scene namesD-22: The Mother of Beijing – and China’s – Indie Music Scene

By Eric de Fontenay

UNiXX rocks out D-22 on the final leg of their 7 Deadly Sins tour

Web site: http://china.musicdish.com
A prime objective on my recent trip to Beijing was to connect with the leading force behind the city’s burgeoning independent music scene: D-22. Any person who is anyone… and several no-ones… have played Beijing’s version of CBGB, and in the approach, China’s most pioneering and vibrant indie music scene was born.

I was running late to meet Nevin Domer, who manages daily operations at D-22, in no modest component due to Beijing cabbies’ utter ignorance of the city they are meant to drive you about. In my expertise, it does not matter whether you have that slip of paper with the address in chinese characters or not as they will get lost anyway.

I lastly arrive at a comparatively modest doorfront that belies the club’s influence. D-22 is a warm mix of dark red walls, wood and brick which fits well with its low-important, straightforward-going style. No flash or pretense here. And all along the balcony are pictures of the bands that have turn into household names in China’s indie scene thanks to D-22: Hedgehog, Carsick Vehicles, White, PK-14,…

Up-and-coming rock trio Ourselves Beside Me

Your eyes speedily catch sight of ‘Mike’, the owner of D-22. You cannot miss him with his exuberant NY personality and downright adore for the music and young bands that play it. He not only is the father of Beijing indie rock, he acts the component, hugging and encouraging musicians all through the club as if they had been the prodigal children returned. He proceeds to point out a 16 year old kid whose band he predicts will shake Beijing’s scene and tells me to maintain an eye out for all-girl band Ourselves Beside Me. But my treat would be that night’s headliner UNiXX, a Hong Kong-based band on Lona Records I’ve been following considering that I launched MusicDish*China (more on both of them in an upcoming write-up).

]]>

Actually, it is far more likely that they were at D-22 no a lot more than a few days ago. You see, D-22 is not just a club, it is the heart of Beijing’s indie community. Bands performing that night typically come in the course of the day to practice – D-22′s doors are usually open. And half those men and women attending that night had been themselves members of several bands, supporting and learning from every single other. So a lot so that I got the rare pleasure to catch a veteran of the scene who was there from the beginning: Hedgehog guitarist and vocalist ZO(子健).

“At D-22, we are tied to each other and grow together,” he explained of the late 2006 series of gigs at the club that propelled the band out of obscurity. “A lot of creative artists and new bands played there each and every week and we released our album “Noise Hit World” in 2007. That year, the Beijing scene bubbled to the surface.” On a individual note, I think Hedgehog is one of the most exciting acts in China and has become part of my every day musical diet.

At the center of that community is Mike (Michael Pettis), a NY finance banker expat who opened the club on Might 1, 2006. As Matthew Niederhauser writes in the preface of his photographic anthology of Beijing’s indie scene “Sound Capital”:

“The new club’s foremost priority was locating and creating new talent, regardless of its musical style and commercial appeal. It demanded originality from musicians and was willing to go to wonderful lengths to indulge them.”

And that they did, literally reshaping Beijing’s musical landscape. Michael went on to launch the Possibly Mars label with PK-14′s Yang Haisong as an natural extension of D-22 to support the scene it had developed. Nevin Domer, who had given me a tour of the club and introduced that night’s performing acts, is a member himself of Fanzui Xiangfa (who we very first featured in MusicDish*China Sounds Pod#two) and works at both the club and label. And all the bands on the label’s roster developed and grew in D-22′s embrace.

It’s ironic that I would have to fly halfway across the globe to China to locate such a rare pearl as D-22. The analogy to New York’s CBGB’s is striking. Just as CBGB’s did in the 80′s, D-22 has given birth to China’s hardcore and punk rock scene. Like CBGB’s, D-22 is more than a club: it is like a mother, feeding, caring and educating each and every individual band in this movement. Ironically, numerous of the t-shirts in the crowd paid homage to NY bands of that CBGB’s era like The Cramps and Souxie and The Banshees.

Now do not get me wrong, D-22 ain’t perfect. They certainly need to have to function on the sound. And whilst this is a critical although correctable flaw, what Michael has completed to uncover and nurture the incredible talent that may well otherwise opt to go C-Pop or just not pick up an instrument is immeasurable. None of it would have been feasible with no his individual and financial commitment to the trigger. So, speaking for myself – who would otherwise not have significantly to write about or play in my podcasts – a huge thank you to the whole D-22 crew and bands who went along for the party.

Created making use of the Stupeflix Youtube App. Watch this. I hope i helped!
Video Rating: / 5

Related Scene Names Articles