Last year I did an AMA about underground Chinese music - I no longer work in China, so as promised, OP is delivering the ASSHOLE video! AMA!

On September 6th, 2013, The Sound Stage, my bilingual state-media program about underground Chinese music, put on a local music awards show at the Yugongyishan venue in Beijing, China.

The fifth and second-to-last band to perform that evening was Misandao (Simplified Chinese: 蜜三刀), an Oi! Punk band from Beijing. They have been the subject of numerous documentaries about underground music in China, and have built quite a following over the past decade, even having written a theme song for the Beijing Soccer Team.

During their set in the middle of their performance of "Fucking Cops," a fan made his way to the stage and stripped completely naked. He caroused on stage, naked, for over two minutes. He was forcibly removed, only to return to the stage, for a total of three times before he was eventually evicted from the venue. Misandao continued to perform for thirteen more minutes before they were asked to stop.

This incident is notable for many reasons:

First, most obviously, is that this happened in the People's Republic of China, where freedom of speech is severely limited by the government.

The second is that the band, with brazen contempt for the authorities, had already been ranting about violent urban security forces (Chengguan) as well as insulting the police frequently throughout their set. The singer, Lei Jun, was even wearing a shirt that had the acronym "A.C.A.B." emblazoned on the front, which stands for ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS (this slogan was fully written out on the back of his shirt). They led the crowd in chanting "A.C.A.B" in the lead up to their performance of "Fucking Cops."

Third, this all-ages public concert had been put on by a Communist party state-media organ (my employer at the time) that had absolutely no knowledge that this stunt was going to occur. (Misandao also insists that this was not planned and that they also had no prior knowledge of the stunt, although they did seem to condone it at the time.) In hindsight, it is quite unbelievable that this concert was even approved and allowed to occur in the first place.

Having previously been guests on The Sound Stage program before where they were asked to comply with censorship regulations, it was the fault of the awards show organizer to assume that Misandao would continue to be on their best behavior during the live concert event.

Misandao received the award for Best Punk at this event. They were presented their award just before their performance.

See Misandao's full, unedited performance here.

state-media organ

Yeah, we saw the video.

LOL!

What most do you miss about working in China?

I had a really sweet gig. Every day I just produced videos and radio programs about Chinese music that interested me, either in the office or out in the field conducting interviews. I also lived "on-campus" in an apartment right by the station, so I was able to walk to work.

Chinese people are genuinely very nice, so there was a good feeling of camaraderie at my work place, even if we didn't always see eye to eye about things.

In general, I miss the energy in China.

"at one point bending over to goatse the crowd." At what point is this bronze medal action?

1:21

urhhmm... so do you like to eat white rice or brown rice?

White. It goes good with everything. Brown rice tastes like dirt, man.

Why does this sound racist?

Where's his dick ?

Look closelier.

Did you ever make it a point to visit the Mao Livehouse in Beijing? I played a show there last November (2014). My band was touring through courtesy of Hotpot Music. Really neat place, wish we would have known there were more venues in the area to check out! I kinda remember there being a real American style pizza place nearby as well.

Hell yeah! I've been there countless times. I'd filmed quite a few episodes of my show there as well. It has a great lighting system and good sound people so the videos always came out great.

Do you remember being there last year for a band called Carousel Kings? Would love to know if there is an episode of your show that features them!

No, I'm sorry I don't remember. Haven't even heard of them, which is unusual...are they Chinese? I mostly focused on Chinese bands. If so, I want to check them out!

Nah just the band I was with from the US! No sweat man. I can see if the event is on that weibo network and see who we played with.

Please follow up, I'd be really curious. It's likely I know them...

The locals on the show were: Summer Sunshine, Collision Dreamer, 0190, and Chaos Kills the Pain, according to a show flyer I found here: http://www.douban.com/event/22813833/

A bunch of emo bands there, I believe? Collision Dreamer...I broadcast one of their tracks before if I'm not mistaken. Did any of the bands stand out to you? What was the general vibe of the show? Was the audience receptive to you? I love seeing shows in China...such a rad scene!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Collision Dreamer was great. Summer Sunshine I think was more like a blink-182 rip kinda band. There were ~200 people and the show was probably the best on our tour in China. The vibe was awesome, lots of merch sales and everyone was pretty friendly/attempted to speak english to us if they knew much of it. I remember it was the first time I tried to order a Tsingtao and I pronounced it just like it's spelled. Didn't go over so well, haha. The only other show that was similar to that was in Guangzhou at the Fei Livehouse.

There were rumors that MAO Livehouse will also close down. That would be a huge loss if true.

Any particular reason the banner behind the band says "sound stage" in big english letters? Does the Chinese writing next to it translate to the same title? Is there a big demo for english speaking fans of chinese rock?

The Sound Stage is the name of my Chinese music program that hosted the concert. The Chinese name of the program is 音你而乐, which you can see a little bit behind the drum set and amps on the right side. It's not a direct translation of "The Sound Stage," but rather a localized name of the show. It means "Because of you music," the first character a pun that sounds both like "because" and "music."

Your second question is a bit complicated to answer. In the grand scheme of things, there is not a big demographic. The population is enormous and the common Chinese person has little or zero interest or knowledge about their burgeoning local music scene. However, in recent years I think we have seen a small-scale explosion amongst urban youth, and it is probable that many of those same kids are educated and therefore speak some level of English. Outdoor music festivals have also really taken off throughout the country, and have become a very popular pastime for Chinese people of all ages. (So popular, that the government has been cracking down on them all this year.)

When I started the program in 2012, it all seemed like a longshot. By the time I left, the show had been #1 on iTunes China and was being promoted by Apple, and a mainstream television program called Sing My Song (中国好歌曲) was entering its second season. Sing My Song is an "Idol" type program that is solely focused on independent and grassroots music. To my knowledge it is the only show in the world of that format, and a British TV station has purchased the rights to make a UK spinoff.

If you ever go back can you get me a job?

Dunno if even I'll be able to get a job after posting that video...

What prompted your decision to move on from The Sound Stage? Do you still listen to a lot of Chinese music? What are your favorite non-Chinese acts?

I felt the growth of my show was being limited. The Xi Jinping presidency has been defined by widespread crackdowns and overall regression on the opening up of Chinese society we were seeing after the 2008 Olympics. About a dozen venues in Beijing alone were closed down this year. The largest music festival was cancelled. Bands coming from abroad were barred from playing. A few months ago a blacklist of about 100 songs were released by the Ministry of Culture. I felt like I had done the best I could, but that it was time for me to move on. I had lived in Beijing for nearly eight years. There are lots of people still working hard to promote and curate music in China.

I still listen to Chinese music, but not nearly as much as I used to at work! Lately I've been jamming Goushen (狗神) and Nine Treasures (九宝) in the car.

Do you know Birdstriking?

I do! Unfortuntaely I never got around to interviewing them, but I definitely would have if I'd stayed around longer. They are a really good band.

Interesting story: I really wanted to play them on my radio show, but I couldn't find one song of theirs that was radio-friendly. Of course, "radio-friendly" in China means absent of political content. They are very outspoken band, with a very cool and distinct sound!

They have a song called "TV at 7pm." Every evening at 7pm in China, all TV networks must air the same nationalized news program. As you can guess, it's a whole load of shit. And, naturally, I wasn't allowed to play the song.

Yeah I really like them, a year or so back I listened to their album everyday for weeks. Now it just bothers me even more that I dont understand shit haha.

How'd you hear about them? I'm always interested in other people's stories of how they discovered Chinese music for themselves.

I can easily source their song lyrics for you if you want, after that just pop 'em into Google Translate...

Did you do a bit of smash and grab with le asians while you were there?

Sure, but just with my wife. :)

ba-dum-chhhhhhh

Dope, thats rad though for reals, what part of Beijing were you in? I lived near Tiananmen during the summer

That's a really cool area you were in. Must have been expensive?

I lived all over during my tenure there...the Embassy district, Chongwenmen, Wangjing, Shuangjing, Muxidi and finally way out west in Babaoshan near the station.

I thought you were going to show us a video of your asshole blowing us kisses. Is real Chinese food as legit as it seems?

Would you like me to PM one to you? XD

YES Chinese food is amazing! It's also incredibly diverse. In America we know Kung Pao Chicken and Egg Drop Soup, fried rice, Broccoli Beef, etc., but that's probably less than 1% of the cuisine you can find throughout China. Every region has their own smorgasbord of dishes and delicacies, with an incredibly wide range of flavors and ingredients. I'm no expert, but I would venture to guess that China has the richest culinary tradition in the world. I say this as a huge fan of Thai and Indian cooking, as well.

Yeah I really want to go China for food. Just the little bit I've seen on tv and online makes my mouth water. It really does seem like a very rich culinary country

It is well worth the trip.

What's the nasty est thing you ate? Did you try the durian fruit?

Durian fruit is not bad! It's kind of like mango.

I've had fish brains and fish face (deliciously tender), rabbit brains and rabbit face (delectable), congealed duck blood (so-so) and rotten tofu (as horrible as it sounds).

Nice! I've heard a range of flavors of durian from rotten mushy onions to now mango lol. I'll will not know unless I try it I guess

It smells bad but tastes great.

Is penis size not an issue in China? I'm not sure why the guy would be so open to show off his micro wang to the world.

You'd have to ask him. In my personal experience, Chinese men seem unconcerned about penis size comparisons.