Behind the Music: Stiletto Give Their Side of the Story (Part 1)

By now, you should have read about how we brought together a band of musicians as part of a rock experiment to see if we could create a band and have them perform a show for hundreds of people in just under three weeks. But like all good stories, there are two sides to the tale. In this two-part diary, Fan, the lead guitarist of Stiletto, gives his take on how the band came together.

July 1, 2012
After six years of studying on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Switzerland, I was finally through with college. Frustrated with the fact that there was virtually no musicians or bands to play with during this whole period, my hands were itching to get back to playing in a band and performing live. By this time I had already planned to study Chinese at BLCU in Beijing. My mom sent me the link to a site called TheBeijinger.com which she said I might be interested in checking out. Dismissive of my mom’s advice (as usual), I decided to check out the website another time.

July 4, 2012
I decided to have a look at TheBeijinger.com website and quickly realized that there was a classified ads section for musicians. Even though I was still 15 days away from arriving in Beijing, I wanted to start looking for band members right away so that I could get started as soon as I touched down. I created my own ad as well as answering a few:

I answered three ads, one was an ad called "Bass Player - Blues/Rock/Hard Rock Group - If Interested Please Contact Me" which I misinterpreted as a bass player looking for a rock group. In fact the poster meant they were a rock group looking for a bass player. So that obviously didn’t work out.

The second ad I responded to was called "Join Our Band Experiment!" a very vague ad from a user named "p.ryding" looking for musicians to start a rock "experiment". I replied and waited for a response.

The third and final ad I answered was from a user named "teach guitar". However, upon closer inspection of his profile, I realized that he was probably over the age of 50 and explicitly stated that his band only took in foreign band members. This one didn’t work out either.

July 5, 2012
To my surprise, I received three replies to my classified ad from people looking to start a band. Of all the ads I had posted in Switzerland and in school during the past six years, I had received a grand total of zero responses. I already had a bassist from Australia (whom I would never hear from again) and a singer/guitarist called Oleg Roy from the Ukraine.

I also received an answer from the "Join Our Band Experiment" posted by "p.ryding". He gave me his number to call for more information; I replied that I was still two weeks away from Beijing. This would be the last time I hear from "p.ryding" until much later.

July 17, 2012
After monitoring thebeijinger.com classifieds for some time and now just three days from arriving in Beijing, one ad caught my attention: "Singer looking for rock band/musicians in general" by an "Otis99". Given that he stated he would also be studying at BLCU at the same time as me, I thought it was great opportunity to work together. I sent him a message right away.

Otis responded quite promptly and simply said, "We could definitely meet, just let me know when you’re here".

July 20, 2012
After arriving in Beijing, I decided to post an entirely new ad in order to have mine at the top of the classified ads list, this time also making it clear that I was already in Beijing. I sent Otis a message letting him know I was here. I also remembered the classified ad posted by "p.ryding". Even though it had been over two weeks without any further correspondence, I decided to send him a quick message to let him know that I was now in Beijing.

I also contacted Oleg Roy, but he told me that he was away and would return on the 29th.

July 24, 2012
I received a response from "p.ryding" and got into contact with him by phone.

Paul explained to me that he actually worked for the Beijinger, and that he wanted to create a band from scratch and write an article about the whole experience. He also said the band would be performing at a "New Music Showcase" on August 18. He asked me if I was interested in the project and I told him I was. Paul mentioned that he had met a bassist called Marco who had a very "interesting" sound and used "gizmos" which could also be part of the experiment. He also asked if I knew any other musicians that might be interested in such a project. I immediately thought of Oleg Roy and mentioned him to Paul. He then told me that he will contact me at a later date with more details.

I later met up with Otis near BLCU at a place called Charlie Brown’s Cafe. We agreed to start a band together and look for other musicians to join the cause. That evening I get an email from a certain "Paul Showalter Blades":

I told Blades that I was interested in working together and that we should meet up during the next few days to discuss our plans. We exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet later that week.

July 30, 2012
I get a text from Paul Ryding informing me that we would be having the first band meeting the next day for the Beijinger's music project.

Referring to me as "San", I asked Paul if he still needed a vocalist for the project as previously mentioned. He told me he did and that I should bring my friend along. At this point, I faced a slight dilemma: I wasn’t sure whether I should contact Otis, Blades, or Oleg for the gig as vocalist. Since we were asked to perform an original song, Otis was automatically excluded. I then decided on the spot that I would call Oleg for this gig and work with Otis and Blades in a separate band. I called Oleg but there was no answer (his phone was out of service and he wouldn’t be able to contact me again until days later).

I then immediately called Blades, and although his phone rang, he didn’t pick up. I sent him the following text:

Blades called me back and agreed to join the experiment. Paul Ryding later informed that he would provide me with more information regarding the meeting tomorrow.

July 31, 2012
After waiting for a response from Paul the whole day and not getting any news, I decided to schedule the first band meeting with Blades and Otis for our own separate band the next day on August 1. The three of us decided to meet at Luga's in Sanlitun. However, around 7.30pm I received a text from Paul:

I then proceeded to tell Blades the news:

Given that we (me and Blades) had already scheduled a band meeting with Otis, I felt a little bad for leaving him out of this project, so I asked Paul if we could bring Otis in on the project as well. Paul agreed. We now had Blades, Otis, me ("San"), a bassist called Marco, and a drummer.

Around 6.30pm, I arrived at Luga's waiting for Blades to arrive. With no idea what he looked like, I see a laowai sitting at a table constantly looking at his phone, obviously waiting for someone. "Blades?" I say to him. He looks at me askance and ignores me. Moments later I see a guy in a headband with a bottle of beer in his hand arrive. I knew right away that this was the guy. Otis joins us moments later. We take a couple of tequila shots and are ready to go. However shortly afterwards, Paul Ryding informs us that there has been a change of plans:

It later transpires there are two April Gourmets in the area, one on Xingfu Lu and the other in the embassy district. Naturally we end up at the wrong one, plodding around the embassy area. Already 40 minutes late for our first band meeting, we give Paul a call and tell him we’re lost. He advises us to hop in a cab and directs us. After much wandering around being lost and confused, we arrive at the correct place almost an hour late and meet up with Paul. "By the way, my name is Fan, not San," I tell Paul as we meet in person for the first time.

Surely it will be plain sailing from here on in.

Check out Part 2 of Stiletto's diary on TheBeijinger.com he.