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When it comes to major events that celebrate Chinese culture, organizers tend to go with the obvious: Terracotta Warriors? Check. Shaolin monks? Check. Ubiquitous red decorations? Check.
Yet the Nuit de Chine, an extravaganza in late January at Paris' Grand Palais, showcased a new flavor of Chinese soft power-hard rock.
Carsick Cars, one of Beijing's most successful indie bands, performed alongside luminaries such as Lang Lang and Wu Muye to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and France.
"We were shocked we'd been picked as the same level as those artists," says frontman Zhang Shuowang during a break at the band's Beijing studio, tucked away in an underground car park. "We were pretty flattered. It was so different from any show we've ever done. Everything was so new for us. We felt pretty good about it.
"It was good they (the French organizers of Nuit de Chine) did this," he adds, "because people outside China should see that there are a lot of different things happening here, not just the stereotype of Chinese culture."
The event marked the start of what is shaping up to be an exciting year for the three-piece outfit. On Feb 28 they release their new album, 3, and in March embark on their biggest tour of North America-covering more than 20 cities in the United States and Canada.
Carsick Cars have already built up a following overseas after several tours of the US, Europe and Australia, including as support for legendary groups such as Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.
"A lot of people ask me when I go abroad, do the audiences react differently from in China?" Zhang says. "I would say not really. I think rock 'n' roll is an international language. The audience doesn't need to understand the lyrics. They can just feel the energy."
3 is the band's third album on the Maybe Mars label and comes after five years of frustrating setbacks, including line-up changes and two separate accidents resulting in Zhang suffering a broken leg (the last one while stage diving).
"It's definitely been a struggle," Zhang says, explaining that plans to record an album in 2010 were dashed when drummer Ben Ben quit the band. She had been recruited about a year earlier along with bassist He Fan to replace founding members Li Qing and Li Weisi, who left to form Snapline. Sun Heting-warmly known as Houzi or Monkey-was eventually drafted in to run the sticks in 2011.
With the line-up changes and the amount of time spent writing the songs (She Will Wait, for example, was written six years ago), the band says 3 is a departure from their previous work.
"The new line-up ... gave us more opportunities to try something new," Zhang says. "Houzi is a more-professional drummer ... and He Fan plays a lot more aggressively, so the whole sound structure changed and the way we're writing songs has changed."
To keep things fresh and ensure the creative juices flow, the trio occasionally performs as "B-side band" Sick Car Sick and each member has his own musical projects.
"It's very quick for us to write new stuff," Zhang says. "Whenever we try to rehearse old songs we come up with something new and just forget about the old stuff.
"I just hope everything goes well and we keep making music," he adds. "I don't want to wait for another five years to make an album."
Contact the writer at features@chinadaily.com.cn.
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Carsick Cars' new album comes after setbacks, including member changes and accidents over the past five years. Provided to China Daily |
