Keeping Up with Music in Beijing

By Sophia Pederson, May 18, 2016

Going Underground is a monthly feature in which Sophia Pederson investigates China's underground music scene.

This month, I step back from the topic of actual Chinese underground music to talk about how and where to find it. When I first got to China, The Beijing Gig Guide was one of the best sites to go to – the design was definitely bare-bones minimum, but it had an amazing library of Chinese bands and the gigs they were scheduled to play. This site and others like it have helped foreigners and Chinese alike navigate and plan countless shows and festivals. They have also introduced new bands to new audiences. Although Beijing Gig Guide is now extinct (as an aside, That’s Beijing has a great weekly guide called Beijing Gig Guide, though they are completely unrelated), one site that is great for checking out what is going on and reviewing what happened, is LiveBeijingMusic.

Three questions for LiveBeijingMusic:

Founder, cameraman, music enthusiast, and the man behind it all, Will Griffith, explains a few things about his site.

How did LBM come about? Why another gig guide?

LiveBeijingMusic came about from a persistent friend who convinced me that I needed to share the videos I had been taking of bands in Beijing. We bought a site and learned the bare necessities of website maintenance. Then, just before we launched, my buddy got shipped down south for his job and left me with the site. So, I began posting anyway – that was fall of 2011. There were a few other blogs I frequented that gave me comfort in what I was doing – mainly Beijing Daze and Beijing Gig Guide. Badr [from Beijing Daze] was a treat to read, and Beijing Gig Guide was a great source for planning your month and picking and choosing what gigs to attend. Not sure if anyone has had a better calendar since then.

So, from initially just posting video recordings, you’ve expanded to a gig calendar of your own, as well as mix tapes, WeChat posts, and LBM events. How do you afford it all?

I barely manage. The whole thing is essentially running on obsessive-compulsion and stubbornness. From a financial standpoint, there is no gain. And I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. It’s a flat fee every year that I’m burning out of my own pocket. But it’s one I can live with. I’m lucky enough to be working as a freelancer, so I can create a schedule that allows me to set aside time for the site. It can be a bit hectic and overwhelming at times, but I’ve created a routine out of it. And really, without the support of friends and people in the music scene, it wouldn’t be possible. They’re the lifeline of LBM.

What’s next for LBM?

In May, I’ll be teaming up with Seippelabel for a show at the Old What? Bar on May 3, while on June 3, I’m helping put together a show for The Twenties at School Bar. On June 5, I’m also putting on a show for T6 at Fruityspace to promote the latest release from Nasty Wizard Recordings (a label I’m a part of alongside Dann Gaymer and Michale Cupoli). On June 21, I’m working with the French Embassy to put together their massive awesome lineup for this year’s Fete de La Musique. So, yeah. I’m keeping busy.