Music

Above ground now, and thriving

By Udo Hoffmann (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-01 08:25

EXPERT'S TAKE UDO HOFFMANN

When I started organizing rock concerts in Beijing in the late 1980s, the main protagonists of the city's rock scene, including their equipment, could be easily packed onto one bus.

There was a permanent cat-and-mouse game to find opportunities to perform long into the 1990s. This was a challenging time for the so-called underground concerts to be promoted by mouth. They were always on the verge of being canceled at the last moment.

Playing their own take of this unfamiliar music on a live stage was the only way for many of the early musical heroes to digest the impact of pop, jazz and rock history.

Strangely enough, one of the best sources of musical seeds were cassettes sent from the US that should have been shredded and destroyed in China, but suddenly found a new life and were food for musical thought.

Over the years there were many interesting developments from the newly-born noisy baby, from slightly politically motivated to purely commercial. There was pure protest but also the urgent search for a new Chinese modern musical language. There were tendencies for a stronger Western impact but also for a purer "Made in China".

All over the country, music festivals, live houses and a growing number of schools started to include modern popular music on their agenda. Band competitions and better media attention provided the creative humus of talent development as well as event organization, management and promotion.

I'm glad I contributed to the development of the Chinese music scene through organizing many events including the Beijing International Jazz Festival, Heineken Beat Festival in Ritan Park, and Ear to the Ground concerts.

Considering the economic development in China, growing discussions of culture and arts and especially the emancipation of culture as an important economic factor, I am more than confident that the music scene in China will develop, hand in hand with the rediscovery of China's rich multicultural heritage, creating new international popular music trends in the future and influencing young people all over the world.

Is there any stronger power in the world than music?

Udo Hoffmann is a German who has lived in China for more than two decades. In 1993, he curated the Music Rock Program of the China Avant-Garde Exhibition in Berlin.

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page52)