For nine years, Maybe Mars has been cultivating its vision of thoughtful Chinese indie rock by championing heady acts like P.K. 14, Snapline and Hiperson. Their latest signing Future Orients continues that tradition on their excellent debut album.
Recorded in January at Psychic Kong, the studio of P.K. 14 frontman and Maybe Mars CEO Yang Haisong, Eat or Die impresses with nine songs of icy indie rock in the vein of the group’s influences Foals, Radiohead, Tortoise and Krautrock acts like Neu!
“It was so cold,” guitarist Guo Zhen recalls. “We had to wear thick coats and that wasn’t so comfortable.”
Despite the freezing temperatures, Guo lavishes praise on Yang, who he calls “an excellent partner and amiable producer who was not only an audio engineer but also a mentor.”
“The four of us were all nervous at the beginning because it was the first time we were in a studio to record formally,” he adds. “Yang helped us a lot with adding more details to the songs while keeping the structures the same. We learned many things from him.”
It’s been an impressive rise for the quartet that formed just three years ago in university when guitarists Guo and Ayong jammed with good friend and bassist PC in their dorm. Buoyed by their chemistry, they decided to form a band and recruited another friend, drummer Zhang Yongguo.
Guo thanks Beijing mainstays Birdstriking and Chui Wan for being instrumental in their early development. It was an opening slot at last summer’s Chui Wan album release show at Yugong Yishan that kick-started the group’s relationship with Maybe Mars.
“After the show, Yang asked us whether we wanted to record some songs,” Guo recalls. “That was the first time we had any contact. Then everything just happened.”
The new album will be accompanied by their first national tour, a 27-city odyssey that stops off in Shanghai (Nov 12 @ Yuyintang) and caps off in their Beijing hometown (Nov 19 @ School). Guo can barely contain his excitement.
“We’ve only played in Wuhan and Xi’an outside of Beijing,” he says. “It’s interesting to play [somewhere new]. We’re really excited to play in Shanghai, Macau and all the other cities.”
When it comes to his hometown, Guo admits to having mixed feeling. He shouts out Lonely Leary as a band where “you can feel strong feelings from their live show,” but admits Beijing has seen better days musically.
“We still think Beijing has the best music scene in China, but to be honest, it’s not the best time, at least for now,” he explains. “There are not many young bands showing up recently. We can see the potential but we may still need to wait for a while.”
Regardless, the band is keen on broadening their horizons. They changed their name after discovering a British band called The Eat, which complicated their plans to release their debut in EP.
He admits the band toyed with silly names like Trap and Everlasting Tide before landing on Future Orients. “The words ‘future’ and ‘orient’ just popped up in our minds,” he says. “Those are also things we want to explore in our music.”
Despite just releasing their debut, Guo is already thinking about the next step for the band.
“We will have a short break and then prepare for the second album,” he says. “We all have relatively free jobs. Our employers know that we play in a band and they are happy with that, because we work really hard those other days.”
Shanghai: Nov 12, 9-11.30pm, RMB60-80. Yuyintang.
Beijing: Nov 19, 9-11.30pm, RMB60-80. School.
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