“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
Post-Concrete, Hang On The Box, Brave New Eye, The Beijinger, Pangbianr, Beijing Daze, Skip Lunch, You Mei You, Flying Mantas, Doc Talk Shock, Dalian, IDH, Smart Shanghai, Little Punk, Qu Records, Subs, Kang Mao, 2 Kolegas, Lucifer, Rustic, Top Floor Circus, Queen Sea Big Shark, Matthew Niederhauser, Modern Sky, Guai Li, Maybe Mars, ShanShui, Sulumi, Torturing Nurse, Hong Qi Le, Xiao He, Glorious Pharmacy, Josh Feola, D-22, Gum Bleed
Beijing indie punk band P.K.14 were invited to play at the Melbourne Festival and I was to be their man on the ground. The festival covered their travel expenses and two nights in a hotel but I planned an extra show and some free time with them.
As part of the promotional push for them, singer Yang Haisong did this email interview with Tone Deaf magazine.
P.K.14 play Melbourne Festival Oct 22nd 2010
We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files, however, we don’t like regurgitating press releases or asking the easy questions. No one gets out of the Tone Deaf Interrogation lightly, so just hold still, grit your teeth, clench your buttocks and be still while we put on the rubber gloves, apply the thumbscrews, and pull out our thermometer while you open up and say ahhhhhhhhhhh… Truthful answers only or we drink your rider while you’re on stage.
Lead singer Yang Haisong from Chinese band P.K14 answers our questions.
We don’t want to know about the bands your press release says you’re influenced by. Take us back to your bedroom when you were 14. What band posters did you have on the wall?
When I was 14, most of music around us are propaganda songs and love songs from Taiwan and Hong Kong singers. I don’t like them both. No any chance to listen western rock music or get posters from stores. So I didn’t have any poster in my bedroom.
What’s been your worst gig and why are you glad there’s no footage of it on Youtube … yet?
I don’t really remember which gig are the worst. I would say the very first gig that P.K.14 played 13 years ago was so bad. We played 4 songs, I sang all the songs out of key, and my legs shacked all the time in front of hundreds of university students. But at the same time, It’s the best gig to me. I hope I can see the show on Youtube but seems nobody shot it.
Tomorrow’s payday, so we’ve only got $A20/$US18/£14/€10 to get you drunk. Where do we go and what do we buy with it?
I have no idea about it. I didn’t get drunk quite long time. Maybe you can take me to some local 2nd hand records stores? I am gonna get drunk even no alcohol there.
What releases have you put out? Are they million sellers or do you still have a few boxes of them sitting gathering dust under your bed?
We put out 4 albums so far. And none is million-seller. Most of people like all the love songs and kind of Chinese idols, Unfortunately, we didn’t play love songs, and are not idols neither.
Suppose we put a gun to your head and force you to kiss a member of another band. Who, which band and why?
Billie Holiday. I think you know why.
You’re touring Australia. We know how much visitors are afraid of our native animals, so what is your greatest fear? Getting attacked by a) a snake b) a redback spider c) a bluebottle jellyfish d) a crocodile or e) a venomous drop bear?
Snake is my nightmare, worst ever.
P.K14 play at The Forum on Fri 22nd October, as part of Melbourne Festival’s Beck’s Festival Bar. Tickets are $20. Find out more info on the Beck’s Bar website, or visit Ticketmaster for tickets.
Cat #: 028TZM
The Fanzui Xiangfa / Daighila split 7″ came about after Fanzui Xiangfa’s 2009 SE Asia Tour. The two bands played together in Malaysia and Singapore discovering their common love for hardcore and devotion to the DIY scene. Fanzui Xiangfa’s side is a collection of newer songs in their typical oldschool style reminiscent of DS-13. While Daighila brings three raging screamo tracks that encompass elements from many different classic schools of hardcore. Taken together the split represents two of the most exciting bands from China and Malaysia.
Cat #: 040TZM
24 Hours are one of the most intelligent newcomers in China’s rock scene. Hailing from Xi’an, one of the four great ancient capitals of China, they create, in their own words, passionate rock and roll. Their music is often the reflection of the relationship among the three members: constantly-changing but always-intense.
After relocating to Beijing in early-2008 they quickly dove into the city’s challenging sonic environment, becoming one of the city’s most prolific bands by playing several gigs per weekend, developing both a devoted following and attracting local media in the process.
After two years together, the band released their debut album No Party People produced by Martin Atkins (PiL, Pigface, Nine Inch Nails) the famed Chicago-based producer who initially cut his teeth in Beijing producing Snapline’s debut LP, Party is Over, Pornstar. Using his unique style to capture both the rough and fresh feeling of their music, Atkins has succeeded in elevating their sound to an international level. The 8-song effort maintains the fury of their live sets while adding a dreamy sonic dimension awash in subtle nuances.
26th Feb 2021 – Another one of my dumb ideas – to release 4 new (to Australia) albums on the same date (see White, Snapline and AV Okubo). At least this time I just imported 100 copies of each from China, rather than pressing 500 of each in Australia.
Cat #: 040TZM
Hong Kong experimental cinema, 80’s Kungfu movies, triad gangsters, Chinese and Japanese cartoons and China’s early space program all collide together in AV Okubo’s sound to create a weird kaleidoscope of modern Chinese sensibilities.
AV Okubo’s combination of retro-amusements combined with deeper social critique, along with their ferocious dance rhythms, has quickly brought this young band to the attention of fellow musicians and audiences across China and got them a coveted invitation, even before the release of their first CD, to Austin’s SouthbySouthwest festival in 2010.
Formed in 2006 in the dirty industrial megalopolis of Wuhan, AV Okubo has captured the eyes and ears of China with the members themselves living out their music’s conflicts of a changing society. Frontman Lu Yan (vox/keyboard) is an aspiring film director while Tan Chao (guitar) works a day job as a train engineer in a major steel factory. Filling out the band, Zuo Yi (bass) and Hu Juan (percussion) are both active in the local music scene, traditionally the home of China’s hardest and wildest punk scene.
They have played with, and at times overshadowed, such bands as Orange (Uruguay), The 4 Sivits (Germany), Ratatat (USA), These Are Powers (USA) and Battles (USA). Several large festival appearances, including 2008’s Modern Sky Festival and 2009’s JUE Festival, have exposed them to larger audience and their infrequent trips to the capital have become occasions for packed and crazy shows at Yugong Yishan and D22 attended by eager fans. In late 2008 the band set up in A-String, Asia’s largest studio, to record their debut album with acclaimed producer Martin Atkins.
For the band, music is the half-remembered memories of growing up in the social construction project that is China, the places they’ve been to, the people they’ve met and things they’ve experienced along the way. New wave, experimental noise, disco punk, ultimately their sound smashes together everything they have encountered set to a massive beat. AV Okubo has grown up in the entertainment era. Neither punky criticism nor a complete overthrow of modern culture, they slide obliquely through a loophole and force on us their version of change.
Australia’s world renowned Asia music specialist label tenzenmen brings AV Okubo’s debut release ‘The Greed of Man’ to these shores as the band rip it up in North America as part of the China Invasion west coast tour.
China’s experimental music scene spreads it’s wings. Beijing’s White play SXSW.
Formed by Shou Wang and Shen Jing, White has quickly become one of the most acclaimed outfits in the new Beijing music scene. White’s sound is ever evolving, spiralling outwards from the core stars of noise and minimalism to take in everything from the phase patterns of Steve Reich, the atonal chords of Glenn Branca, Throbbing Gristle’s aggressive electronic shimmer, Neubauten’s rhythmic invention, and the gu zheng masters of Chinese classical music. Their pieces can range from highly organized agglomerations of atonal chords that have an almost rock and roll ferociousness, to a completely anarchic attack of weirdly syncopated drum sounds derived from a chance encounter with old furniture or a dysfunctional machine.
Shou Wang, who plays guitar, organ, toys, analogue pedals, drums, and effects, is a founder member of the Chinese new music movement ‘No Beijing’ and is the guitarist/vocalist for Beijing noise band Carsick Cars. Despite his extreme youth he is considered at the very heart of the new generation of Chinese avant-garde musicians, in 2006 flying to New York to take part in Glenn Branca’s famous No.13 recording “Hallucination City” for 100 guitarists.
In 2005 he formed White No.1, a septet that paid tribute to the early work of Glenn Branca, and White 2J, in which he played keyboards. Finally he and Shen Jing, who had been admirers of each other’s music from afar and who shared the same passion for New York noise and kosmiche rhythms, formed White as an outlet for their more avant garde tendencies.
Shen Jing plays analogue synth, drums, percussion, sampler, vocals, tape manipulation, and effects; she has been deeply immersed in Beijing’s music scene since 1998, participating in the vibrant explosion it has undergone in recent years. Until 2006, she was the drummer in Beijing indie/punk legends Hang On The Box, but since 2003, her work has increasingly demonstrated her own unique form of cosmic industrial noise.
Cat #: 038TZM
Snapline have become Beijing’s fastest rising young band and recently they have taken on an identity all of their own, earned full page interviews in the local media and released their first 7” single in the US.
When producer and ex-PIL drummer Martin Atkins came to Beijing to check on the local scene, he was delighted with dozens of bands, but wholly awestruck by Snapline’s uniquely weird melodies, and immediately insisted on producing their first CD. Within weeks they had laid down the tracks in Beijing and over the next few months began the mixing process in Chicago, at one point flying vocalist Chen Xi to Chicago to add additional tracks.
As snippets of the recording filtered through the scene in China, the band’s shows started drawing larger crowds, and they soon began to develop a very strong following. A series of concerts at D22 established them as one of the central bands in the scene, much loved by critics and musicians, although difficult at times for audiences to follow.
The subject of many articles in the Chinese press, the band was listed in That’sBeijing as one of the ten best bands in China and in an article in Rolling Stone Li Qing was listed as one of China’s four major guitar innovators.
Cat #: 024TZM
Absolutely 100%, the best band I ever saw in China and still to this day, my favourite recording from China – so creative and inventive. I obviously jumped at the chance to release this in Australia, where those who heard it agreed with its status.
Cat #: 020TZM
Ourself Beside Me were first formed in 2003 by former Hang On The Box guitarist Yang Fan. Their line-up changed several times throughout the years until Yang Fan (the main vocalist and guitarist) met the then-still-a-drummer Xie Han through the internet in fall 2005, thanks to a shared interest in the British band, Television Personalities. They bonded immediately and started writing songs together. Xie Han started playing the bass and in 2007, through a mutual friend, EMI (who hails from Japan) was introduced into the group as the drummer. It wasn’t until the second half of 2007 that this trio began performing regularly, first at D-22 and then at other clubs in Beijing. Touted almost from the beginning by D-22 regulars as one of the most exciting and innovative bands to emerge from the Beijing scene, these three hard-charging ladies have swept everything before to become among the most admired and inspiring bands in China.
It is hard to describe their sound. They claim their inspirations began with the sounds from old 60’s and 70’s bands such as the Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett, Can, Tom Waits, Soft Machine and the Fall. There is no denying these influences but they are also heavily influenced by New York’s East Village bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s but with a very Chinese obliqueness to their harmonies and musical approach and the typical Beijinger’s bluntness. They combine the rhythmic sophistica- tion of bands like ESG and Bush Tetras with the eerie but jangly, sinuous guitar lines of Bush Tetra guitarist Pat Place and the strange harmonics of DNA. Amid their drawn-out sessions you can even sometimes hear the long, druggy patterns of the Doors. This is a band extremely sure of its sound and wholly dismissive of any attempts to mold their image or sound into a more pleasing outline.
Cat #: 022TZM
Gar’s music is some of the purest Chinese rock ‘n’ roll. Mixing the beautiful and sophisticated melodic structures typical of the best Chinese music with basic harmonies and a delight in shifting textures, their songs achieve the shimmering quality of folk-rock but with the hard edge that life in Beijing, with its rapid changes, destruction and reconstruction, has imposed on most of its artists.
The three members of Gar are guitarist/lead vocalist Zhan Pan, bassist Wen Jie, and drummer Wang Xu. Their standard power-trio format, ordinary equipment, graceful Chinese lyrics, and complete lack of stage posturing and fancy gimmicks make them different from most of the other bands in the scene. On the surface they seem very ordinary, but their shows are full of energy and intelligence. In recent years, a number of alternative genres have been expanding the definitions of indie music and rock ‘n’ roll for Chinese audiences, and along with it there have been changes in trends and fashion, but Gar have refused to follow any of the trends, continuing to explore their own sense of real music based on individual experiences. These are classic songs about youth and time, appealing to every generation and era. While the Chinese indie music environment gets louder, more challenging, and wilder, Gar continues singing their hearts out for their very own generation.
in case you haven’t heard, paint it black has moved out of 86 enmore rd and looking for alternative accommodation
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
thu 2
red rattler, 6 faversham st, marrickville
6.30 $15
Kino Kabaret
Kino Kabaret is a series of 2 day filmmaking marathons, screenings and parties taking place across Sydney 29 June – 4 July. Each session gives the participants only 48hrs to write, shoot and edit short films and culminates in a screening and party. Come and see the results of this mad filmmaking experiment at The Red Rattler Thursday 2 July!
Just $15 at the door gets you in to see brand spanking new short films made in under 48 hours, live performances, snacks, Coopers Pale Ale and Jamesons Irish Whiskey. The night will also feature music by Sydney based duo MA and installations courtesy of Punk Monk Propaganda.
Dress code for the night is: Fire Walk With Lynch! Eraserheads, Amnesiacs and Elephant Men – prizes for best dressed!
Doors open 6.30pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
fri 3
Black & Blue Gallery
302/267-271 Cleveland Street
Redfern NSW 2016
Opening Fri 3rd July
3 July – 18 July
I HATE YOUR GUTS!
Raquel Welch
Gallery hours Thurs to Sat 11 – 6pm
Other times by appointment
W www.blackandbluegallery.com.au
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
fri 3
red rattler, 6 faversham st, marrickville
Femme Guild present HANKY PANKY – Hanky Code Party
Hanky Panky is a harking back to queer sub-cultures of the past as we delve into the rich history of queer semiotics & the socio-political reasons behind it. The party will be both fun & educational as we teach, learn (and unlearn) the ways we express our sexuality through gesture and dress.
Hanky-theme performances by Ginger Snaps, Zahra Stardust & Glittertrash.
Hankilicious DJs Tokyo Pink & Fisty Cuffs
Go-Go Dancers, Hanky Demonstrations and the very cheeky Dirty Little Slide Show, as well as Emergency Hankies for all you forgetful folk.
We invite all our guests to come flagging on the night for a bit of sex-positive fun whether you have one favourite colour hanky or a whole string of them you whip out magician-style from your bottomless back pocket.
Pre-sale tickets available exclusively from MaXXX Black, 1/264 King St, Newtown – $15/$20. We encourage you to pre-purchase your tickets as only a very limited number will be available on the night.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sat 4
dirty shirlows, 32 Shirlow St, marrickville
7pm $5
b.i.n.t. , maladroit, dislasystem, null object, sado, killjoy + more
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sat 4
Serial Space, 33 Wellington St, Chippendale
midday
Hey Folks
I’ll be doing a wee showing of what I’ve been up to at Serial Space over the last couple of weeks on this Saturday July 4 from midday. Mostly I’ve been working on the wheelie bin…
For some time I’ve been interested in sound system cultures, particularly around the Caribbean and in South and Central America. Looking to build one locally, it occurred to me that a unique version already exists. John Jacobs <http://patchwrangler.net/> designed and built the original Wheely Good Sound System in the early nineties for use in urban actions/interventions such as Reclaim The Streets.
As part of my residency at Serial Space, I’m hoping to get all the systems in Sydney together. If you do have one, or any kind of portable sound system, mobile-robo disco unit please swing by around on Saturday July 4 at 2pm for some kind of enthusiasts meet / sound clash / road jam – we’ll take it to the streets, yes?
Sven Simulacrum
Please fwd on to anyone you think might be interested
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sat 4
Bandwidth
Clan Analogue Festival
Red Rattler Theatre
6 Faversham St, Marrickville
4PM-late, $7
Clan Analogue is Australia’s oldest electronic music/audio-visual collective. Over its history, many of Australia’s foremost proponents of electronic-based music and visual arts have contributed but, in recent times, the collective has become a little dormant on the public front. While it has never actually gone away, the Sydney chapter of Clan Analogue is preparing to relaunch its public face with a mini-festival of live music, DJ-ing and VJ-ing.
Bandwidth features some long-term members as well as younger groups who have been diversifying the aesthetics of the collective. With some of Sydney’s best underground live acts in their ranks, such as Bleepin’ J Squawkins, Lunar Module, Karoshi, Telafonica, Valley Forge and Kate Carr, along with DJs such as Tigerlily and the godfather of Australian electronic music, Andy Rantzen, the re-emergence of Clan Analogue in Sydney’s music scene is placed to be wildly varied and exciting.
Clan Analogue was birthed in the early 90s warehouse scene and so is proud to be working with Red Rattler Theatre and its ideals of artist run initiatives, community creativity and its D.I.Y. ethos.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sat 4
The Lock Up, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle
5:00pm – 9:00pm
The team behind the brand new ARThive studio/gallery complex at 111 Hunter Street are hosting a sweet party at THE LOCK UP to raise some funds to put into the upcoming exhibition program, and to pay for essential items like hooks, lights, paint, etc.
Come show some support, get behind a brand new Newcastle art space.
The Party will feature an ART RAFFLE consisting of new works donated by Simone Sheridan, Angus Crowley, Grant Hunter, Shane Westernhagen, Nicole Chaffey, Anthony Ferris, Jake Penn-Cullen, Sam Hughes, Hayley Wheaton, Emily Roberts, and Michael Randall. This could be your opportunity to walk away with some amazing art for only a donation.
BEN KENNING will be performing an art piece in one of the infamous prison cells of The Lock Up museum.
Live Music will be provided in the Lock Up exercise yard by CRAB SMASHER, SCISSOR LOCK, and MART BRENNAN.
This Event has been kindly sponsored by Nextra Marketown, The Lock Up, and Renew Newcastle.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sat 4
Kick Start Studios
6-8 Ralph Black Drive,
North Wollongong.
2-5pm, Gold coin donation.
Mary Jane Kelly, Epitomes + 1 or 2 more TBA soon
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sun 5
Sydney Park, cnr Princess Hwy & Sydney Pk rd
11:00am – 6:00pm
RULES FOR DJ-ING SUNDAY DUB CLUB
1.0………. FIRST RULE OF DUB CLUB, YOU WILL DISCUSS DUB CLUB
1.1………. YOU WILL ABIDE BY RULES OF DJ-ING SUNDAY DUB CLUB
1.2………. NOBODY CARES IF YOU DON’T TURN UP TO DUB CLUB SO ONLY SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT BRUCE, JOEY (if not barred) AND WALLY HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF ACTING LIKE GOOD SORTS ON DUB DAYS
2.0………. SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT BRUCE. JOEY (if not barred) AND WALLY EXPECT TO BE BRIBED AND GENERALLY SUCKED UP TO FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF DJ-ING AT SUNDAY DUB CLUB
2.1………. SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT HAS THE RIGHT TO
a………. TAKE OVER THE DJ-ING FROM ANY VISITING DJ AT ANY TIME
b………. REFUSE ENTRY TO BEHIND THE DECKS IF VISITING DJ(s) ARE ACTING LIKE TWATS
c………. GIVE ANY VISITING DJs A HARD TIME DUE TO POOR MUSIC CHOICE, GAPS IN SOUND OR IF MANAGEMENT IS JUST FEELING IN A SHIT STIRRING MOOD
(points 2.1(a)(b)and(c)are often in direct proportion to how well you adhere to point 2.0)
3.0………. IF SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT BRUCE, JOEY (if not barred) AND WALLY DECIDE THAT THERE ARE TO MANY DJs ON ANY GIVEN DUB DAY
a………. MANAGEMENT WILL DECIDE WHO WILL PLAY AND WHO WILL MISS OUT ON THAT DAY
b………. DJs THAT DO MISS OUT DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO ON LIKE GOOD SORTS OR HARASS MANAGEMENT OR SLAG OFF MANAGEMENT TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC BUT SHOULD GO BACK AND RE-READ POINT 2.0
4.0………. SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT BRUCE, JOEY (if not barred) AND WALLY HAVE THE RIGHT AT ANY GIVEN TIME TO AMEND THIS DOCUMENT VERBALLY OR IN WRITING WITHOUT WARNING TO VISITING DJs WHERE OR WHEN EVER THEY FEEL FIT OR CAN GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT.
WHEN YOU HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF DJ-ING SUNDAY DUB CLUB, DUB DAY, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR READING OR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THIS DOCUMENT YOU ARE STILL BOUND TO ADHERE TO ALL POINTS AND ANY AMENDMENTS. THE CRY OF NOBODY TOLD ME OR I DIDN’T KNOW THAT, DOSE NOT WORK HERE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS DOCUMENT OR SUNDAY DUB CLUB MANAGEMENT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO RE-READ POINT 1.2
AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!
YOURS FAITHFULLY
S.D.C MANAGEMENT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sun 5
red rattler, 6 faversham st, marrickville
1-5pm
Rock and Writers – Winter of our Discotheque
Sydney writers and bands in a rocking, pulp fiction freakout!
Featuring – The Men from UNCLE, the LangLangs, the Dead Rabids, Ned Alphabet, Darrin Baker and King Wally Otto – direct from the Sound Proof Booth!
“Now is the winter of our discotheque
Made summer by a mad few who, forsaking dignity for glorious folly
Lay plans to freak out both swain and maiden
At the Rock n Writers gig, Red Rattler Marrickville,
Perchance there you may waylay them.”
shaun/tenzenmen
++ i’ll either be at these events or wishing i was there ++
Facebook posts:
06:45 – Wishes there was more humanity!
13:45 – Good luck Mat
11th Jul 2025 – Mat Norr is a friend and punk rock compatriot in Kuala Lumpur. He had been diagnosed with a life threatening situation (I think it was cancer, but don’t quite remember now) and because he was so desperately poor he would’ve passed away from it. Joe Kidd and friends put the word out and many folks around the world funded his treatment. I saw him a couple of years later, working in a DIY punk store in KL and congratulated him, joking that I had saved his life and he owed me money.
Cat #: 019TZM
P.K.14 occupies a space in Chinese music that might be analogous to that of Talking Heads or Television in the New York of the 1970s. They are among the most thoughtful and self-referential of bands, with an enormous curiosity about music coupled with a complete inability to care about musical fashion. Among the astonishing group of young musicians that has emerged in Beijing over the last four years, they are almost unanimously cited as the band that has most influenced the young Beijing music scene with their eclectic approach to music. But although they are at the heart of the Beijing scene, at the same time they are wholly unique and seem to be traveling in their own scene – one which consists of only one band.
The subject of numerous articles, interviews and critical pieces on Chinese, US, German, Austrian, French, Swedish, Norwegian and Australian television, as well as dozens of newspapers and magazines from around the world. Most recently, TIME magazine chose P.K.14 as one of Asia’s five best bands and one to watch in 2008, a list also including Cornelius.
City Weather Sailing, the fourth full-length album from P.K.14, is the band’s most cross-pollinated and exciting recording so far. In the credits we find Dennis Lyxzén, Torbjörn Näsbom, Dimitri Daniloff, Greg Calbi and Sterling Sound. A collaborative journey born in Beijing, given shape in Sweden and with a stop-over in New York before returning to China.
From Facebook:
…is going to pierce his gf this afternoon!
18th Feb 2024 – Of course, the English language is great for its ambiguity sometimes. It wasn’t me actually doing the piercing, and pierce was not a double entendre either. I’m guessing I took Amy to Polymorph where she either got her tongue, nose, lip or belly button pierced. She still has her nose and lip piercings but the others have gone now.
1994ever 