Lonely China Day @ CH+indie Festival
Lonely China Day @ Radio Aid
Lonely China Day 2007 US Tour
Star Live, Beijing - 17th Jan 2008
Lonely China Day live in Hong Kong
Lonely China day - One
When it comes to exported music from China most think: 1) traditional World Music 2) Horrifying girl/boy pop groups sucking loli pops and wearing a blinding blend of neon 3) Karaoke bars…lots of Karaoke bars. Yes: Lonely China Day is from Beijing, China. No: They don't play traditional Chinese music. They don't suck loli pops. They never go to Karaoke bars...ever. Rather, this quartet, led by singer and primary songwriter Deng Pei, is an indie rock band. We're not lying. These guys are "Chinese Indie Rock". As hard as it is to believe, there is a small yet burgeoning indie rock scene in China and Lonely China Day is in the top tier. Judging by the Chinese reception to their critically acclaimed debut EP for Tag Team Records, and their sold out live shows, LCD are creating quite a fuss in their native land. The band's 2007 debut long-player Sorrow is a heady blend of lap top bells and whistles, a staggering collision of minimalist guitar beauty and thunderous rock hooks with a soothing voice cooing Mandarin poetry - all mixed with traditional Chinese musical influences. In other words: it is unlike anything coming out of China. "I want to be different from the rest of the crowd here in China," says Deng Pei. "I want to achieve much with very little. Very minimal songwriting with the addition of many, many surrounding elements." The result is an LP often compared to the Album Leaf, Mogwai, and Sigur Ros. Ironic considering Deng Pei, a man with limited access to the growing behemoth that is indie rock, hadn't heard any of these bands until a few months before recording. "I don't know very much about the American indie rock scene," he says. "But there is an indie rock scene in China. I think there is some original music happening right now in China, but not very much. Lonely China Day is out to change that."