Little Monster's Ale Amazon and F (formerly of Pairs) have formed a new collective, Chiewu! They kick off a new live series of events with Winter Lollipop on Feb 20, inviting Howie and Yang Yang from iwdbys and the revered Guangzhou label Full Label to join in on the fun. Rounding out the bill is Little Monster, Undress for
Success and Red Socks. Before their Yuyintang show, we chat with Amazon about Chiewu's grand plans.
Why did you decide to start Chiewu! and what's the mission behind the company?
I already have a company call Zilong Art & Culture, which is a production company focued on Sino-Brazilian art co-productions in movies, music and fashion design. Zilong operates projects that involves Brazilian and Chinese governments and private corporations at some level, such as the Brazil Film Fest, which is produced with the help of The Brazilian Ministry of Culture and The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).
ChieWu! was born with the same propose but way more orientated to promoting D.I.Y. artists and less involvement with governments and corporations. Of course, the projects and the budgets are smaller, but also less bureaucracy and more freedom to create.
What's the story behind the name 'Chiewu!'
It was F's idea! In a master piece of Chinese ancient knowledge she said, "as beginners we will have to eat shit to prove ourselves.” As D.I.Y artists we eat shit all the time to make things happen. And as producers we will have to eat shit from our clients. So lets call it: Chiewu! - which is ‘eat shit’ in Shanghainese.
What are some of your plans for the year?
The main project this year is Little Monster’s South America Tour in July/August. Little Monster will be the first Chinese rock band to play there. We are planning a 17 cities tour passing by Brazil (12 citites), Uruguay (Montevideo), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Chile (Santiago) and Bolivia (La Paz and Santa Cruz De La Sierra). Please check out the tour promo video.
The flight tickets from China to Brazil are already booked and at the beginning of March we will start a crowdfunding campaign in Brazil and China to help them out on the inland costs. Beijing's independent record label, Genjing Records will release a split 7` vinyl EP for Little Monster and a Brazilian experimental avant-garden musician call Negro Leo.
This tour is a result of Chie Wu!’s first audio-visual production made last November here in Shanghai. It was an art documentary celebrating the life work of Lanny Gordin, a Brazilian guitar player from the Tropicalia Movement. He was born in the 40's in Shanghai and raised in Brazil. He became one of the most influenctial musicians in the country and come to Shanghai to have interactions with local artists such as Torturing Nurse, 片子，董黒木 and Little Monster. The documentary was shot between Sao Paulo and Shanghai, and Little Monster will be in Brazil to perform a release concert for the movie with Lanny Gordin and Negro Leo, who is also in the movie, in one of the most important venues of the country, Sesc Pompeia. Big deal!
We are also planning the first China tour of Diabo na Cruz (The devil in the cross) a Portuguese indie rock band. Apart from that, it’s all just ideas, nothing official.
Things kick off with the Winter Lollipop show. Could you describe some of the bands who will be involved?
The most interesting and exciting band is iwdbys. This time they are Howie and Yang Yang from Guangzhou. Usually they have a lineup from one to four people, all depending on mood or weather or perhaps by lucky straws. They aim to write songs that you can listen to and cry alone with. I am tired of the social value of people being cool and showing off their photoshopped fancy life - what's wrong with just being quiet and listening to some music that make you feel comfortable? I can't wait to see their set.
The other band we are looking forwarding to is Red Socks. They’re a 5 piece group and they have been practicing off and on for a long time, but have never played any shows. All of them are Chinese and they are not a typical band in the music scene. Only the guitarist F has played in bands before. We are very happy to see different patterns of bands in Shanghai, instead of another band members' side project.
As part of the show, Howie and Yang Yang from Full Label and Qiii Snacks will be joining in. Why did you invite them and are non-Shanghai artists a big part of Chiewu's shows?
First, Full Label is our favorite DIY group in the country and Asia itself! They've done and achieved way more creative and exciting events for the music scene than a lot of major labels.
In China, most DIY labels are based in Beijing while commercial organizations are based in Shanghai. But in a country as big as China, its very hard to say that all these labels have deep representation in the whole country. In fact, not much attention is given to the scenes, labels and bands in places such as Yunnan and Guangzhou. It’s almost like another country. Full Label in this context operates as a bridge that connects the Cantonese scene with the rest of the country. They’re also extremely talented artists, promoters and lovely people.
Second, Chiewu is not only bonded with local artists or events, we are more than happy and hope to see and bring more artists or just individuals in from all over the place. We also believe that regional communications between young people/musicians/artists enable us to see and create more possibilities and diversity.
What are your thoughts on Shanghai's music scene at the moment?
We are enthusiasts of the Shanghainese local scene. Some people, especially Westerners, say that Shanghai has a very small scene and there is not much happening here. We don´t agree with that. What we see is that the Western scene, predominantly composed of English teachers and expats, is small and does not connect much with the Chinese local scene in general. The same happens in Beijing for exemple, when foreigners decide to make bands only with foreigners, playing only foreign styles and singing in their own language. This format is almost impossible for a band to have access or to bleed into the local scene.
The truth is that Shanghai has a big number of bands spread outside the Xuhui, Jingan and Huangpu area. But if you don’t search for it, you will hardly know them. We are not saying that Shanghai’s scene is as develop as Beijing scene, for example. We are saying that the Shanghai scene is disconnected into little groups.
Who are some bands you recommend?
Bands that we recommend are Naohai, Undress for Success, Dream Can, Little Monster, Red Socks, Running Blue and Dirty Fingers.
> Feb 20, 9pm-late, RMB60. Yuyintang, see event listing.
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