Music Players: Jonathan Alpart, The Sound Stage, CRI

For our September Music Issue, we asked a selection of the city's music experts for their take on the current state of the 'scene' here in the capital. Now it's the turn of the city's media players. The figures that shape the city musically, their first hand insight provided some cause for optimism, and some sobering conclusions. Up next, Jonathan Alpart of The Sound Stage, CRI.

Describe your site in less than 20 words.
The Sound Stage is Chinese state media's first video program about China's up-and-coming, underground bands and musicians.

When you started your blog/website, what did you think was missing?
There is a serious lack of any kind of storytelling and showcasing of local music that isn't drenched in hype. The machine behind the Beijing scene in particular isn't working, because if it was then bands like Carsick Cars would be famous worldwide by now. Ever notice the only foreign people who like Chinese music are the ones that live here? The reason is that the majority of Westerners just can't wrap their heads around the idea of China having cool and cutting-edge music because they are still picturing straw hats and bicycles. So I thought the best way then to introduce Chinese music to the world was to do it in the most honest and non-pretentious way possible; just a simple story about a Chinese band and a song is outstanding enough, and that just may switch a light on in people's heads to encourage them to listen to more of this music.

Why do you find Chinese music so compelling to write about?
For those who have never been to China, it is an alien world defined only by its otherness. Not only is the explosion of rock and pop music in China interesting because of social implications, but it's one of the best bridges between China and Western culture, because anyone can relate to this medium. An individual's discovery that Chinese people are listening to and creating rock music does more for people's curiosity and willingness to understand China than anything else I can think of. Worked for me, anyway.

What's the best act you've seen in the last 12 months?
That's a tie between The On-Fires from Australia and New Pants. The On-Fires were here during the May holiday, and I saw them play to a room of about ten or fifteen people on like a Tuesday night at Hot Cat. They were just a really good band playing with a lot of energy. Everyone who saw them probably started their own band after that ... you know the story.

I saw New Pants perform at the Strawberry Festival in front of what seemed to be ten thousand people, and the power and confidence they are sending out is enormous. They have such a unique and silly style that they make work very well for themselves.

What's the best new act you've seen in the last 12 months?
That would have to be Los Crashers. They've been gigging around for about a year or so to my knowledge. They're like an LA 80s band – big hair, big solos – everything is exaggerated, but unlike Rustic, it doesn't seem like an in-joke. It was kind of painful to watch because there were only a few people at the show, but that didn't stop them from giving everything they had. The singer was completely wild and the solos were melting the walls. Good band, crazy guys.

What would you like to see for the future of Chinese music in five years time? What do you think will actually happen?
I'd like to see Chinese artists look inward and take more risks. I think behind the cool exterior they are kind of desperate for approval and therefore just follow trends and the advice of foreign friends and scenesters, when they really should just shut all that out and try to create whatever their heart is trying to say. The rate and scope of the changes happening in China are beyond the comprehension of any musical expression that has been done before. Chinese people have already studied and mastered our art forms, but what is needed is a new language of music to truly express the phenomenon that is contemporary China.

Why do you think it's difficult for Chinese acts to get international recognition?
Most Westerners simply cannot conceive of the “China” they imagine and have been told about by CNN having anything worthwhile to offer in terms of music. Even if they hear about “Chinese rock,” they may find it “interesting” in the sense that Lebanese cuisine is an interesting choice for dining out once in a blue moon, but not something they'd actually listen to and place in their record collection alongside Radiohead or Coldplay, for example. The mental framework just isn't there. Hopefully overtime Chinese music will become increasingly legitimized and taken more seriously by world audiences.

Click here to see the October issue of the Beijinger in full.