2009 Strawberry Music Festival, love songs only Photo: Gao Peng
At the desk is Rustling Growth. When you first get the book, first flip through the favorite video memo. Such a record, more points and more points, is good. Without further ado, give it to every music lover.
Leave a comment on one of your favorite folk singers, we select two of them and give "Rustle Growth".
Still Water Deep Currents: A Black-and-White Video of Contemporary Chinese Folk Songs (Excerpt)
Guo Xiaohan Wen; Gao Peng Photography
Gao Peng was my photographer partner in the media industry, and before becoming colleagues, we were netizens of the same rock forum "Highland Music Network". During the five years we worked at the newspaper, in addition to going out to interview together, we also watched countless performances together, and traveled to Livehouses and music festivals in Beijing. Even after not being colleagues, we have been working together one after another, and I have used words and photos to record and witness the development of independent music. This group of black-and-white photographs is from 2006 to around 2018, and Gao Peng took some images related to Chinese folk songs. Gao Peng himself is a restrained and slow person, his black and white photos have a sense of still life, as if time is frozen, the scene in the picture breathes in silence and tells the past, many years later, I also try to use the technique of white drawing to recall those moments that accompanied folk music.
"Still Water Deep Stream" was the name of a folk-themed show I hosted, when it was commemorating the tenth anniversary of River Bar. The folk song itself is an endless river, even if it converges and separates, but it all carries its own undercurrents and whirlpools, flowing in this land, along this river, people go to different places to dive into life, or sing loudly.
In the summer of 2004, after the closure of the River Bar, Zhang Weiwei was in Huoying, Beijing
After the end of The River Bar in 2002, Zhang Weiwei and many musicians left the city's literary and art center. If the days of South Sanlitun are like a golden age separated by a layer of heat, the days of Huoying outside the fifth ring road in the northwest are like a calm silver age. Here, the musicians exchange skills with each other, rehearse and grind, and give birth to new possibilities. Zhang Weiwei joined the band IZ, studied Dongbula with Mamur, and served as a "multi-functional musician" in several bands. Gao Peng once visited some musicians in Huoying, and Zhang Weiwei was one of them. At that time, I had just been in Beijing for a year and had not yet been to Huoying.
In 2008, Zhang Weiwei was in Dongzhimen, Beijing
In 2008, the Drum Tower's Jiangjin Wine, Zhang Weiwei and Guo Long often performed here with friends, and also reported on the results of regular rehearsals, at that time, the Jiangjin Wine could only hold more than 100 people, each time it was very lively, they released a live album "You Wait for Me to Come Back" under MicroMu, as a pair of "official debut". Since 2007, Zhang Weiwei and Meng Jinghui have collaborated on theatrical works, and many of the songs in the album "Silver Hotel" are from "The Love of Three Oranges", which was Meng Jinghui's first musical. Traveling back and forth between Jiang Jinjiu in the Drum Tower and the Hive Theater in Dongzhimen, Zhang Weiwei chose to return to life in the Second Ring Road, saying that he had lived in almost every one of the East Forty Articles, and might write ten stories of the East Forty Articles in the future. It was still a clean room, and he practiced facing the balcony, empty, lonely and quiet. What attracted me most about this photo was the acoustic vinyl of "Goodbye Lenin." Seeing this picture, I always think of the lyrics of "Vase": "There are always some horses that want to go back to ancient times; like some people, nostalgic for silent films; like some flowers, eager to dry and wither, so that they can be inserted into the vase." ”
In the summer of 2006, Zhang Qian was potentially in Beijing's 798 Art District
As an early alternative female musician and artist, Zhang Qianqian's behavior and thoughts are unique, sometimes people are confused, unable to understand what she wants to express, and I am nervous when I see her. But Gao Peng and Qian Qian have always been very good friends, and perhaps both of them have learned to draw, so at some levels they can rely on "diagrams" to connect. The photo was taken in 2006 when they went to see the exhibition together at 798, which was still a pure art district, with many open galleries and artist studios, which have completed or unfinished works of art that can be seen. This is a group of statues that have not yet been completed, and Zhang Qianqian's half-crouched posture is more like a statue, like her song "The Bard". A shaky balance was maintained between the sharp collarbone and the hard leather boots, and one covered eye spoke of desire.
In 2007, Cao Fang in the park
Cao Fang left master Xiao Ke's titanium friend culture and set up his own large class studio. Together with her friends, she personally released the physical record of "Far Than the Sky", sandwiched with lyric books, Lomo photos and literary poems. I met Cao Fang on Douban at the time, and said that she agreed to want to interview her, and we sat in the small park downstairs from her house for a while, chatting softly and lightly. Cao Fang dressed casually and did not wear makeup that day, as if he was a neighbor who went out for a walk, kind and a little distance, we talked about the musicians we liked and the experience of raising flowers and grass, as if we were checking the code of the human world. After the interview, on the grass of the small park, Gao Peng took this photo casually, and Cao Fang stood there, reaching out to look, through her clear eyes, you can see far away.
In 2008, fragments of sound in the wilderness
Sound fragments came out of the new album "Sprinkle light into a more open place", and Gao Peng went to help take promotional photos. There was no budget, no planning, everyone just drove to a vacant lot, let Gao Peng find inspiration to shoot casually. The band's brothers are ordinary, simple, shy, and even stiff, and it is unnatural to face the camera lens. Gao Peng shot several groups and felt bad, and everyone returned home sadly. Later, Gao Peng added a background light to this photo of jumping up and about to land on the computer, and the effect was immediately different, this beam of light pierced everyone, and everyone was nailed in place: time stood still, and the moment was eternal.
In 2009, Xiaohe was at the D22 bar in Beijing
In 2009, Xiaohe suspended the affairs of the band Good Pharmacy and began to compose and publish music works independently in his personal capacity, he signed a contract with the Terracotta Division label, and published a solo album "Identity Performance", which was the debut performance at the D22 bar in Wudaokou. The D22 stage is actually very small, but Xiaohe insists on making a super large human face installation art on the stage, the stage lighting changes on this person's face, and the xiaohe on the stage is also changing his face, which is the combination of experimental music, improvisation and stage play at the beginning. At that time, the small river was the most difficult to define, the other way was him, the sword was him, the ghost crying wolf howl was also him, and the name "He Guo Crazy" spread from then on, and it was also the beginning of countless possibilities in the future.
The summer D22 bar is already a bit cramped and stuffy, that is also when the independent music of China's new sound generation begins to heat up, we watched a lot of seemingly rough and restless performances in the narrow D22, which is also the beginning of countless possibilities of Chinese independent music.
In 2009, Shao Yibei stayed at home
On the Internet, the little Mao'er (Shao Yibei), who has sharp teeth and tongues, is actually quite shy in life, and the milky voice is even a little weak, and it is not very easy to take the trick, usually a problem has to be tilted for a long time, like a little girl. When she talks about herself, she will dodge, talk about some social phenomena and literary works, and her eyes will have light, and she will suddenly sharpen her teeth.
In 2013
Gojo is in the back mountain
"We didn't have heating in winter"
Click to view a larger image
In 2013, Gojo and the circus on the top floor performed at the Houshan Arts Festival, I was the planner and execution of this performance, when the theme was set, everyone thought about it for half a day, they had never come to Beijing in winter, so they simply took a name called "Our Winter Has No Heating", which seems to be a joke, but it is actually quite meaningful. The circus on the top floor is from Shanghai, reflecting the fun of the lowest-level small citizens; The Five People from Haifeng, Guangdong Province, stretch out the original rural China in the vivid and vigorous music. They are not traditional this kind of Beijing rock band, but also through their music, we go to understand the wider city of the world.
At the end of the performance, Gojo and all the members of the circus on the top floor appeared en masse to perform Gojo's "Some Scenery". After the performance, it snowed outside, everyone rushed out excitedly and yelled, and then I thought that I was also very lucky, these friends who never came from a place without heating, saw the first snow in their lives, and they watched it with me.
In 2013, Beijing Fangshan Changyang Music Festival
Zhang Weiwei and Guo Long rehearsing in the background
The artists' rest area of the Changyang Music Festival is very simple, it is surrounded by that kind of nylon tarp, and the two people are still carefully checking the details before going on stage, meticulously. I came to the festival with several friends, set up tents, set up picnics, and brought my girlfriend, who was under 3 years old at the time. After the performance, many musicians and friends came together to take a group photo, and the girl was scared to cry. In those years of performing and playing together, although the conditions were difficult, everyone was serious and dedicated, full of happiness.
In 2013, Tongue made their comeback in Sparrow Vasher
This show Tongue Band specially made a large flag with a logo to hang in the center of the stage, which is particularly imposing. The bald head in this picture who feels desperate is the drummer Li Dan. I just remember the performance that day was very hot, I don't know if it was the air conditioner in Mawa that was broken again, and the fans in Beijing crowded the space, sweat and tears mixed together, feeling like boiling water poured into a red-hot iron plate. I saw the tongue comeback performance in the snowy night of Urumqi half a year ago, and I was not so excited on the spot after the early revelry. Because of the relationship between time and region, people's feelings will also change with ups and downs
In 2015, Tongue Band at the Century Theatre, "Sounds of the Earth"
At the Century Theatre, the Tongue Band performs the unplugged theatrical version of "Voice of the Earth" with Moxizi's poems. At that time, Modern Sky expanded into a new market for offline performances and planned several interesting theatrical performances. In addition to "The Voice of the Earth", there is also Zhang Weiwei and The Five-Way Version of "The Great Times Song Hall". This attempt breaks the boundaries of musical styles and finds some inevitable connection in abstraction. The unplugged "tongue" is still low and powerful, and the texture of Wu Tun's simple and warm folk songs can be played and highlighted in the theater.
Wild Child 20th Anniversary Performance Picture Above: Zhang You
Middle: Xiao he, Zhou Yunpeng and Wan Xiaoli form the "cross-sectional" band
Bottom left: Zhou Yunpeng Bottom right: Wan Xiaoli
The 2015 performance in honor of the 20th anniversary of the founding of Wild Kids, at the Workers' Gymnasium, is hosted by Tree Music. Lao Zhou, Xiao He, Wan Xiaoli, and Hu Defu were all guests. It was the best performance of a contemporary Chinese folk song, with good lighting, choreography, sound... The main visual background on the stage is a tree, there is a layer of golden fallen leaves on the stage, musicians are singing in groups under the tree, on the fallen leaves, there are bands, there are singles, and there is a "cross-section" (ridicule vertical line) band composed of Xiaohe, Zhou Yunpeng, and Wan Xiaoli at that time, and the oratorio "Ballad of the Yellow River" is a very stunning version because of the staggered height of the voice.
In 2015, Hood participated in the Wild Kids 20th Anniversary performance
Taiwan's teacher Hu Defu also came to be a guest, wearing the most formal shirt that day, sitting in front of the Steinway piano, solemn and serious, remembering the friendship of meeting and drinking together in the Taitung tribe, and could not help but have some feelings. Before the end of the performance, Zhang Yu said emotionally on the stage: "The years are like water, the years are like fire, I am on the earth, only singing for a lifetime." "Countless people in the audience were moved to cry like me.
At the end of the performance, Wei Wei thanked me at the end of the curtain and saw my name in the staff subtitle group. My feelings at that moment were mixed, indeed, how many times more advanced this performance was than what we did in The Sparrow Washe, and how nice it would be if all musicians could get the respect they deserve by polishing their work.
In the winter of 2016, Mo Xizi's poems were at the Houshan Art Space in Beijing
Mossy always had a sense of "country cousin" intimacy, because he was casual, unrestrained, and with local agility and interest. Moses and all things have the same home - that is, nature, just like the various birds on the mountain, all kinds of animals, all kinds of plants, sounds and lights, will give people a sense of belonging, quiet sublimation of the soul, inspired. There was a time when I could always catch a weird Moshi backstage, sometimes kicking shuttlecocks, sometimes fiddling with small objects. "Everything blows loudly, and everything with strings can be held and played." For a while, Mossy adhered to this concept and studied many new instruments, just as he could easily chop down dead trees in the mountains to make firewood, dig a hole in the ground to bake potatoes, life and music are easy for him to deal with, hand to hand.
The above is selected from Guo Xiaohan
"Rustling Growth: A Record of Contemporary Chinese Folk Songs"
Leave a comment on one of your favorite folk singers
We select two of them and give them "Rustle Growth"
👇 There is always someone rustling