Revisiting the Summer of the Bands: July 2007, D22, and the Indie Rock Scene in Beijing
Punk on Wood promo flyer for D22 Beijing, July 2007
In the summer and fall of 2007, while living in Beijing, I spent a lot of time filming the rock club scene. This eventuated in a documentary film Down: Indie Rock in the PRC, co-produced with Jud Willmont in Shanghai. More recently I published a book based on my experiences documenting and filming the Chinese rock scene since those “golden years” called Rocking China: Rock Music Scenes in Beijing, Shanghai and Beyond. Lately I’ve given a few talks about my book and screened our rock doc, which is getting renewed interest since many of these bands have become quite famous in China, at least among people into indie rock music. The success of the TV show Summer of the Bands 乐队的夏天 has helped catalyze this rock renaissance in China.
I’ve also decided to go back into my video archive and publish some videos of the bands I filmed in the Chinese rock scene all those years ago. These are now historical documents of a time that many consider to be a golden period of rock music—and of art—in China.
On Tuesday, I’m giving a talk to a Shanghai audience organized by the RAS. The series is called “Stories of Things” and features speakers discussing objects of art or artifacts that help them to tell a story about Asian culture and society. Organized by Robert Martin, it’s been a fun series to be involved in, and so far I’ve already given two talks for the series. This time I’m using a poster or flyer from Beijing’s legendary club D22 featuring original artwork, which was used to promote a series of concerts dubbed “Punk on Wood”. This happened in July 2007. Four bands were asked to strip down to acoustic instruments and play their songs or cover songs they liked. I was there for two of the concerts, both featuring the band Joyside and lead singer Bian Yuan. The first was the entire Joyside band, and the second was an impromptu session featuring mainly covers, which happened when another band failed to show up for their concert. It was a great way to get to know the band Joyside and singer Bian Yuan in the intimate setting of the club. Not many people attended the concert, and the lower volume of the unplugged sessions made it easier for me to record the sound (usually the sound overwhelmed the mic on my camera). I put these videos up on youtube for people to enjoy and appreciate a crucial club and time period in the history of rock music in China.
“Used to be Happy” cover by Joyside
“Russian Roulette” cover by Joyside
“Lonely Planet Boy” cover by Joyside
“Arms Around a Memory” cover by Joyside
“Disappointed in You” cover by Joyside
I also put up a couple songs by Carsick Cars, one of the leading indie rock bands in China, who performed at D22 in July 2007. And a video of the young band Hedgehog. Enjoy!