Four years after their epic Black Rabbit Festival, Splitworks is back in the outdoor festival game taking over the Shanghai Rugby Football Club on September 19-20 with the Echo Park festival. Founder Archie Hamilton describes it as "the natural successor to Black Rabbit in everything but name," promising "lots of extras such as non music activities, great food and drink options and a sense of community."
After super pre-sale tickets sold out quickly, they've announced their first line-up with former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, last year's Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers, Night Slugs impressario Bok Bok, Australian guitar god Jeff Lang and Japanese hardcore legends Envy among the big names. There's an impressive mix of indie acts across Australasia ranging from South Korean ska to New Zealand dance-pop. The domestic acts involved are stellar featuring Modern Sky upstarts The Big Wave, the indescribable art pop of Kunming's South Acid Mi Mi Dance Team and arguably Shanghai's best band, Duck Fight Goose confirmed. Expect a lot more acts to be announced in the next few weeks and pick up tickets at Damai.
// Sep 19-20, 11am, RMB200-260 (per day), RMB300-400 (weekend pass). Shanghai Rugby Football Club, tickets.
Not convinced, dive into these videos by the confirmed acts. Artist descriptions provided by Splitworks.
Gerard Way
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Gerard Way is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the American alternative-rock band My Chemical Romance. Following the breakup of the band in 2013, he went on to surprise many by moving towards Brit Pop, releasing his debut solo album Hesitant Alien in September 2014.
Working with producer Doug McKean, Way knew immediately what he wanted Hesitant Alien to sound like. The record was mixed by Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys), and sonically references bands including Suede and Smashing Pumpkins. Some say Way has produced something infinitely more interesting than whatever the next My Chemical Romance rock opera might have been, but whether you’re a long-standing MCR fan or new to the game, Way’s energy will blow you away.
Young Fathers
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Put simply, you could call Young Fathers a lo-fi R&B trio; however, they don't completely fit in that box with their wide-spanning spread of alternative rap, indie pop, reggaeton, and electronic music. Formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole, and G. Hastings, the group started performing in nightclubs when the band members were in their teens, ultimately recording a debut album, Inconceivable Child... Conceived, for Black Sugar Records. Shortly thereafter, they signed to Anticon for 2012's Tape One and 2013's Tape Two. Their second full-length, Dead, was released in February 2014. The album -- built on their knack for fusing inventive but gritty rhythms and sounds with incisive lyrics -- gained a lot of critical attention. Shortlisted for the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Prize, Young Fathers won the award in October 2014, beating out considerably more famous competition. A U.K. tour turned into a world tour with some dates in the U.S., then the group traveled to Europe, which included a long stop in Berlin to lay down tracks for their sophomore album. After recordings were finished back home in Edinburgh, their album White Men Are Black Men Too dropped in April of 2015 along with the single, "Rain or Shine."
Bok Bok
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Bok Bok aka Alex Sushon is a London-based DJ, producer, remixer and director of the incendiary Night Slugs record label. DJing since 2004, Sushon started to make his name in London’s underground scene around the time Grime music was first emerging. The unique inventiveness and raw energy of that music has remained with Sushon ever since those early days, as he discovered the wider world of club music, seeing many parallels between the homegrown music of London and House music from Chicago to South Africa, Techno, Baltimore/Jersey/Philly Club, 80s funk and a myriad of other musical styles across many eras. For Sushon, all this music came together to form a seamless timeline, all complimenting, echoing and supplementing each other.
This pan-genre, time-irreverent mentality was the foundation of the Night Slugs movement. In 2008 Sushon joined forces with like-minded producer and DJ L-Vis 1990 to form Night Slugs (NS), which began as a club night in South London. Through this events series and their DJ sets around the UK and Europe, the duo cultivated a unique sound, cross-pollinating ideas from their various influences until a distinct community of producers crystalized around them. They launched the careers of artists such as Mosca, Jam City, Girl Unit and Kelela, while providing a context-rich platform for like-minded producers such as Kingdom (Fade to Mind), Egyptrixx and Lil Silva. The distinct sound and community was brought to China for the first time in 2015 via Wooozy.cn as part of the Wooozy Offline series.
Envy
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Since forming in 1992, Envy has become a dominant band in the independent hardcore scene in Japan. The band’s music has evolved to encompass a sound where intensity and beauty coexist. Envy has recorded a number of singles and albums in Japan, including split albums with bands like This Machine Kills, Endeavor, Six Pence and Yaphet Kotto. Envy has toured throughout Japan supporting Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, Isis, and many more. The band members have labored and toured their songs relentlessly for over a decade, and will continue to do so well into the next decade.
Magic Touch
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Damon Palermo has been making adventurous house and disco music under the moniker Magic Touch since August 2011. In a short time the producer/DJ has amassed an impressive following and several well-received releases, kicking off with the critically-lauded 100% Silk release "I Can Feel The Heat," which was a recommended release of the week at Boomkat and made 20JazzFunkGreats Best of 2011 list. Following his debut, Palermo released a split 12" with close collaborator Ital and a collaborative EP with Japanese producer Sapphire Slows. Magic Touch has continued his prolific touring and release schedule. Most recently, he released the Nothing More EP for Tensnake's True Romance label as well as Palermo House Gang, a full-length for 100% Silk which is his most realized, collaborative venture to date. Magic Touch live sets mix the psychedelic ethos of San Francisco with the house movements of Chicago, Detroit and smatters the whole thing with a solid nod to the UK rave underground. He has played live at Sonar, Unsound and CTM, and is also a formidable DJ, appearing at Berlin's legendary Panorama Bar, Lux Frágil and WWW Shibuya.
Chochukmo
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Chochukmo is a Hong Kong-based indie rock band, formed in 2005. They have a signature playful, improvisational style, putting everything from jazz, bossa nova, funk, and electronic to experimental, garage and math-rock sounds into their genre-blender.
In 2008, the band contributed two tracks, “Number One” and “Head to Toe” to a Hong Kong indie compilation called The Underground: Something Alternative #1, and were chosen by Time Out Hong Kong as one of the city’s 20 most promising musicians. In 2009, they released their debut album, The King Lost His Pink. TIME magazine, in its review of the album, called them, “the most charismatic band to have emerged in southern China in recent years.” Chochukmo have played festivals and shows all across Asia, from Manila, Philippines and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to a nine-city China tour in 2010, including Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai. Their second album, A Tragedy Your Majesty, was released in October 2013.
The Big Wave
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The Big Wave turns the clock back to the 1970s and 1980s, taking New Wave, Post Punk, and Disco and mixing them with modern sounds and contemporary concerns. They play a curious mix of dark, minimalist music - appealing both to the discerning concert goe-er and the party animals.
In 2014, they were invited to play by the Midi School of Music in Cologne, Germany, as part of a Chinese Cultural Showcase. They’ve also played at the Park Park Carnival Music Festival in Taipei, Taiwan and were signed by Modern Sky in late 2014. Big Wave was recently named "Rookie of the Year" at the sixth China Rock Midi Awards.
Duck Fight Goose
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Duck Fight Goose is a Shanghai-based supergroup, formed in 2009. Unfailingly playful, they reject all sadness and are known for playing funny games with their instruments. They are their own influences. Their style is a blend of traditional-rock, experimental-rock and electronic music, which results in a swinging and sagging yet psychedelic experience. They are incredibly cutting edge.
On January 30th, 2010, they performed as the support act for BCR’s release party for their new record Except for the Darkness at Yuyintang. On December 27th, they won the title of Band of the Year and Best Album Packaging/ Cover Art at the 2010 Shanghai Grammys.
Their first EP, FLOW, was created using layers upon layers of sound, combining modern ambient post-rock with driving 70′s prog-rock riffs. A year after the release of FLOW, they signed with Maybe Mars Records, and have since released SPORTS, their first full-length album. On this album, Duck Fight Goose used a wide range of instruments to create their own sound-space, evoking dark images of cities, sports, the future, and more.
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