If you haven’t heard, there was a rumor going around that Girls Like Mystery were going to split… well, not anymore! The band is going to stick together for a while longer (or until their job contracts expire).
Here’s an interview with Michael Herd about his views on Shanghai’s music scene. The Scotsman is the frontman of XiaoXinYiYi (guitar and vocals) and guitarist of Girls Like Mystery.
Girls Like Mystery has been in the studio recording their new album with Acid Pony Club, due to be released some time in July-August. So if you want the CD, head on over to their Facebook page and ask for it!
Check out Mike’s bands:
Girls Like Mystery Douban | Facebook
XiaoXinYiYi Douban | Facebook | “Petrol” music video
Mike with Girls Like Mystery at 696
What can you say about the music community in Shanghai?
Within the community you’ve got sorta a Venn Diagram of foreigner and Chinese bands, but not much of an intersection, and the bills tend to be dominated by local acts. You do get the occasional ones that come from Beijing. Each of the bands has their own scene within the larger scene, which can be a little clicky at times.
Now you see more people who are more involved in the music scene who are blogging and writing (like Xiao Zhong from Pairs at Slink Rat), taking more steps to promote things. I’ve seen the crowds get busier, more names getting recognized. Now, Shanghai still has a lot of catching up to do compared to Beijing. But we’ve got the We Are Shanghai compilation, which was started to exposure more acts. Inferno used to host events like Chinese music nights on Wednesdays, selling local band CDs… I think more people need to become more active, blogging more, Weibo, etc. Take initiative!
How different is it here versus at home?
Well, you’re not dealing with promoters who insist upon selling a minimum number of tickets before you might make 10% of whatever else afterwards. You don’t need to deal with transportation issues… Here, it’s easier to promote yourself through different outlets, and it’s far more wide reaching. I don’t wanna go in so clinical and corporate like that because we’re doing it for our own enjoyment.
I think most venues here are very willing to let most bands start off without even hearing so much of their background. Live Bar is a perfect example for that. There are not as many active promoters, so what bands do is promoting themselves – and it’s easier that way. Personally, it just gives us greater control and gives us a chance to approach people directly. There’s Split Works who does incoming/out of town acts. There’s a Sunday afternoon show at Live Bar, the idea is that it’s a free gig for students who can’t make it all the way to YuYinTang on a Friday night.
XiaoXinYiYi at Live Bar
Do you think the media does a good job in getting the news out?
Of course. Shanghai247 has been magic, they’ve been really supportive. They’ll actively do features and make Podcasts, provide samples of bands…
What is Shanghai missing?
Back home, no one would think twice about coming out to shows on a Tuesday night, even if it was a local band. I feel here, it’s mostly restricted to the Friday and Saturday nights – it could go further to encourage more people to put on events during the week. If they can have more shows that start at 7:30pm and close at 10pm, probably more people will be more encouraged to come out then, but it usually ends around midnight, so people working will be less inclined to come out.
Do you think that could change?
I think individuals can change that. The bands could do that too. But promoters and venues have to slash the cost of the gig, make it more accessible to students and offer like a 70% cut at the door.
Why do you think there are not that many live bars in the city center, and are usually at the outskirts of Xuhui?
It’s down to a cost issue. Here, there are live houses, but they don’t tailor to the underground scene, like in Xintiandi, you’ve got Brown Sugar, which by definition is a live place but it’s the same cover act every night of the week and people coming can afford to buy those expensive drinks.
If venues for underground opened up in the city center, they’ll end up charging more for the alcohol and door admission – Mao Livehouse is an example of that, 60-70 Kuai for admission, and they’ll make you buy drink tokens. Then again, they have a huge space and are bringing in more bands. Having said that though, YYT isn’t so far removed from the city. It’s still in a fairly urban area and still manages to do reasonably well.
Girls Like Mystery at Mao Livehouse
Do you think any bands would make it big from Shanghai?
Realistically, no. People want to take it as far as they can. Most people are pragmatic in their approach; they won’t give up their day job to “live the dream” so to speak.
What do you think of Shanghai’s DIY culture?
Hit the nail on the head with that one. This is where the bands don’t rely upon some big record company to support them and put up massive videos and dictate to them terms of what they can do. Bands here are very independent – they organize the shows, put the bill together, promote it…there are also the ones who self-finance the recordings, put together the artwork for the recordings, get them manufactured, organize the release parties all by themselves. And sourcing out the media to get the word out.
This is something in Scotland that I never knew you could do. Granted I was 17-18 at the time. I thought at the time that before you got any kind of exposure, you need some kind of middleman organizing it for you. In theory you could do that back home, but practice, no one has the money to do that because the cost of that is far more expensive than it would be to do it here. It’s DIY here because the means to do it is far easier than it is to do it back home.
What do you hope Shanghai’s music scene will become in the next 10 years?
I hope it becomes something at least akin to Beijing. Yuyintang has been getting a lot of outside interest, people coming to book it out ahead of time. What I’d like to see, is that going on a Wednesday night, you’re guaranteed to get a good bill somewhere. People should be willing to come out to those mid-week shows too.
