Capital Sounds

Beijing has a thriving indie music scene, and musicians from around the world are coming here to take part in it. Chen Nan reports.

When singer-songwriter Marie-Claude Lebel arrived in Beijing in 2002, she was heartbroken.

She had decided to move to the city to follow a man she fell in love with in Montreal, but two weeks before they were due to depart, he left her.

Lebel, who had already left her job and quit her master's program in linguistics, decided to take off anyway.

She was 24 and couldn't speak a word of Mandarin. But she quickly discovered a small but vibrant indie music scene in Beijing and started to carve out a life for herself in the city.

For Lebel, who is from Quebec, Canada, where the indie music scene is quite mature, Beijing was exciting because such musicians were still considered "outsiders". With her accordion, she soon found herself immersed in the capital's underground music scene. She started hanging out at River Bar in Sanlitun, one of the earliest bars in Beijing promoting indie music.

Lebel started meeting people at jam sessions and in 2004 she founded her band Mademoiselle et son Orchestre, along with six musicians from France, the US, Australia and China. They play a unique repertoire of French songs in China's live-house venues and at outdoor music festivals.

From April 10 to 12, Mademoiselle et son Orchestre will perform at Beijing World Music Week, which will see six bands from Cuba, Malaysia, Mongolia and China perform.

"Beijing is a perfect place to have an indie music scene. I'm glad that a man made me move here. I have met great people in Beijing, who have forged the history of China's indie music industry, we have great musical and cultural conversations," Lebel says.

The first band she joined in Beijing was Tripazia with a vocal artist from Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Lebel was amazed by the artist's ability to improvise. In 2008, she started to play with a folk band from the Ningxia autonomous region, led by songwriter Li Xia, who inspired her with northwestern China's folk music.

"The music scene in Beijing is more than alive. There are great bands playing every night and great venues who care about music and musicians. I think that musicians around the world are now spreading the news that something is happening in China," she says.

Tong Tong, a 27-year-old musician from Germany, also discovered that Beijing is a great place to pursue his musical ambitions.

In 2006, Tong saw the documentary Beijing Bubbles, a portrait of the punk and rock scene in the capital made by German directors George Lindt and Susanne Messmer. Tong says he felt instantly connected to Beijing's music scene.

Hoping the city would give young bands opportunities to establish themselves, Tong arrived in Beijing two years ago and found the city even more energetic than depicted in the documentary.

"There are so many bands and authentic venues. A strong network has been built between the musicians," he says.

In late 2014, as percussionist, keyboard player and bassist, Tong joined Beijing-based indie rock band 16 Mins, which is composed of lead vocalist Jiao Siyu and guitarist Robin Liu from New Zealand.

On April 4, the band will perform at Yugong Yishan, with songs from their upcoming debut album The Erlking, a name borrowed from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem.

"The three of us have a lot in common, although we spent our childhood thousands of kilometers away. The cultural background is different but our different approaches to artistic expression expands our music. That is why the three of us have a lot of good ideas to express," says Jiao, 26, who comes from Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and has studied piano since childhood. She founded 16 Mins together with a guitarist when she was studying at China Communication University three years ago.

16 Mins will be supported by indie rock band The Harridans, who have five musicians from the US, Europe, South America, and Asia. Founded by Daniel Taylor, a singer-songwriter from England, a year ago, the bands music has its roots in '70s rock and folk.

"Not knowing too much about the scene before coming here, it was great to just jump into it and soak it up," Taylor says. He describes Beijing's indie music scene as "sweaty and intense".

"With new live houses springing up and more people coming out to gigs, I can feel a buzz is in the air."

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn