Making a unique sound

Miserable Faith is heading to the UK again for two performances in October

Chinese rock band Miserable Faith recorded their latest album, titled The Youngster, in the United Kingdom in August, and they are returning to play at The Garage in London on Oct 13 and The Carven Club in Liverpool on Oct 15.

"I feel thrilled to bring the new album back to Liverpool, where we recorded it last year," says Gao Hu, the band's founder and the lead vocalist.

In May and June 2016, the band performed a number of shows in the UK, including a performance at Sound City, a music festival held by the River Mersey in Liverpool, and they returned to the city in August to record the album, which was released early this year by Modernsky, the biggest indie record company in China.

The new album, which has 11 tracks, features the band's usual rock beats, such as the title song, The Youngster, as well as songs such as Downtown and Midnight Ballet that draw their inspiration from 1960's rock music.

Gao recalls that during the band's stay in Liverpool, they walked around and came across a vintage shop, whose shop owner used to play in a band.

"We were attracted by the music played in the shop and later the shop owner told us that he also recorded an album in the studio, Parr Street Studios, which is where we were recording our album," says Gao.

"We spent 10 days in Liverpool to record the new album. We love the city," says bassist Zhang Jing.

He also adds that since the new album was recorded live, the band improvised in the studio, which was inspiring.

In support of The Youngster, the band launched a 100-city tour across China earlier this year and the upcoming two UK stops are part of the tour's overseas expansion.

In 1997, Gao, who was born and grew up in Ganhezi in Fukang, a small industrial city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, came to Beijing to learn guitar at Midi Music School, a famous contemporary music school that is also the organizer of China's first outdoor music festival, Midi Music Festival. There Gao met Zhang. They practiced the guitar for hours each day, and as well as listening to Western music, they also watched movies and documentaries about it.

Miserable Faith was formed in 1999 and so far the band has released six studio albums, with the band's unique style of music attracting a large fan base in China. They have never stopped integrating new music elements into their rock beats, from the noisy sounds in their early years to softer works such as the 2008 album Don't Stop My Music, which was inspired by Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, to songs from their latest album, May Love Be Without Worries that combines world music and Bob Marley-inspired reggae.

In January 2016, the band released a documentary, titled Because It's There, based on the band's tour of a dozen Chinese cities in the summer of 2015.

The band kicked off the tour on a black bus with their logo and images of members painted on it. Departing from their usual practice, the band performed at bigger theaters rather than the more intimate venues or outdoor music festivals they had favored up till then.

For domestic rock bands, including Miserable Faith, whose popularity has endured since their inception nearly two decades ago, China has been a tough place for their brand. Rock music has yet to appeal to mainstream audiences. Such challenges are shown in the documentary as well.

In July this year, the band launched an exhibition in Kunming, Yunnan province, with photos, music samples, and videos chronicling the band's 18-year history.

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/23/2017 page17)