China’s Indie Music Scene: Transforming Contemporary Chinese Culture From The Bottom Up // 中国独立音乐现状剖析：从底层跃升并改变中国当代文化

“Foreigners in China, asides from bringing more information, had a part in integrating bands into Chinese life, by becoming musicians, good friends of bands, and even agents,” explains Hua Dong (华东) of the band Re-TROS, also known as Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (重塑雕像的权利). “Simultaneously, there is also a portion of people who are committed to taking the performances of Chinese bands abroad, releasing albums, bringing international musicians to play in China, etc., so that more people can hear [them].”

Indeed, Chinese musicians are quick to give credit where credit is due – but expat influence touches both extremes of the spectrum; it is at times helpful and at times harmful.

“In the most positive scenarios, [expat influence] means people who were doing DIY labels or zines or booking DIY shows in other countries can do that in China, and hopefully inspire more people to do the same,” says Feola. “In more negative instances, foreigners try to graft Western music industry models on the local music scene that can be culturally inappropriate or downright exploitative.”

“那些在中国生活的外国人除了带来了更多的资讯之外，还有一部分融入了中国的乐队生活，成为乐手，乐队的好朋友甚至是经纪人。同时，也有一部分人在致力于把中国的优秀的乐队带到国外去演出，发行专辑以及把国外的乐队带到中国来演出交流等等，让更多的人能够听到。这些确实在影响着中国的音乐文化和氛围。”乐队重塑雕像的权利的华东说。

确实，外籍人士的介入给了中国音乐家很大的帮助。与此同时，也带来了一定程度的伤害 – 其影响是两面性的。

“从积极方面来说，外籍人士将独立唱片，音乐杂志以及独立演出策划带来中国，也激励更多人参与进来，”Feola 说。”从消极方面来说，外籍人士希望将西方音乐工业的运作模式照搬进中国。这对本土音乐来说是一种文化层次上的不恰当改造也是一种赤裸裸的剥削。”

Julien Raffaud, who plays in the Shanghai band Stalin Gardens, agrees emphatically. “Some… expat rock acts are just formed so employees from big multinationals can play drunken Jimi Hendrix covers on the weekends, as headlining acts, while local bands, who write their own songs, will only get to open for these assholes, and get paid less. Acts like Cloud Choir are a real blessing to their scene as they fit into what the local experimental acts are doing, so they aren’t stepping all over the local scene. They’re going for something like symbiosis.”

In addition to helping lay the foundation for the modern Chinese music scene, expats are also partially credited with changing cultural habits towards music consumption, in general.

“I used to think that watching a concert was a big deal; a long time would pass between each one – but foreigners are at the bar practically every night. They not only like to watch performances, but like to perform,” explains Lolly Fan (樊晏), a Media Executive at the influential Chinese record label, Maybe Mars (兵马司). “For them, live music is a relaxed, entertaining thing, unlike many Chinese people, who think it is like attending a big ‘ceremony’.”

Live music is now present in Beijing every night of the week. It is certainly not unusual to stumble across shows headlined completely by foreign musicians playing to audiences that only speak English – but this trend is slowly changing. As Chinese musicians are developing a home-grown voice – and outnumbering foreign musicians in the process – the double-edged sword of expat influence is growing duller and duller. The biggest changes have already been made, and what is to follow is a time of integration.

“Now the biggest players in the music scene, the top bands, are all Chinese; the best clubs are run by Chinese; the festivals are almost all 100% local endeavors…” explains Feng of Nova Heart. “The heart of the scene is Chinese now, and it will continue to be so in the future.”

上海乐队斯大林花园的Julien Raffaud 对此表示同意并强调说：”一些… 由多国人士组成的所谓摇滚乐队只是为了在周末演出 Jimi Hendrix 的歌曲。而本地的创作乐队，却只能成为这些乐队的开场并获得很低的报酬。像 Cloud Choir (浮云合唱团) 这样的乐队是不可多得的，他们会配合本地乐队的实验性演出，且不会喧宾夺主。他们与本地乐队是一种共生关系。”

除了帮助塑造现代中国音乐，外籍人士也在一定程度上改变了中国人在音乐消费上的文化习惯。

“我以前觉得看演出是一件大事，好久才会去一次，但是外国人几乎每天晚上都可能出现在酒吧，他们不仅爱看演出也喜欢演出。现场音乐对于他们来说，就是一个放松娱乐的事情，并不像很多中国人觉得是一种参加’典礼’式的感觉,”樊晏，中国有影响力的独立音乐品牌，兵马司的媒体代表说。

如今的北京每天晚上都有现场音乐演出。尽管其中的一部分依然由外国乐队完成，观众也以英语观众为主 – 但这种情况正在慢慢转变。随着中国音乐家在家门内的崛起并逐渐在数量上超过外国音乐家，外籍人士对中国音乐的双面影响正在逐渐削弱。中国音乐市场已经成型，接下来则需要通过时间来将其整合塑造。

“如今中国国内的顶级乐队都是中国人组成的；最顶级的俱乐部是中国人经营的；所有的音乐节也几乎由100%的本土力量推动…” 冯海宁说，”中国的音乐核心现在是中国的，将来也会一样。”

Chinese music has been closely intertwined with the country’s political structures since the dawn of Chinese civilization, and an understanding of China’s history is vital to understanding its music scene. Music was seen as central to the harmony and longevity of ancient Chinese states dating as far back as the Zhou Dynasty, which spanned from 1122 BC to 256 BC, and music regularly worked its way into imperial courts as well as literary works, for hundreds of years to follow.

In modern times, the New Culture Movement of the 1910s and 1920s birthed Chinese musicians who traveled abroad to study Western classical music and returned to perform previously unthinkable compositions. New genres also spawned, such as shidaiqu (時代曲), a fusion of Chinese folk and European classical which is now credited for influencing modern East Asian pop music. It was a period of freedom that included state-sanctioned support of the arts – and throughout the 1930s and 1940s, pop stars like the female vocalists known as the Seven Great Singing Stars (七大歌星) dominated the music industry and played a vital role in cultivating the music and cinema of the time.

But after the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art (延安文艺座谈会) in May 1942, Chinese reception towards music permanently changed. Involving speeches given by Mao Zedong, the Forum’s two main points were that art should reflect the life of the working class and be made for the working class, and that art should serve the advancement of socialism. These philosophies led to the repression of anti-revolutionary songs, and folk music was adapted into revolutionary music, so that illiterate rural populations could learn about the Communist party’s goals. Chinese artists who were not working with the blessing of the Communist party were held in low esteem or suffered persecution, and free innovation in the Chinese music industry languished greatly until the major political changes and reforms of the 1980s.

“Due to historical reasons, the ’50 to ‘70s were the eras of “model operas”; the art of real music was surpressed…” explains Fan of Maybe Mars. “After the reform and opening of the country, the backwards state of China’s domestic music scene was finally able to sprout… [but] we started late, so we are still in the imitation and learning stages.”

“The Chinese music scene is unique because alternative music has only really been a cultural phenomenon since the late ’80s and is still very far away from mainstream acceptance or even recognition,” says Feola. “So it’s underground by default, but that’s changing…”

中国音乐自中国文明发展以来都与这个国家的政治结构密不可分。了解中国历史对于了解中国音乐具有重大作用。从周朝（公元前1122 – 前256年）起，音乐就被视为宇宙和谐以及生命长寿的关键所在。音乐在各超各代的王室以及文献中都有重要作用。

在近代，随着新文化运动的开展，一群生于1910至1920年间的中国音乐家得以周游世界，学习外国音乐并在回国后表演了在那个时代难以想象的作品。新音乐流派也在此期间诞生，如时代曲，就将中国民谣及西方经典音乐相融合。时代曲对现代东亚流行音乐产生了深远影响。新文化运动期间，中国政府对艺术发展表现了很大的支持并给予了足够的自由 – 这一状态一直持续到1930 – 1940年代。女性流行乐演唱者如七大歌星等一时主导了中国音乐市场并在音乐及剧场发展中成为了主要角色。

然而在1942年5月的延安文艺座谈会后，中国对于艺术的理解永久性地转变了。毛泽东在座谈会上明确指出艺术应该反映工人阶级的生活并为工人阶级以及社会主义的前进而服务。这些思想导致了对所谓反革命歌曲的镇压，而民谣则成为了革命歌曲的工具。这么做的目的是为了让缺少教育的农村人口也能学习共产党的核心价值。那些不愿与共产党合作的艺术家遭到了名声损害或阶级迫害，中国音乐的自由创作之风由此收到重创并在1980年代的政治改革后才有所缓解。

“由于历史原因，50-70年代都是”样板戏”年代，真正的音乐艺术受到压制。.. 改革开放之后，国内落后的现代音乐才开始发芽… 我们起步晚，所以还在模仿学习阶段…” 兵马司的樊晏说。

“中国目前的音乐市场状况是很独特的。由于从80年代末开始，中国的音乐风气才开始转变，因此它暂时只能称作一种文化现象而无法为音乐主流市场接受甚至认可，”Feola说，”因此目前来说中国音乐还处在地下形态，但这一切正在改变…”