Experimental performance at XP (Courtesy Deng Chenglong)
Published: February 8, 2013
BEIJING — The capital has more music venues than ever before. ARTINFO takes you through five of the best.
A favorite venue for local and
international acts, Yugong Yishan has a capacity of several hundred and
attracts up to 6,000 people a month. But its present manifestation is a
far cry from the live house’s roots. The name refers to a Chinese legend about a foolish old man
who wanted to move the mountain in front of his house. Despite being
called a hopeless idiot, the mountain was eventually transferred — by
his descendants, a few generations later.
“The first place we opened was in 2003 — it was a cafe up by Qinghua University,” says founder and owner Lü Zhiqiang, who himself played in a heavy metal band back in the ’80s
and ’90s. Then in 2004 the cramped music cafe became a bar with a
stage and a pool table in the now-trendy area near the Worker’s Stadium,
but this was eventually torn down when the area was developed for the 2008 Olympics.
With
a growing music scene, the time was ripe to move to a larger and more
dedicated music venue, which Lü hoped would be a place to bring a
greater variety of local and international acts to the stage.
“Between
1995 and 1999 I lived in Berlin, and seeing music and bands I had never
come across before made me want to bring that stuff here,” Lü told
ARTINFO.
About half of Yugong Yishan’s acts now come from abroad, with last year’s highlights including the provocative Peaches, metal heads Apocalyptica and Japanese breakbeat duo Hifana.
XP is located in Beijing’s trendy Di’anmen
area and dedicates itself for the most part to experimental music and
collaborative performances. But its story really starts with the
legendary D-22, once the pioneer and champion of Beijing’s music scene and, like XP, founded by economist and music aficionado Michael Pettis.
“[In 2005] there were a lot of bars around with just a stage, but there was no real venue for music,” says Nevin Domer, D-22’s booking manager from 2006, and also COO at Pettis’ record label Maybe Mars. Maybe Mars has its offices in XP’s upstairs.
“D-22
became a space where musicians would be able to jam until 5am after a
show. You’d have punk musicians turn up on a jazz night just to drink
beer because it was a place for people who cared about music,” he says.
“[In]
those days I felt something was growing at D-22, and being there week
in, week out, really exaggerated the feeling. Perhaps unnaturally so,”
says Josh Feola who used to work as well as drum there with psychedelic band Chui Wan.
A
few years later the bands D-22 was supporting — paying them to play
less, so that the value of their gigs would go up and they would have
time to work on their music — went from playing to crowds of 40 to a few
hundred, and the intimate venue’s raison d’être seemed to be sliding.
The community was and continues to be “fragmenting in different ways,” says Feola.
“[In
2012] the reasons that Michael [Pettis] started D-22 were not as
important anymore. The musicians from the underground had gained
acceptance,” says Domer. Larger venues like Yugong Yishan, Tango and Mao
had emerged since and were more suitable.
When
problems with the landlord meant moving, “we decided we wanted to do
something important for what the scene is now,” he says. “We looked back
at sections in the scene that needed support and decided on these young
experimental musicians.”
D-22 had hosted a weekly experimental music night called “Zoomin’ Night,” from which XP could grow.
“We
are ok with having rock bands though,” says Domer. “We also want the
venue to be as fluid as possible, not for it to be this rigid live
venue.” They are planning to have more “curated nights,” where musicians
who wouldn’t usually collaborate get together and jam.
“P.K. 14 frontman Yang Haisong,
for example, will soon start inviting young musicians from around China
and bring them to Beijing, often for the first time,” says Domer. XP
are also hoping to record some of these live sessions and release them
on CDR.
“Our idea is to experiment with the idea of the live experience, too. We are pretty loose with the term experimental.”
Old What is a funky dive bar with old Monkey King murals and a small capacity of a couple of dozen people. It also was and still remains a long-time favorite in the music scene.
Having been around since the 90s, “it’s
a tie to a completely different stage in the city’s musical
development,” says Feola. “It’s the physical space where many bands
who've gone on to great success and are associated with more famous
venues or record labels got their actual start.”
It isn’t all about nostalgia, though. Mainly, it’s punk and raggae nights now, but from time to time bands like Carsick Cars and Hedgehog, who can play to 800-strong crowds, do a secret show at Old What with a tiny crowd. “So you never know what to expect,” says Domer.
East
of Liangmaqiao, 2Kolegas is further from the city center than most
music joints, and as a result can be nearly empty in winter months. But
the seven-year-old venue comes into its own in the heat of summer.
“They
have the best sound of any venue in the city and a really nice yard
that can accommodate many more people in a more comfortable environment
than any other venue in Beijing,” says Feola. It’s garden space, set
next to a grassy drive in cinema, is perfect day and night for outdoor
gigs and parties.
Founded in
May 2005 by Liu Miao and Gao Feng, the shack-like structure and its
green patch have played host to local and international rock bands over
the years, as well as punk, reggae and other genres.
“Zajia is more experimental with a capital E,” says Domer about this small and beautiful hutong experimental arts space.
Apart
from its red brick, wood beams and lofts, Zajia is known for bringing
artists practicing in any medium into the musical mix. They've
previously hosted acts like FM3 of Buddha Machine fame among other less well known experimentalists.
“The old Daoist temple architecture suits the [experimental music and film] events very well,” says Feola, who rates Zajia among his favorite music venues.
But you better get there quick. The area around Gulou,
or the Drum Tower, is slated for a revamping project that may well see
many of these stunning buildings destroyed and rebuilt along more
commercial lines later this year.
Originally posted in Artinfo China.
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