so um die 20. Dasselbe können wir diesmal in Europa auf der Tour sehen. Wir sind sehr glücklich und ermutigt, Punk ist nicht tot!
Gibt es Probleme mit Rassismus in China?
Rassismus ist in China kein großes Thema. Die Leute konzentrieren sich auf die Wirtschaft und arbeiten hart, um das Wachstum zu vergrößern, das ist das Hauptthema, egal woher du kommst oder wer du bist. Natürlich existiert Rassismus, aber ganz anders als hier. Er wird nicht auf dem Niveau anerkannt, wie in der westlichen Welt. Er ist einfach Teil des Alltags. Das ist ein Thema, das wir versuchen, den Leuten nahezubringen.
Dee, you started Gum Bleed in 2006. Have you had bands before?
My first band was Gum Bleed and I started it. I’m the last original member, but Xin, who used to be our first bass player, is still with us here. Xin is helping with the merchandise and driving now.
Your first Germany tour was in 2009. How did you organize the tour from China?
Xin moved to Finland and got to know the local punks there. He told them about us and we got invited to play at Puntala Rock Festival. That’s the most legendary Finnish Punk and Hardcore Festival. In the same year we met Mr. Irish Bastard and helped them to organize their first China tour. When we told them that we wanted to tour Europe, they introduced us to a German booker. That first tour we played seven or eight gigs in Finland and three gigs in Germany.
And this is already your fifth tour in 2019. Are you now working steadily with a booking agency in Germany?
No, we do it ourselves. Xin helped us from the beginning in Finland and we already know many people around Europe after years of touring, so we can book it ourselves this time.
If you come to Germany, can you get any help from the Chinese Office of culture or something similar to Goethe Institute in Germany?
No, we don’t get any help. We might ask from them, but it would be hard for a punk rock band. Actually, we don’t want to let the embassy or the cultural department target on us. That would mean a lot of restrictions and we would have to report back. We want to be independent.
How much suppression do you experience as a band in everyday life? Are you free to play wherever you want?
No not really, you can of course play in a band in Beijing. The punk movement started in China in the late 90s. There were a few punk bands and they released a compilation called Boring Army. That was like the booming time for punk rock and even metal music. I was in high school at that time and introduced me to the music. We started to listen to English and American punk bands like The Clash, The Ramones, Black Flag and The Casualties.
Was it hard to get the records?
You couldn’t get the rock records easily in a lot of record stores, but we had our ways. There was only one record store in my hometown. Shijiazhuang sold the punk and rock CDs, but with a hole on them. I guess those were the smuggled records supposed to be destroyed by drilling holes from the customs. Some of them still worked though. Sometimes you could only listen to a few songs, but many times the CD still worked.
How many punk shows happened in a year in that time?
That was around 200 in China, I guess. In our hometown and in Beijing as well there were a lot of shows. I guess there were about three or four clubs in Beijing where punk bands could play.
Did those clubs have trouble with the government?
Even until today there is a grey area in organizing shows. Normally you would have to apply for a license with the government to organize shows. But no one does it if you only do small shows. If you do bigger shows, it’s smarter to have the license. Otherwise they might shut down the shows.
How long did it take you to play your first show?
It took us about one month. In that time, it was a lot easier to get shows. Nowadays there are so many bands and it’s gotten more and more commercial. Capitalism is affecting China in every corner and also in the independent music scene. There are big commercial festivals and we even have internet shows about rock bands. Rock music is very popular right now and that makes it even harder for real punk or independent bands to get the attention from the mass.
How many people usually showed up, if you did a show in Beijing in 2019?
It depends. In the early years it was easier and a lot of people came to shows. Nowadays we have so many commercial music festivals, TV shows and live streams. That makes it harder to get the people's attention as I mentioned. Today there are around 200 to 400 people that always come to our headlining shows. Those commercial bands can play to up to 3,000 people.
Beijing is such a big city, are there punk shows all over the city or do you have certain quarters?
Beijing is a huge city but almost all the venues are in the same district now (East City District). The active punk scene in Beijing is still small. There are about 100 people that are really active in the punk shows and business.
How many shows a year do you play?
Roughly around 30–40 in China.
Mostly in and around Beijing?
No, we also travel to other cities. Right now, we don’t travel around China that much, because we haven’t released a new album in three years. But last year we played punk festivals in many cities.
If you want to record a new album, do you have independent recording studios?
Yes, we do, quite a lot.
You put out your last records on vinyl. Is there a market for that in China?
Yes, there is, the number of people interested in vinyl is definitely growing.
And are there any pressing plants in China?
I have heard that there are pressing plants in Guangzhou in China that can do the pressing, but Chinese punk and metal bands mostly work with pressing plants in the Czech Republic, I don’t know why, maybe they have good quality and fine price there. In the beginning we would only release CDs but that has changed.
How many record stores are there that will sell your records? Or do you have other means of distribution?
For our last album, the label did all the work. But you can do it independently as well. Every big city in China has at least one record store that sells punk records, so if you ask how many stores in China I assume there are around 30–40 active record stores. Besides that, we have Taobao stores online, similar to what Ebay is here. You can sell and buy records there.
Have you had trouble with the Chinese government since you started the band?
Not much. In China you have to apply for a bar code if you want to release an album properly. The label that released our last album asked us to change our lyrics, because the government agency contacted them. We said no and so they had a discussion about the lyrics and the agency accepted it. That is an easier way to do the business than doing it yourself.
Do policemen show up at your shows?
Yes, that has happened. But it also happened during our last show in Muenster. Normally they don’t show up. Only when the neighbours complain. But this has not happened a lot.
Do you think the Chinese government is a dictatorship?
Yes, we agree with it. Frankly, we have some limited liberty to be a Chinese citizen in nowadays. We can choose to be a punk rocker or a hip-hop rapper, we can dance in a techno club, we can tour abroad and hang out with a bunch of cool people and activists, but don’t go too far, because they may watch you. We also think that the dictator system and democratic system are actually learning from each other. There are a lot of troubles happening in the democratic systems too globally in recent years. The power and the fear are their tricks, but I think democracy is always better than dictatorship, you have a better chance for justice and making free decisions. Be careful with populism,