folk & Poetry Festival.

Leeko
The bass player of indie rock band New
Vector, Leeko started listening to indie
music in high school and formed a band
with her friends when she was a freshman
in university. Her signature look are
leather jackets and sunglasses.

Yo
Yo is the vocalist of Pink Berry. Recently, she joined the Dickies University Tour, and performed at the Midi
Festival. She started listening to indie music at 12 years old because of the influence from her father. Yo
dresses stylishly with colorful pieces of vintage clothes. She loves West-coast punk rock.

Le Zi
Le Zi is a former manager of Shanghai Mao Live House, a member of Pink Berry and The Sonnet, and
founder of the ZhuLuHeFeng indie music label in Shanghai. He manages several local Shanghai bands
and a French band, and helps bands organize university tours and produce albums.

Yang
Fu
Guitarist of indie rock band Pink Berry
and Top Floor Circus, Yang Fu has a broad
knowledge of the indie music scene in
China. His nickname is “Brother Dimple”, so
called because of the dimples on his face.

Li
Ke
Wuhan, 23, born 1987
Li Ke is an indie music and street culture lover, as well as Manager of Wuhan VOX Live House, where he
is responsible for organizing events for VOX. He has an extensive knowledge of the indie music scene in
Wuhan.

He
Zhiyao
Changsha, 25, born 1986

He Zhiyao (a.k.a Boss He) is manager of the
Freedom House in Changsha, a music pub home
to most of the indie music gigs in Changsha
during 2010/11.

Xiao Ao
Changsha, 33, born 1978
Manager of 46Bar in Changsha, one of the older
live houses in Changsha. Due to rent issues 46Bar
was closed for 1 year, but plan to reopen in 2011.
As manager, he continues to be responsible for
organizing most of the gigs. Xiao has also been in
the band Short Circuit since the 1990s, one of the
earliest rock bands active in Changsha.

Fan
Mu
Fan is the manager of SplitWorks Shanghai
and a big fan of western indie music. Recently,
SplitWorks have brought over many overseas
bands, including Whitest Boy Alive and World’s
End Girlfriend, as well running the JUE Music &
Art Festival in Shanghai and Beijing.

POSTSCRIPT
At the time of writing, news reaches us of Strawberry Festival in Suzhou being cancelled, allegedly because
the site is unfit to host it, but many suspect differently. The Chinese government is faced with a conflict
when it comes to these kinds of events. Indie music is still a sub-culture and rooted in the spirit of rebellion.
The spirit of not following. But this independent spirit continues to pose a threat for China’s Communist
Party: in politics, and in daily life. Things are changing, but this latest incident shows it will be slow. No
matter how hard we try, we live in China. We have no powers to object when the government decrees that
something is forbidden. We don’t know what will happen, the only thing we can do is hope for a better
future.

Writer: Tata Zhang
&Richard Summers

Designer: Anan Xu

The Young On The Run

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