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crazy chinaWhere to start if you want to tour China

By Nina Onland

The deals you get offered by

promoters may vary from venue to venue. However, BT’s experience in China

is that you’ll usually receive about 70 percent

of the ticket sales; the other 30% go to the

venue.

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Communism kept western influences out for a very long time. From the 1980s some Chinese pop and rock artists arose, but they remained very

controversial. They often used politically and socially critical lyrics and their shows were regularly cancelled or even banned by the

government. This attitude only recently started to change in part thanks to

the 2008 Olympics, for which the Chinese government

had to adapt somewhat to Western ways, in order

to run the Games smoothly.Since rock ‘n’ roll and other western music styles were censured for a long time, the Chinese youth are extremely eager to

see any foreign band play. For a long time

only huge acts like the Rolling Stones and

Robbie Williams were able to go to China. They

usually played one show only either in Beijing or Shanghai. The Chinese audience is just getting to know other popular music genres, and every-thing that comes with it is new. They hardly ever get the chance to see a foreign rock band and when they do, their enthusiasm is overwhel-ming. With a less strict attitude towards popular music, it’s becoming easier to tour China nowadays. The market is much bigger than any other country, so there are plenty of opportunities for smaller bands to tour extensively. Just keep in mind that not everything will run smoothly. If you don’t believe us, just watch NOFX’ reality show Backstage Passport and you’ll see how the cultural differences can create problems and misunderstandings. A musical infrastructure is only just starting to develop, especially in the live industry. Europe and the USA are roughly half a century ahead when it comes to knowledge of venues and organizing smaller shows and the Chinese promoters’ lack of experience in some areas can cause some confusion. They just don’t know how everything works, or rather; how it is supposed to work according to our standards. A good example is the InMusic festival in Beijing. In the summer of 2009 InMusic Magazine organized a brand new multi-day, multi-stage music festival. Although reviews were eventually positive about the music, the organization of the event ran less than smoothly to say but the least. On the website China Music Radar the festival is described in a way that brings back memories of the chaos of the festivals of the sixties, like Woodstock and Altamont. Time schedules that kept on changing, delays, technical difficulties, roofless stages while it was pouring with rain, artists that didn’t show up, bad food and even worse restroom facilities. The kind of problems that seem to come from a lack of experience.

opportunitiesIt’s close to impossible to stand out in the overcrowded music industry of the western world. The market seems satiated and you have to make incredibly good music to get even the slightest bit of attention. Not in China! It’s not that they particularly like bad music played by mediocre bands, the cream of the crop just hasn’t taken the time yet to play in every nook and cranny of China, so the audience is far from blasé and thankful for every bit of rock ‘n’ roll they can get. In other words: even when you haven’t hit it big yet in your home country, >>

Because of its communist regime China is often seen as a closed community, a bit hostile to other (western) cultures and very traditional. Not the best place to take your rock ‘n’ roll, you would think. However, with a population of over 1.3 billion, it of-fers quite an audience, so you might want to consider giving it a try…According to Bjørn Tore “BT” Taranger, who toured China several times, it’s not as impossible as it seems: “Touring the United States is more difficult. But there are certainly some aspects you need to take into consideration before setting up your own Chinese tour.” Some pros & cons and dos & don’ts for touring the Orient.

The biggest and oldest rock and pop music festival of China is the

MIDI Festival that takes place once a yearin the beginning of May. The festival started in 1997 and is held in the Haidian Park in Beijing

(except for 2009, when it was moved to Zhenjiang due to problems with permits). In 2003, 2004 and 2008 the festival got cancelled, also due to issues with the government. They were eventually moved

to October. The festival is hosted by the Beijing Midi School of Music. Every year between 40,000

and 80,000 people visit the festival. K-Jell will be playing the festival in

2010.

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you could still be successful there. You just gotta be fast. The Chinese music industry is growing very, very rapidly. In 2005 Shanghai had one venue, with a capacity of 80. Today, Shanghai has two venues with a capacity of a 100, four in the 200-400 range, a 600 and an 800 venue. For the upcoming Expo Shanghai they’re going to open two more venues with capacities of 4,000 and 18,000 this year. And that is just in Shanghai …When BT visited China he was struck by the willingness of music (semi)professionals to help each other out: “There are some people from Australia, the US and Europe who came on to the Chinese scene and they wanted to share their knowledge and help get the music industry going in China. With their help the Chinese learned more about the business and are now spreading the word themselves.”The venues are springing up like mushrooms after rain, which gives you lots of possibilities to get a gig somewhere. BT: “Get in touch with the right people. The country is huge, but the scene is not that big and usually just one person can help you get booked by lots of venues. Most bands only play Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, but China is gigantic and has many, many other great cities to play. On our upcoming tour we’ll be playing cities like Wuhan, Changsha, Nanjing and Qingdao. You might never have heard of them, but all those cities have a

population between six and twelve million people. The venues we played before were actually quite good and pretty well organized. Some were much bigger, but most venues had a capacity of around 500.”According to BT the best thing about touring China is the crowd: “People are so energized there. Many never experienced a rock show before, so they go mental. Like kids in a candy store. They run around in circles, jump up and down from sheer excitement and go insane. In Europe the audience grew up with this music, so I guess it’s less special to them.”Although getting to China is expensive, once you’re there everything is cheap. You can get great food, nice clothes and lots of drinks for ridiculously small amounts of money. BT: “I haven’t made much money on the tours in China, but I also never lost any! I made enough to pay for my ticket and my stay there. Everything is cheap, but of good quality. And the food is simply fantastic anywhere you go…”

DifficultiesWithout the proper contacts, it’s not that easy to tour China. Not in the last place because of the language and script. They’re both completely different and you won’t be able to talk to someone, read a street sign or menu without a good translator. Hardly anyone speaks >>

BTNorwegian Bjørn Tore “BT” Taranger plays the drums in the band Goldenboy. He also is a regular band member in the bands K-Jell, Desert Son (formerly Ninth), and Steinar Hjelmbrekke. He has already toured China in 2007 and 2009. In the spring of 2010 he will return together with ALL of the aforementioned bands so, he’ll be playing an impressive total of four shows each night. Now, that’s dedication.

Steinar and BT rock out in the background at the Wuhan concert. In front: Kjell.

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English, so preferably you get help from someone who speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese.

With a music industry growing as fast as China’s, it also attracts opportunists. It can be hard to separate chaff from wheat; not every venue or promoter is reliable and trustworthy. You need someone who knows the right people and the right places. China is the fourth biggest and most populous country in the world, so finding the good spots to play without any help, might be like looking for a needle in a haystack. BT’s friend and fellow musician Kjell, of the appropri-ately named band K-Jell, got the idea to tour China when he came into (online) contact with singer Kang Mao of the punk band SUBS. They decided to help each other out and exchanged tours. Later Kjell started a record label in China, again teaming up with Kang Mao: October Party Records.BT: “I had no idea, but Kang Mao turned out to be extremely famous there; she is China’s leading lady in punk rock. She offered to help us out and got us in contact with reputable people and great venues and festivals. This year we’ll be playing the biggest festival of China, the MIDI Festival, pretty much thanks to her help.”

Evidently you’ll need a bit of money beforehand to pay for your plane ticket and to

cover other basic costs. You’ll need to

apply for a visa, which for most countries

within the European Union is fairly cheap and not too

difficult to get. For other countries it can be quite a hassle. For citizens of countries like the United States, it can be very money and time consuming to get into China, even on a simple tourist visa. Of course you want to try and make some money on your tour, but if you want to keep things simple, don’t over-do it. Once you get so famous that the yuans are pouring in, you will need to get a working visa. And that’s not easy.

However much things have changed over the past few years, the Chinese authorities can still be seen as one of the other difficulties you might run into. They are allowing a lot more western influences in, but in many ways they maintain a strict regime. Shows still get cancelled because permits won’t be granted or because “safety can’t be guaranteed by the police”… In other >>

Kang Mao/SUBSKang Mao is the singer of Chinese punk band SUBS, well-known in China for their energetic, explosive live performances. SUBS self-produced and -released two albums: Subs Life EP (2004) that quickly sold out, and, in September 2006, the seven-track Down. The band has been on several extensive China tours and has performed numerous times at the annual MIDI Music Festival. In January 2007, they were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone (China). In 2008 documentary Rock Heart Beijing, by Karen Winther, was released, which follows Kang Mao and SUBS on their tour in Europe and China.

One of the best venues for rock music in China is the

VOX bar in Wuhan. It’s a must-stopfor any band touring China. VOX bar

has a capacity of around 1,500. They have an enthusiastic audience

plus they’ll help you arrange your tour and give you tips about “where

the cool kids hang.”

K-Jell in action inBeijing.

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words, if they don’t like your kind of music, or if you did something to upset the local establish-ment, they simply won’t let you play. And what upsets them is a hell of a lot less than what would upset the authorities in the western world, so you kinda wanna watch your step a little if you want a successful tour…

Don’t worry; there are ways around these difficulties. Some useful dos and don’ts:

Do• Invest some time in finding the right people. BT: “Without the right contacts you’re nowhere

in China. The country is too big and too different from ours to try and figure it out for yourself. Some things just work differently than in Europe or the US and you need someone who knows the Chinese industry inside and out, to avoid getting ripped off. For us Kang Mao’s help was essential on our tour. She got us the information and contacts we needed to plan our tour.” It’s easy; Facebook, Tweet and MySpace your head off to get some Chinese friends who know the music business and if that doesn’t work follow BT’s advice: “You can always contact October Party Records, they would love to help you out!”• Hire a translator/guide who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese if you want to do a proper tour… You really need someone with you ALL the time. This translator/guide is your best buddy on the tour, and can’t be missed. BT: “The Chinese are very polite, and they will never be so rude to admit that they don’t understand you. They just laugh and keep nodding their head. That’s doesn’t mean they agree, just that they have no idea what you’re talking about.”• Plan as many shows as possible while you’re there. Of course you would like a day off to enjoy the country, but you don’t get an opportunity to make new Chinese fans every week so try to get as much out of it as possible. You’ll be exhausted when you get back, but it’s the best way to break even. >>

“To turn your tour into a success, you need to understand a bit of the history of The People’s Republic of China.”

The whole band with a fan. From left to right: Kjell Moberg, Roar Ruus Finssås, a fan, Bjørn Tore “BT” Taranger, Steinar Hjelmbrekke.

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• Release your album in China and get the CDs pressed there, it’s ridiculously cheap. You won’t make any money off of it, since the selling price is also ridiculously cheap, but it’s a good way to promote your music. Plus what you sell at concerts will easily feed you for a couple of days…• Eat the local food. It’s fantastic and for €1,50 you’ll get so much food you won’t be able to walk afterwards.

Don’t• Don’t upset the Chinese police, make friends with them. BT: “Because you are a Westerner you are important to them. They assume you have money and they’ll keep an eye on you everyw-here you go. It may feel creepy that they are following you around, but it’s mainly because they don’t want anything to happen to you. Hotels in China have to let the police know who checks in and out and send them passport copies of their guests. Once, a hotel forgot to do that, so immediately there were five muscular undercover cops in front of our door, deman-ding to know why they hadn’t received a copy. Very intimidating. Eventually, the hotel got a big fine for not sending the police copies of our passports, so you don’t want to get on their bad side!”• Don’t trust overly nice promoters who tell you that they didn’t make any money and are unable to pay you for the sold-out show you just played,

because more than half of the tickets are counterfeit tickets. BT: “We’ve never had any issues with fake tickets or anything like that. If someone tells you that that’s normal in China don’t trust them!”• It may go against everything you stand for, but if you really want to tour China, you can’t show any sympathy for the Tibetan people. The government just won’t grant you a visa if you have a “Free Tibet” link on your website. Once you’re in China and they find some indication of you supporting Tibet, they won’t give out permits to the venues you’re planning to play, they will cancel your shows and kick you out of the country before the tour even starts.

Although China can be a bit intimidating for foreign bands, touring this country can be very rewarding. With a thriving and fast growing music scene there are plenty of opportunities to find. The audiences are super enthusiastic, there are many fantastic venues and if nothing else, it will be a great adventure.

NorwayPlane ticket 6,000 NOKVisa 500 NOK Food/hotel/local transportation 5,250 NOK Total 11,750 NOK

Extra costs per band/artist:Guide 2,150 NOK

United KingdomPlane ticket £ 550Visa £ 65Food/hotel/local transportation £ 588 Total £ 1,203

Extra costs per band/artist:Guide £240

SpainPlane ticket € 950Visa € 58Food/hotel/local transportation € 650 Total € 1,658

Extra costs per band/artist:Guide € 270

GermanyPlane ticket € 850Visa € 70Food/hotel/local transportation € 650 Total € 1,570

Extra costs per band/artist:Guide € 270

New YorkTicket $ 950Visa $ 175Food/hotel/local transportation $ 924Total $ 2,049

Extra costs per band/artist:Guide $ 366

Expenses for a 3-week tourHow much is touring China going to cost you? Most bands manage to break even, but you do need to invest some money in basic expenses like a plane ticket, a visa, a guide/translator, food, hotels and transportation. It all depends on where you live, but here are some estimates of what you’re likely to spend when touring China:

SUBS – Rolling Stone

October PartyRecords Label founded by Kjell E. Moberg (of K-Jell and formerly of Jeff) and Kang Mao (SUBS). Based in Beijing, released albums of European bands in China. October Party Records also sent some of their bands on tour over there, in 2007 and 2009 and will again in spring 2010. The other way around, they also organize tours and gigs for Chinese bands in Scandinavia/Europe.

http://store.rocknrollhighschool.eu