The blues rock band "Sultans of Swing" with musicians from
Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hebei and Sichuan provinces plays Saturday
night, along with "Mint" at Yuyintang, one of the city's few rock
houses.
Angry young men wearing black tee-shirts and metal accessories,
shouting and yelling in a basement smelling of stale food,
cigarettes and liquor.
This would seem de rigueur for an interview with a rock band,
but it didn't happen for the interview with "Sultans of Swing,"
rather casual rockers who look more ordinary than average youths on
Shanghai streets.
"We don't smoke, we don't drink alcohol. If there has to be
something, well, we like teas, we often drink Chinese teas
together, and talk about music." says Huang Yongqiang, vocal and
guitarist.
Instead of a grungy basement, Huang and Pan Wenzhe, the bass
player, were interviewed by Shanghai Daily in Huang's guitar store,
Shanghai Blue Sugi Musical Instrument Ltd - nice, clean and filled
with sunshine.
Pan has won television competitions and calls all band members
professional musicians.
"As professional musicians, we can make a living as musicians,
we don't have any other jobs," says Pan.
Even Huang, who owns the guitar shop, only goes there once in a
while.
Other band members are Huang Se from Shanghai on harmonicon and
guitar; Liu Lin from Sichuan Province on guitar and vocal; Wang Wei
from Hebei Province on drums. With Huang from Zhejiang Province and
Pan from Shanghai, the "Sultans of Swing" is quite national
compared with other local bands that are mostly all
Shanghainese.
Since Beijing is considered China's rock capital, it seems
strange that the "Sultans" has settled in Shanghai, especially
since Huang, Liu and Wang once had a band in Beijing.
"Well, the air here is better, much less sandy than in Beijing,"
Huang jokes. He also has a different opinion about the two cities'
music environment.
"It depends on what perspective you take. For example, Eric
Clapton didn't go to Beijing, he only came to Shanghai for his
tour. Many internationally famed rockers come to Shanghai
nowadays."
All the members went to the Clapton concert together. After all,
they define their music style as blues rock, just like
Clapton's.
Although they have a few original songs based on group efforts,
they mostly imitate and reedit master works from their idols, such
as Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Tomorrow night, the "Sultans of Swing" will perform together
with "Mint," a very different band.
The four members of "Mint" - American-born Gao on vocal,
Xiaojing on guitar, Zhang on bass and Xiaolian on drums - hold
regular jobs to support themselves and their spending on
instruments and rehearsals.
Gao and Xiao Jing met through the Internet and soon decided to
found a band. It didn't take long for them to find bass player
Zhang and drummer Xiaolian, members of Xiaojing's former band who
also share their love for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Compared to "Sultans of Swing," "Mint" has more varied music
styles. They have touched almost all areas of rock, including hard
rock, punk, Brit pop, folk rock, and funk.
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(CRI January 27, 2007)