alternative china

[Culture Bureau]: Nevin Domer

When I first moved to Beijing in 2009, I was eager to get plugged in to the local music scene. It took about thirty seconds for me to be pointed in the direction of Nevin Domer, who was then the booking manager at legendary venue D-22 and COO at local indie label Maybe Mars. Nevin was my spirit guide for my first year in Beijing, when I was working a real job. Afterwards he became sort of my boss, when I took over booking duties for him at D-22. Not long thereafter, he launched Genjing Records, his vinyl-only passion project, which has a ton of events coming up in the next few weeks. I’d write more in this intro but I am literally maxing out the total number of characters I can input into this box. This interview is really, really long. Grab a six pack:

INTERVIEW WITH WANG WEN’S XIE YUGANG

For fans of Chinese post-rock, Wang Wan needs no introduction—the long-running Dalian quartet has spent the past decade plugging away to refine their gorgeous cinematic soundscapes while remaining true to their unique creative vision.

On the eve of their latest release, a self-titled split 12” with Swedish post-rock outfit pg.lost, Wang Wen co-founder and guitarist Xie Yugang discusses the band’s recent European tour, the band’s songwriting process and the state of DIY in the People’s Republic of China.

Review: Full Circle

They say good things come in pairs, and Genjing Records’s newest release, a split 12’ between two very different punk acts, holds true. It’s a wild ride through well-aged old-school territory and a wacky assemblage of elements that bends protocol without losing edge. Even if a sax made the record less legit, there’s Black Flag’s own Greg Ginn on one of the tracks. What?

INTERVIEW WITH SHANGHAI’S ROUND EYE

Eight months after their formation, experimental punk transplants Round Eye have already made an outsized stamp on Shanghai’s live music community with their boisterous, freakshow-style performances paired with meticulous songwriting soaked in irreverent wit and cheap shades.

Genjing Records

Who said record labels were dead? Well some of them are and maybe the concept of a label as it was understood twenty years ago has changed. However, record labels are still here, still helping bands, and most importantly still releasing music. Genjing Records is a DIY label run out of Beijing, China, that is doing a very important thing for the Chinese music scene: releasing vinyl.

TALKING WITH UPTOWN RECORDS

Several weeks ago I tagged along with Alpine Decline on their trip down to Shanghai, where they would be playing a show at Uptown Records – a new vinyl store that I’d been hearing about for months. What I found was not only a lovingly laid-out store with a good selection of used records, but an active community working to connect music, art, fashion and of course vinyl. I sat down with the owner Sacco to discuss the space, future projects and what it’s like peddling trash from Japan.

TALKING WITH YUNNAN CRUST-PUNKS GOU RI DE

Ever since arriving in Beijing in 2005 I had heard rumors of a nebulous punk community in the tropical jungles of Yunnan. Friends would come back from the extreme southwest province with demo CDs, zines and tales of dread-locked crust punks. Then recently I found out that the Kunming-based anarcho-crust band Gou Ri De (狗日的) would be releasing a new self-titled LP, on vinyl no less! I tracked down the singer Steeve (坏蛋) over email and convinced him to answer some questions shedding light on the band, their label Yanzhaomen Records and why he eventually fled the Yunnan scene.

WOOOZY INTERVIEWS GENJING

In honor of International Record Store Day, Shanghai-based music blog Wooozy.cn recently did an interview with label owner Nevin Domer about Genjing and vinyl culture in China. You can find the Chinese version up on their site, and the English version below.

DUCK FIGHT GOOSE ON SXSW

Duck Fight Goose just returned from their inaugural trip to the US, where they played SXSW while also managing to squeeze in some exra shows in San Antonio and LA. I caught up with frontman Han Han to ask him about the trip, his impressions of the US and his advice for other bands looking to make the journey.

SMZB – WUHAN PUNK

Since they formed in 1996, SMZB has been recognized as one of China’s most important punk bands, not to mention the founders of Wuhan’s vibrant underground scene. In addition to being the country’s longest-running punk band, they are also only the second-ever punk band to be released on vinyl. In 2001 SMZB’s “Wuhan Punk” 7” was released on the German label Nasty Vinyl in conjunction with SabbelFanzine. Nasty Vinyl caught wind of SMZB when Sabbel creator Ingo Rohrer released a split tape including both SMZB and Si Dou Le. Excited over the new punk movement erupting in China, Nasty jumped at the chance to release the band’s 7”. The recordings, which were made in 2000, were completely financed by the band, though the songs also appear on Scream Records’ 2001 release “50,000.”

SI DOU LE – A DREAM IN OUR HEARTS

Formed in 1998, Si Dou Le was one of China’s first hardcore bands and among the earliest acts to come out of Wuhan’s burgeoning punk scene. They recorded their first demo in 2000 and released it together with three other Wuhan bands, SMZB, Mama, and Angry Dog Eyes (who later changed their name to Shit Dog). As one of the more active bands in Wuhan’s thriving community, Si Dou Le reached out to Canadian-French folk-punk act Vialka and in 2003 the two bands hit the road together to tour China. Unfortunately, China’s political climate wasn’t yet ripe for an endeavor of this kind—their tour was stopped by police after only six shows for suspicion of political conspiracy with foreigners.

TWO GREAT SUYIN RECORDS RELEASES

Genjing is excited to announce the addition of two legendary Suyin Records releases to our Chinese distro. In 2007, the now-defunct UK-based label Suyin Records put out two seven-inches titled Beijing Volume One and Beijing Volume Two.