Legendary post-punk rockers to stage
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Since it was formed in 1997, the Beijing-based quartet P.K.14 has been on the frontlines of China’s underground rock community.
They have staged sold-out shows in New York City and Washington, DC, and are now on “A Dangerous Tour,” an ambitious 29-city nationwide tour in China that will bring them to Mao Livehouse on August 31.
“Tours are always tough but it’s always exciting to meet different people and see different places,” says frontman Yang Haisong of the tour that will take the group as far north as Harbin in Heilongjiang Province and as far west as Xining in Qinghai Province.
The lone original member of the group, Yang has won praise for his poignant lyrics about alienated urban youth. It’s a subject that figures prominently in P.K.14’s newly released fifth album, “1984,” after George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian classic “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
“The book is very famous in China,” Yang explains. “When we finished the album, we found it has the same subject as the novel. It’s about people trying to live with a history that has been rewritten or forgotten and about the organized falsehoods under the system. We think the name is perfect for the album. ”
Renowned for its thoughtfulness, P.K.14 is commonly considered the Chinese equivalent of such post-punk legends as Talking Heads and Sonic Youth. The band is comprised of Yang, guitarist Xu Bo, bassist Shi Xudong and drummer Tan Tan. They have said their name stands for Public Kingdom for Teens. The band is rooted musically in the post-punk tradition and Yang is inspired lyrically by early rock troubadours such as Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
Despite the Western influences, Yang performs predominantly in Mandarin and has won praise for lyrics that tap into the feelings of disaffected youth.
“I would say that people are getting more alienated but I hope I am wrong,” he adds.
Since moving from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, to Beijing in 2001, P.K.14 has been one of China’s most successful underground rock bands. Early albums such as 2004’s “Whoever, Whoever & Whoever” and 2005’s “White Paper” are considered classics and have inspired later Beijing bands.
Esteemed indie label Maybe Mars’ boss Michael Pettis argues that “most of the city’s best underground rock bands are either children of Joyside who exemplify freedom, rebellion and rage or children of P.K.14 who showed how rock could express their thoughts, emotions and curiosity as fully as any other art medium.”
The group was nominated for Best Band at the 2006 Chinese Music Media Awards and named by TIME magazine as one of Asia’s Five Best Bands in 2008. Since releasing “City Weather Sailing” in 2008, P.K.14 has toured the United States and headlined a music festival in Vietnam, while playing more than 50 shows across China.
“We also wrote a lot of material for the album,” Yang adds. The 11-track “1984” was produced by the band’s longtime Swedish producer Henrik Oja and was recorded last October in Chicago by famed American producer Steve Albini. Best known for producing Nirvana’s “In Utero,” Albini is known for his raw recording techniques.
“Working with Albini is amazing,” Yang says. “He’s very professional and pretty relaxed. People can recognize the Albini sound on the album early on. That’s what we wanted for these songs.”
The album is available online and the new songs will be performed on the current and longest tour that runs until early October.
“The audiences in cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and Chengdu are always great,” Yang says.
Date: August 31, 8:30pmVenue: Mao Livehouse, 308 Chongqing Rd S. Tickets: 60 yuan (presale), 80 yuan (at door)
(Andrew Chin is a Shanghai-based freelancer.)
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