SmartShanghai | Maybe Mars in NYC

Maybe Mars in NYC

By Tim Franco, Nov 12th, 2009 | In Nightlife

Tim Franco is a Shanghai-based photographer. His work has appeared previously on SmartShanghai (click here and here), as well as numerous other Shanghai, national, and international websites and magazines. In the first week of November, Tim traveled to New York with Beijing-based indie label Maybe Mars -- and specifically the bands Xiao He, PK14, and Carsick Cars. They were in New York for three label showcase performances, and also in celebration of the release of photographer Mathew Niederhauser's Sound Kapital, a photobook on the Beijing underground music scene revolving around Beijing club, D22.

For more on Mathew Niederhauser and his book, check out this nice, nice interview with him on China Music Radar. And here's Maybe Mars on the web. Herein below is Tim's account of the New York debut of China's most critically revered indie rock bands: Carsick Cars, PK14, and Xiao He.

We've put his photos together in a picture gallery, so give that a look as well:

Click here to view Tim's Maybe Mars in NYC pictures.

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It was late on a Wednesday night when I finally arrived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, looking for a friend's friend in a giant artist warehouse in the middle of one of New York's most hyped districts. With no real bed waiting for me and thirteen hours of flight in my head, I was not yet realizing that I was about to experience one of the best weekends of my life.

Thursday, November 5: After a day of wandering through the streets of Manhattan, I arrive around 6pm in downtown Brooklyn, between Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge at the Powerhouse Shop and Gallery. As soon as I get out of my cab, a minivan pulls up and Shou Wang gets out [lead singer: Carsick Cars]. Looking really jet lagged, he walks through the store, and after we exchange a few words he crashes in the nearest sofa.

The Powerhouse Gallery is the location of the New York release of Mathew Niederhauser's book, Sound Kapital. Matthew N. is an American photographer, based in Beijing, and for the last two years he's been documenting the underground music scene at D22. His efforts have been collected in this wonderful book, Sound Kapital [Ed's note: Here's a link to the publishers site], and all three bands are playing short sets in the book store in celebration of the launch. The room fills up early with people mingling around the photographs on display, and reporters are crawling all over the place looking for Chinese faces to interview.

It's a crowded room when Xiao He starts his set, and it's almost impossible to get close to him. All three bands only get 15 minutes to play, as the store closes at 9pm. Despite showing clear signs of jet lag, all three acts are clearly determined to give their best performances in New York. PK14 in particular put their best into their set, and despite it only being 15 minutes long, the crowd is clearly impressed. At the end of the show, I congratulate Yang Haisong [singer PK14] and ask him how he felt about his first performance in NYC. The smile he gave me in the photo is a better answer than a thousand words...

Our home for the next few days is Williamsburg, and also the location of the club where Friday night's show is taking place: Glassland. According to Michael Pettis [owner of Maybe Mars and former NYC club owner], it's the hippest place in town. The doors open at 8pm, and it takes roughly 20 minutes for the club to fill up. The owners of Glasslands later told us it was the second biggest show they'd ever had. Xiao He starts the show quick and without even a soundcheck. He set is improvisational: "America style"; "Yes! This is America, you like? Fuck you, this is niu yue!" ["New York" in Chinese.]

After a wild opening set from Xiao He, PK14 gets on the stage and gives the audience something a bit more dynamic, and something they're more expecting. When the first chords rang out, it was already impossible to cross from one side of the club to the other. Later backstage I caught a bit of an interview that Yang Haisong was giving an American reporter: "there are more Chinese people here than at our shows in China."

When Carsick Cars get on stage, you could really feel that people were there to see them. Shou Wang and his crew look slightly nervous at the start, perhaps realizing that their very first show in a club in New York is sold out. The nervous energy builds, and during "Dear Friends" Shou Wang snaps all the strings in his violin bow on the fretboard of the guitar. At the end of the show, when "Zhong Nan Hai" reaches it's loudest part, the New York crowds are singing along and throwing their expensive cigarettes on stage. Glasslands felt like D22 on its best nights.

Saturday, November 7: After a late night, members of PK14 arrive first at Santos, the location of the last show in New York. We entered together and discover a massive, massive venue. It's much bigger than YGYS in Beijing or Shanghai's Dream Factory, and the faces of band members and organizers are anxious. Is the venue too big? How will the show go if the place is only half full? The bands slowly unpack their gear and start preparing. Michael Pettis orders some pizza, takes the bands backstage and tells them, "Now this is rock and roll."

Eating pizza backstage, Shou Wang smiles and replies, "No, this is American rock and roll."

As Xiao He starts his set, I sneak outside and find a gigantic line to get in. Is this for real? Are all these people coming out for our Chinese underground bands? Later on, I'm with PK14 backstage, and a quick look outside the door confirms the impossible: the venue is almost full.

One of the organizers, Justin calls the band to go on.

PK14 walks on stage and after a short and soft riff, the guitar slam into full force along with the drums. Yang Haisong jumps onto the mic. The sound is perfect, the crowd is more than receptive, and the show goes off. When Carsick Cars get on stage, the crowd welcomes them like established rock stars. As they set into the long into of "Guangchang", I could tell that Shou Wang was finally over his jet lag, and the band was ready to give the performance they were capable off. I've seen the band several times, and that show in New York was one their best: Loud. Passionate. Honest.

Later on, bands and crew meet at Zack Mexico's dive bar on Avenue A, called The Arrow. [Zack Mexico had previously lived in China and wrote a book called China Underground about... the Chinese underground.] The bar was full, smiles and praise all around, and yes, Maybe Mars' introduction into New York was a big success...

Sunday is an off-day, and we meet around noon in the East Village. One of the promoters has a rooftop and we take some memory shots. The atmosphere is relaxed and everybody seems really happy about the beginning of this extraordinary tour. Downstairs, Chinese culture goes Australian over some meat pies. Shou Wang is reading a newspaper and sees an ad for a Bob Dylan concert. Everyone jumps on their cell phones to book tickets.

Later on, as we walk up the Bowery, the bands visit the old spot of CGBG's. It's now an expensive shop with old walls. The bands kick around the neighborhood and think of D22...

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