Dirty Fingers have shaken up Shanghai’s music scene with their brash and charismatic punk, released an album on respected Beijing label Maybe Mars, and completed two whirlwind DIY China tours. This month, the band are putting on another China tour and crowdfunding campaign to raise money for their first foray overseas, in the hopes of doing a three-leg tour around the entire world
We had a chat with their drummer, a Brazilian expat who goes by Ale Amazonia, about this month's shows, their quest to make personal connections all over the globe, and what they've got in common with the Stooges.
Why do you want to do a DIY tour rather than via sponsorship from any record labels or corporate companies?
Because we know how to do these things by ourselves. And DIY gives us a better chance to build meaningful relationships with the audience, venues, promoters and bands. It also pushes us to always seek out the next step. The interesting thing is, the more we do things by ourselves and deliver results, the more labels and companies want to collaborate with us.
How did you decide on the countries you’re going to visit for the first leg of the world tour? Are you going to Egypt to make your song ‘Trip to Cairo’ a reality?
For the first round of the tour, we wanted to have a feeling of closure and discovery, to do something unexpected and challenging. We are also touring Japan and Korea, which is not that different for us. But the cross-continent part, including Egypt, Brazil and South Africa will be very unprofitable and will give us a lot of room for surprises! Egypt has been very hard to connect with, but we are confident that we are going to see those brutal pyramids and get those mummies to dance.
In a promo video, you describe this tour as a way to connect to people outside of the internet. Why is that important to you?
As a band, Dirty Fingers is a result of this attitude. We want to be open and learn from other cultures and try to create something together. For us, it’s just natural. It’s the way we automatically operate. We like to see, touch and experience things.
“We are going to see those brutal pyramids and get those mummies to dance.”
You guys have already done 2 really extensive tours through China — 200 gigs in 35 cities, in 27 provinces — what’s one of your favorite memories from those tours?
The first time we played in Yiwu, at GEBI in 2016, We were traveling with [Shanghai band] Round Eye and the dearly missed master Steve Mackay [saxophonist in the Stooges]. We were the supporting act, but due to some problems with train tickets, they had to play early and we became the closing act.
The place was packed and the audience had a great time during Round Eye's set. Meanwhile, we were getting smashed drunk. By the time we step on the stage the audience was just there standing staring at us with no sound in the room. The place was still packed but the mood was like a funeral.
We played 3 tracks and still no feedback from the audience, because well, we were not doing a great job... our vocalist kept dropping the mic all the time, the guitar player kept stepping on his on cable and unplugging his guitar, the bass player just kept losing the music structure and I was about to vomit on my drum kit.
So by the time we started the 4th "song," the owner of the venue goes to the mixing table and just shut us off and screamed "Off the stage! You are the worst band I ever saw." The audience started to "UUUUUUU" at us, so we jump off the stage and started trying to argue back, until we literally had to run out of the venue... the audience was pissed.
On our way out in the street we met the Round Eye guys with Steve in the car getting ready to leave. We said we were sorry for that mess and Steve replied: "Nah! This used to happen all the time with The Stooges when we started! Keep running though!"
You've spoken in the past about how playing live shows was the most important thing for you as a band, much more than recording music and releasing albums. Do you still feel this way, and is this tour connected to that idea?
Still the same! Now we are not playing that often anymore to preserve this feeling. There was a time that we were just saying yes to any invitation, but it was dragging our energy out. So now, we just concentrate on tours and special occasions. This is not fast love.
Are you working on any new music that you might be including in the tour?
Yes, we already have three songs that are not recorded, but that we play all the time in gigs: "Coke," "Mafia" and "Alleluia!" With our recording studio, we have more time to process the recordings, add new elements and so on. We also want to record something with local bands in Cambodia, Indonesia and Brazil during the tour.
Opening for The Cribs in Shanghai last month. Photo by LJCP Concert Photo.
What are some of your thoughts about the music scene in Shanghai, especially compared to Beijing, where you used to live?
Beijing is where the industry is based – art patrons, labels, media, bands, artists, hype makers and huge loads of drama. It’s political, it’s competitive and it can be very toxic.
Shanghai is all of this as well, but not in music and art, because the industry is not here. And I think this is very good. People here are more concerned with just having good music and art around. For us as a band, it gives us so much more freedom to just do what we want to do.
Tell us in one sentence why people should help support your world tour.
We are broke and need your help!
Dirty Fingers Crowdfunding China Tour:
Guangzhou: Jun 8, 9pm. SD Livehouse. Tickets.
Shenzhen: Jun 9, 9pm, Public. Tickets.
Xiamen: Jun 10, 8.30pm, Real Live. Tickets.
Chongqing: Jun 22, Nuts Livehouse. Tickets.
Chengdu: Jun 23, NU Space. Tickets.
Beijing: Jun 29, Yugong Yishan, see event listing. Tickets.
Wuhan: Jun 30, VOX. Tickets.
Changsha: Jul 1, VOX. Tickets.
Support the tour here:
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