Girls Starting A Quiet Riot In China’s Indie Music Scene

‘Next Year’s Love’ are a new three piece female indie rock group, the latest band that demonstrates the extremely active part that females are playing in Shanghai’s small, but vibrant and growing music scene. Sophia, who sings and plays keyboard in the band, regularly books shows for Yu Ying Tang and guitarist, Xiao F, plays in the popular indie-spazz two-piece group, Pairs.

The three girls add to a lineage of female musicians who have paved the way for China’s upstart musical scene. The first and perhaps most notable all-girl rock group was Beijing’s ‘Hang On The Box.’ Their brand of frazzled and later experiment punk, post-punk and riot grrl caught the attention of global publications like Newsweek in 1998 who featured the band on their cover.

Hang On The Box seemed to pave the way for a whole slew of female-fronted bands and singers who have come to the fore in China. ‘The Subs,’ ‘Queen Sea Big Shark’ and ‘Pet Conspiracy’ are the most conspicuous acts, whose front women, such as Helen Feng, have become celebrities in their own right.

The second generation of female fronted bands have been led by acts like ‘Hedgehog’ and ‘Bigger Bang in Beijing,’ as well as ‘Pinkberry’ and ‘Boys Climbing Ropes in Shanghai.’ Not to mention acts that feature prominent female musicians such as Shanghai acts ‘Duck Fight Goose,’ ‘X is Y’ and the aforementioned ‘Pairs.’

While the concept of females involved in a music scene may not be something new, in China’s fledgling scenes it’s more about the impact felt by sheer amount of girls that are active within bands, attending shows and booking bands. When compared to overseas it seems their prevalence seems far more widespread and profound.

Frogbaby, a local student and music promoter, says that even in their respective cities, she feels that more ‘beautiful girls’ can be seen at shows in Shanghai, compared to Beijing. Also, lead singer of Shanghai grunge rock act Ma Jie says she enjoys a feeling of belonging to the local music scene as she ‘loves and respects independent music’ and it gives her a sense of being ‘real.’

Not everyone agrees that the participation of girls in Shanghai’s music scene is anything different than the so-called ‘groupie’ phenomenon that happens around the world. Rina, a Shanghainese kindergarten teacher who also sings and plays keyboard in local surf group ‘The Beat Bandits’ says,

[Chinese kids] just want to say that they know someone in a band, they don’t care if the music is that good or not.

She admits to similar behavior when she was younger which eventually led to her meeting her local guitarist husband, Fan Qiang.

From either perspective, it’s impossible to deny the role of women in Shanghai’s nascent music scene and it’s precisely the fact that alternative and rock music is in its early stages in China that elements of machismo that may invade US or European scenes don’t yet exist here.

Brands too have been keen to exploit the marketability of these girl groups and iconic female leads. Queen Sea Big Shark were sent to the last SXSW festival in Austin Texas by their long term sponsors Converse. The brand not only endorses their danceable brand of rock ‘n’ roll but also Fu Han’s unique sense of style.

On a larger scale, this observation can perhaps be categorized under the wider trend of female empowerment amongst young Chinese women. With the fast paced changes in society across all segments of China, stereotypes are being forcibly redefined and the young Chinese women playing in bands are doing their part to aid these changes.

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