China’s coolest indie rockers come to campus

For a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, China is definitely lacking in independent music labels. Out of only a handful of Chinese indie bands, three of the most successful ones—­Hedgehog, Queen Sea Big Shark, and Casino Demon—are known perhaps as much for their quirky names as for their music. All three will be playing in Roone Arledge Auditorium on Friday, bringing a taste of China’s indie-rock scene to an audience that probably doesn’t know it exists.

Co-hosted by WKCR, the Chinese Student Club (CSC), and Sounds of China (SOC), the concert is the second-to-last stop on the Sing for China Tour. The events are designed, according to the tour’s official press release, “to both raise funds to support children orphaned by AIDS in China and introduce Americans to China’s emerging independent music scene.”

To many Americans, the Chinese indie-rock scene is sort of like an exotic species, about which they know little. “I didn’t know about these bands until Michael [the tour’s organizer] contacted me about the possibility of hosting their concert,” said Annie Zhang, BC ’11, the president of CSC. “Apparently they [the bands] are a really big deal in China; they appeared numerous times on ‘Kuaile Nüsheng’ [Chinese version of “American Idol”].”

Zhang and her team have been working continuously with Modern Sky Records, a major Beijing record label, since June to ensure the success of this concert. Jing Li, CC ’10, a co-organizer associated with WKCR and SOC, said, “I’m actually really glad, and surprised, that we were able to pull this off in such a short period of time.”

The Sing for China Tour organizers have very high hopes for their Columbia stop—one of the few stops they have planned in New York City. “They [the tour organizers] are considering this as the sister event to the Modern Sky Festival, an annual outdoor rock festival in Beijing,” said Nina Yang, BC ’12, an executive committee member of CSC. “So even though we are their second-to-last tour destination, they are still considering this as the inaugural event” and “just trying to make the university one their biggest [performances].”

One might wonder why these prominent Chinese indie-rock bands chose, of all places, to play at Columbia. “Frankly, I was kind of shocked that they chose Columbia because we’re this far uptown and a bunch of geeks,” said Li. In a conversation with Yang and Li, both speculated that the organizers might have been attracted to Columbia’s history of engagement with international scholars and communities.

This Columbia gig will be a crucial part of the success or failure of the Sing for China Tour. Because of the nature of their music, these indie-rock bands are likely to be appealing largely to college students. And since Columbia is the only college the tour will be stopping at, the audience at the show perhaps could either make or break the band’s influence in the United States.

“They [the record companies] are into building relationships, you know, [this is] not just a one time deal… I think if it’s successful here, they will bring more bands in the future,” said Li.