What do you know about China in general?

we know china is massive, we know that almost everything we own was made there, and we know that nobody who lives there has ever seen us play. beyond that, not too much! someone was trying to tell me there was a wall that stretches across the whole country…? sounds impressive…

What do you know about the music scene there?

we’ve heard that in the last 10-15 years things have relaxed a little censorship-wise, and there’s a whole bunch of new, weird indie bands that have started up. we had the pleasure of playing with PK-14 in australia last year, so we know there’s at least one good band over there….looking forward to checking out some more.

How are you managing the pressure of being Australian cultural ambassadors in China?

hah! i suppose we do represent australia, but first and foremost we represent ourselves…we’re not a good example of a typical australian band…if anything we’re probably going to make australia seem cooler than it actually is….there’s no pressure, we’ll be sure to bring the pain at every show…as long as everyone knows not to question any aspect of our character, there won’t be any problems!

What Chinese words are you learning to interact with your audiences?

we’re trying to get the basics down: “hello”, “suck this”, “more beer please”… we’re definately going to be struggling, and there will no doubt be much confusion…we’re not very good at speaking english, let alone a whole other foreign language…our music will hopefully do most of the talking…

What are you hoping to see and do in your free time in China?

anything, everything…we don’t know what to expect, really…we’ll check out the wall i guess, just to verify it’s real…personally, i want to eat some crazy shit: dogs, snakes, pandas etc…real curious to see some chinese bands too…we’re leaving most of the itinerary to our tour manager, so hopefully he shares our passion for strip clubs and we all have a cool time…

Chinese people coming to Australia worry about the spiders and snakes here what are you worried about in China?

syphillis. terrifying stuff.

1. What did you learn about China whilst there?

That there’s a ‘rock revolution’ going on. Festivals that didn’t exist 5 years ago are flourishing. People are really excited about rock & punk - making it & listening to it. Audiences are incredibly enthusiastic - far more so than in the ‘western’ world.
There is so much new construction going on that China appears to be in a very strong economic position. There is a great deal of wealth around, although being wealthy doesn’t seem the standard position for most Chinese people.
We also learned that China is more advanced in certain areas than we (Australia) are: use of solar technology, public transport & fast trains. For the number of people living in the cities, they are very clean! There are even people sweeping the roads while traffic zooms around them! I’ve seen parts of New York that are less well maintained….
Lastly I think we were able to observe a culture that has historically had a less individualistic mindset. We noticed a big difference between traffic behaviours. In the US & Australia the horn is typically used to express frustration or anger, but in China the horn is just another form of communication - making other road users aware of your presence. 

2. Were you impressed with any bands/musicians in particular?

Yes - Subs! Great punk band out of Beijng with a fabulous female front-woman who dispells all stereotypes of demure ‘good’ girls. She’s gutsy & outrageous & has a voice to put grown men to shame! We also loved Rustic - very funny, energetic punk band.

3. Were you able to get a sense of the Chinese music ‘scene’ on your tour? 

We got an impression about the music scene based on the few bands that we played with during our month there (apart from the big festivals, most of the time we were the only band playing at the venues). There’s a real sense of boundaries being pushed, new forms of expression, a willingness to be bold.

4. What Chinese words did you manage to learn in the end and how did you use them?

Thank you (xie xie) was our most frequently used word; people were very generous with us - from their patience during transactions made with gestures & smiles, through to helping lift luggage on & off racks in trains etc. But the most fun was our drummer learning to count one to four. He’d get the audience involved in counting in the last song; it was fantastic! By counting the song in, they really felt it when we hit the big start of the song. 

5. What was your favourite part of the trip outside of playing shows?

Seeing traditional architecture and getting a glimpse into people’s lifestyles. For example in the Beijing hutongs noticing that people hang clothes to dry off bicycle handles & external windows & wires; there’s so little space they obviously don’t have backyards with Hills Hoists! And coming to understand that people in the hutongs don’t often have their own toilets - so public toilets are very commonplace (thank goodness - I was worried about that before the trip!).

6. What would you say to other bands thinking of playing in China?

Do it. If you’re not afraid of rigorous travel & lugging your gear around, you’ll have memories of one of life’s best touring experiences.

1. What did you learn about China whilst there?

That they have lots of great things we dont have in Australia, like fast and clean public transport that seems efficient. They have good recycling programs in place too.

2. Were you impressed with any bands/musicians in particular?

Yeah we saw lots of great Chinese bands playing lots of different styles of music really well. Everything from like Brit-Pop inspired stuff to like nearly funk-metal. And all the bands we played with where really great.

3. Were you able to get a sense of the Chinese music ‘scene’ on your tour?

I guess I have an better understanding of the smaller underground scene there but I think there must be many many levels of scene from big mainstream pop acts to other sorts of niche markets.

4. What Chinese words did you manage to learn in the end and how didyou use them?

All I learned was Ni Hao - Hello and Xie Xie - Thank you. Most people I dealt with spoke english

5. What was your favourite part of the trip outside of playing shows?

Eating the amazing food around the country.

6. What would you say to other bands thinking of playing in China?

Its a great experience and a really great tour.

• What do you know about China in general?

That it’s big, beautiful and that there are LOTS of people! That both wonderful and terrible things have happened in China - from great engineering feats and the ability to quickly mobilise the masses, to great losses of life. That historically the Chinese thought westerners were barbarians, for example how we blow our nose into a piece of fabric and then keep the snot in our pockets!

• What do you know about the music scene there?

Until last year about the only thing we knew about Chinese music was the traditional kind or karaoke. At the 2010 SXSW Festival in Austin Texas we were fortunate to stumble across a whole showcase of Chinese punk rock and it was EXCITING! We were particularly impressed by PK14 from Beijing. I bought a t-shirt, accidentally threw out the t-shirt in Brooklyn, and tracked them down to get another t-shirt posted from China. Those bands inspired us to start asking around about the scene in China; we were told that the punk scene in Beijing is amazing and to get involved.

 • How are you managing the pressure of being Australian cultural ambassadors in China?

We’ve been touring internationally since 2007 to countries where people don’t meet many Australians (eg. Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Turkey etc). We LOVE being ambassadors of Australia and are [mostly] proud of our country. For some reason that’s perhaps a little difficult to comprehend when we grew up in Australia, people are fascinated by us. The fact that we’re so far away and that the expense to reach Australia is beyond many people’s means adds to the ‘mystique’ and desire to know more about us and our country. While we’re not always proud of the political decisions Australia makes, we are proud of its beauty, diversity, combination of cultures, sense of courage, friendliness and adventure.

• What Chinese words are you learning to interact with your audiences?

We tour many countries where english isn’t commonly spoken, so we always attempt to pick up some basics in the country we’re visiting such as greetings (hello, good-bye, how are you) and politenesses (please, thank you, cheers, excuse me). Another critical one for Max (the girl in the band) is “Where is the toilet?”.
 
• What are you hoping to see and do in your free time in China?

Max loves social observation and the countryside, so she’s hoping to meet people (especially in rural areas where possible) who can show her their day-to-day work and living routines. Marty is really interested in politics and is looking forward to sharing a few beers and learning how people view global and local issues, what motivates them, what they wish for the world in the future. Kent wants to visit craftsmen and women who make traditional instruments, particularly percussion. In a nutshell, we want to make connections with people; that’s what drives us to travel.
 
 • Chinese people coming to Australia worry about the spiders and snakes here what are you worried about in China?

Public toilets.