Tag: MFS (Page 2 of 3)

10 Years of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK – BIRTHDAY GREETINGS FROM PEOPLE YOU MIGHT KNOW

Over the last 10 years, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been a voice for the discerning enthusiast of electronic pop.

With a balancing act of featuring the classic pioneers of the past alongside the emergent new talent for the future, the site has become well known for its interviews and reviews.

It asks the questions people have always wanted to ask while celebrating the continuing development of the synthesizer in popular music.

All this while holding to account those who deliver below expectations, assuring the listener that if they are perhaps not hearing the genius that some devoted fans are declaring, then ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is there to assist in affirming or denying that assessment.

But when artists do deliver, they tend to build a strong relationship with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. So with the site celebrating its first 10 years, presented here are greetings and messages from some people who you might know…


Rusty Egan, VISAGE

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is 10 years old with the synth knowledge of a 50 year old. If I can’t remember something electronic I don’t Google, I visit ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK!


Glenn Gregory, HEAVEN 17

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK and its wonderful leader Chi is like the League Of Super Heroes for Electronic Music. Our future is safe in his hands.

I have been involved in electronic music making for 40 years, yet one half hour conversation with Chi makes me realise how little I know. From then to now, he’s knows!


Neil Arthur, BLANCMANGE

Chi has been brilliantly supportive of BLANCMANGE, for which I am very grateful. We’ve always managed to have a good laugh during our interviews, as he would ask me about the darkness and gloom lying within a given BLANCMANGE song! I look forward to our next chat.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has a very important place and a role to play, in spreading the news of electronic music, new and old, far and wide. Here’s to the next ten years. Well done and good luck.


Gary Daly, CHINA CRISIS

Thanks for all your wonderful support Chi, so glad someone has taken the time to ask some great questions…


Sarah Blackwood, DUBSTAR

I love the website. It’s a treasure trove of informative articles, both a very readable historical archive and a forward looking platform for encouraging new talent. In what can be traditionally and lazily categorised as a very male dominated scene, Chi encourages great music regardless of gender and I enjoy the updated Spotify playlist if I’m ever stuck for what to listen to whilst running.

As regards interviews, it’s always enjoyable – Chi is a bit too easy to talk to and his passion for music and synth geekery shines through – heaven forbid you try sneaking a (cleared) sample past him, he will spot it!

Is it 10 years already? Happy birthday ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK!


Chris Payne, DRAMATIS

With 18,000 likes and 12,000 Facebook followers; ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK under the guidance of its purveyor Chi Ming Lai, has become the leading place for the Electronic Music fan. Intelligent, well written and well researched journalism with a great team of writers presenting an array of brilliant fascinating new acts (and some older ones as well!), hopefully it will continue for at least another 10 years.


Tracy Howe, RATIONAL YOUTH

Congratulations to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK on ten years of brilliant reporting of, and support to, the electronic pop scene. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is the authoritative publication “of record” for fans and makers of synthpop alike and is the international rallying point and HQ for our music. We look forward to many more years of in-depth interviews and probing articles, all in the beautifully written style. Happy birthday ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK!


Mark White, ABC + VICE VERSA

Chi Ming Lai and Paul Boddy are two of the most learned, nay, erudite music journalists I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, a rare experience indeed to be quizzed by a pair who know their onions. And unusual integrity. Chi promised me if we asked, he would turn off the tape recorder and it would never appear in print. And has been true to his word. This has literally never happened in my career. Also these two chaps are bloody good fun. I laughed til I cried. Go see the movie!


Rob Dean, JAPAN

10 years of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK? Only one for me (yes, I know…), but it’s heartening to know that Chi and the crew have created a site so cutting edge for us die-hard fans of electronica. Having read the highly entertaining VICE VERSA chaps interview, I was delighted to be asked to do my own, confident that the questions would be thoughtful and intelligent and yes, a little bit probing too. Here’s to the next 10 and thank you!


Richard Silverthorn, MESH

On several occasions I have done interviews for ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. Every time I felt like they actually cared about the music and scene and put some educated thought into the questions. It’s good to feel that enthusiasm.


Tom Shear, ASSEMBLAGE 23

Congratulations on 10 years of covering and supporting the scene! Here’s to another 10 and beyond…


Sophie Sarigiannidou, MARSHEAUX

I first met Chi at Sparrowhawk Hotel, Burnley in November 2000 for an OMD convention. It took me 13 hours to reach by train to Burnley from London due to bad weather. I saw him playing live (!!!!) with his covers band THE MESSERSCHMITT TWINS, they were having their time of their life, dancing and singing, so so happy! Us too of course!! From that moment on we became friends. Then he supported our band MARSHEAUX from the very early beginning and I thank him a lot for that!

It’s always great having Chi asking questions for interviews. We as a band had our best interviews with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK! We spent a lot of hours talking about the history of electronic music and the future of synthpop. My favourite articles are the “Beginners Guide To…” series, you have a lot to learn from these pages!!! Happy Anniversary Chi, we’ve indeed had 10 amazing years with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. I hope and wish the next 10 to be even better.


Mark Reeder, MFS BERLIN

Congratulations and a very Happy 10th Birthday! Over the past 10 years, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has developed into becoming the leading website for all kinds of electronic synthpop music. It has become a familiar friend, because it is something I can personally identify with, as it is maintained by fans, for fans.

However, it is not only commendable, but can also be quite critical too, and that is a rare balancing act in the contemporary media world.

It has been a great source of regular electronic music information. I have discovered and re-discovered many wonderful electronic artists, and regularly devour the in-depth interviews and features.

Through ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, I have been introduced to and worked with some of the wonderful artists presented on your pages, such as QUEEN OF HEARTS or MARSHEAUX and in return, it has supported my work, my label and my artists too, and I thank them for that! We can all celebrate ten years of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK and together, look forward to the next 10 years of inspiring electronic music.


Per Aksel Lundgreen, SUB CULTURE RECORDS

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is a highly knowledgeable and very passionate site! They are digging out rarities from the past as well as exploring and discovering new acts, giving them attention and writing about them often before anybody else around have even heard of them.

This makes ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK a very interesting page to follow, as their in-depth stories about older bands “missing in action” as well as the latest stuff “in the scene” gets perfectly mixed together, giving you all you want basically in a one-stop-site for everything electronic. I also love the way they give attention to unsigned / self-released bands and small indie-labels, giving everybody a fair chance as long as the music is good enough. Congrats on the 10th Anniversary, well deserved!


Jane Caley aka Anais Neon, VILE ELECTRODES

When VILE ELECTRODES were just starting out, we heard through the Facebook grapevine about a new electronic music blog called ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. We had a London gig coming up, and had recently made a promo video for our song ‘Deep Red’, so we dropped them an email about both, not expecting to hear back, since we were virtually unknown.

However it transpired they really liked our sound, likening us to “Client B born and raised in the Home Counties fronting Dindisc-era ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK”.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK subsequently gave this very description to Andy McCluskey, which piqued his interest such that he checked out our music. We were invited to tour Germany with OMD as a direct result!


George Geranios, UNDO RECORDS

Chi is a really rare quality of a man. He is passionate about music which is so obvious of course while reading ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. Through our mutual love for OMD, we discovered that we have the same musical taste. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK helped us promote all of Undo Records projects and finally we ended collaborating and releasing this brilliant double CD compilation! Chi, I wish you health and to continue writing the best music texts in the industry!!


Adam Cresswell, HAPPY ROBOTS RECORDS

Some people say ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK doesn’t support the scene but I’ve not found that to be the case; having been a part of two gigs and the recent CD, I know how much blood, sweat and tears they put into what they do. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK might get a few people’s back-up, but they know their stuff when it comes to synth-driven music and I’m massively grateful that they have supported so many Happy Robots artists since 2010.


Stuart McLaren, OUTLAND

It’s no secret that the burgeoning new synthwave genre shares a common history with the great synthesizer acts and pioneers of the 80s, like Dolby, Jones, Luscombe, Wilder, Daly et al who created new soundscapes with what we now define as vintage synths.

These sounds are brought back to life by pioneers in their own right like FM ATTACK, GUNSHIP, ESPEN KRAFT and BETAMAXX to name a few.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK and Chi Ming Lai have always been at the forefront of championing, interviewing and reviewing the luminaries of this great instrument past to present, and are likely to remain the de facto voice of the synth scene well into the future… we agree on one thing and that is FM-84’s singer Ollie Wride is deffo one to watch as a star for the future!


Paula Gilmer, TINY MAGNETIC PETS

Happy Birthday ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. thank you for your support. You never fail to impress with your encyclopedic knowledge of synthpop. Here’s looking forward to 10 more!


Mr Normall, NUNTIUS

I’ve been following most of my favourite artists since they were brand new and often this means it’s a period of 30+ years, yet when reading articles and interviews by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, I have learned every time something new about of my favourites.

Following ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK have made me pay attention to several new acts that I would likely know nothing about if they hadn’t appeared on the page.


Catrine Christensen, SOFTWAVE

An outstanding magazine supporting new and upcoming artists whom they choose carefully as they have great taste of music regarding to their huge knowledge within the synthpop genre, when it comes to their writing and promotion – there’s no one like them. Happy birthday ?


Elena Charbila, KID MOXIE

Happy 10th birthday ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK! Your love and commitment to the synth community is unparalleled and your support has meant a lot to me on a professional but also on a personal level. Here’s to the next 10 years! ?


Alexander Hofman aka Android, S.P.O.C.K

I’m a fan of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK for several reasons. You showed up when I perceived the majority of the electronic scene had turned more and more harsh; as much as I can appreciate an occasional emotional outburst, I’m a happy guy and thus I’m into pop – ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK showed, and still shows me that there’s still electronic pop music being made. Good electronic pop! Which makes me glad, as I find the greater part of the generally popular darker scene to be of lower musical quality.

Moreover, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK writes in an amazingly happy tone – remember, I’m a happy guy, so it’s right up my alley. Add the fact that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK regularly publishes interesting articles, using intelligent and varied vocabulary, shows enormous knowledge and interest of the theme, the style, the scene – and I’m hooked. Thanks for being around – keep up the good work, it’s much needed! And congratulations – let’s grab a beer again! ?


Text compiled by Chi Ming Lai
15th March 2020

STOLEN Enter The Gap

Along with FIFI RONG and Re-TROS, STOLEN are part of a new generation of Chinese creatives combining East with West.

Having released their excellent breakthrough album ‘Fragment’ last year and undertaken a successful domestic live tour, the Szechuan six-piece consolidate with a new single ‘Enter The Gap’.

Recorded and produced by Mark Reeder and Micha Adam, while ‘Copyshop’, ‘Turn Black’ and the self-explanatory ‘Why We Chose To Die In Berlin’ have exemplified STOLEN’s hybrid sound, their post-punk techno rock takes a breather on the whispery and almost psychedelic ‘Enter The Gap’.

A moody Sinomatic piece that showcases STOLEN’s musical diversity, ‘Enter The Gap’ has a visual presentation written and directed by Formol. Using the mysterious twist of the band’s distinctive red logo as an inquisitive focal point, it makes a symbolic statement on the clash between traditional values and capital growth, capturing the nature of modern China.

China’s Szechuan province is an area that specialises in some of the world’s hottest cuisine, thanks to their locally grown peppercorns. And now in STOLEN, the region has the hottest band in South East Asia.

STOLEN confess to being influenced by the likes of JOY DIVISION, PORTISHEAD, BLUR, MASSIVE ATTACK, KRAFTWERK, NEW ORDER, RADIOHEAD, DEPECHE MODE and APHEX TWIN.

But as Liang Yi, the growly charismatic lead singer of STOLEN said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK during an 2018 interview: “It is our basic principle to try and separate our sound from other music. We can let others hear our influence, but we don’t want to become a ‘copy shop’ ourselves! We are trying to inspire others to join us and create our own Sino-sound.”


‘Enter The Gap’ comes from the album ‘Fragment’ released by MFS in vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://mfsberlin.com/

STOLEN open for NEW ORDER on the following European live dates:

Prague Lucerna Praha (3rd October), Munich Philharmonie Im Gasteig (5th October), Berlin Tempodrom (7th October), Paris Le Grand Rex (11th October), Brussels Forest International (14th October), Amsterdam AFAS Live (17th October)

https://www.facebook.com/STOLENfromChina/

https://www.instagram.com/stolen_official/

https://twitter.com/KAIGUANCULTURE


Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th May 2019, updated 21st June 2019

STOLEN Fragment

After a ten year hiatus, the legendary German dance label MFS returns with the release of ‘Fragment’, the long-awaited new album by Chengdu techno-rockers STOLEN.

An acronym for “strange old entertainment”, this album is a seamless hour long trip in more ways than one. Produced in Berlin by Mark Reeder and his musical sidekick Micha Adam, having witnessed their intense live presentation while on a tour of China, Reeder confessed to an excitement he hadn’t experienced since the early days of NEW ORDER.

Reeder said: “Personally, I wanted their album to sound like nothing that had come out of China before, as their music is not stuck in one particular style, but is a nice mixture of darkwave rock, techno and a billion other influences, even krautrock. They are such talented and open-minded musicians that it was very easy to suggest something and try it out, and when it worked, then we would just go with the flow.”

In common with NEW ORDER, STOLEN mix electronics with guitars and technology with live drums. Held together by the growling vocal presence of Liang Yi, ‘Fragment’ is the Sinographic end result of East meeting West, laced with psychedelic overtones and mysterious cinematics. Ecstatic and unlike anything to have ever emerged musically from China, ‘Fragment’ opens its account with ‘Chaos’, a spiky synergy of dance and rock.

‘Neutral Life’ has hints of ‘Oxygene 2’ with a subtle Schaffel pulse and a sinister snakey presence aided by horror film swoops and the cerebral headrush of PINK FLOYD. Bare and whispery, ‘Enter The Gap’ takes things down before the superb rigid pulse of ‘Why We Chose To Die In Berlin’ pays tribute to Germany with a burst of KRAFTWERK circa 1991 at the halfway point before mutating into an exuberant haze of trancey energy.

A very European electronic goth template is applied on the techno-driven ‘Copyshop’, its haunting synth glimmers and raw vocals setting it apart. “I like the idea of mixing of rock with techno…” said Liang Yi, “we are very proud that we don’t sound like any of the other Chinese bands.”

“They sleep in fancy coffins” observes Liang Yi on the mutant piano-driven electro reggae of ‘Vampire Lovers’ as the seductive spy drama cimbalom and chromatic guitar provide a distinctly Eastern European flavour. ‘Frozen Song’ is suitably icy, building to a hypnotic four-to-the-floor backbeat as Banshee-like guitar trembles over bubbling electronic sequences.

The agitated progressive electro romp of ‘Turn Black’ has an arrangement that magnificently develops within a single song before the drifting lilt of ‘From The Future’, a less mechanically driven track with drumming reminiscent of JOY DIVISION. Closing ‘Fragment’ is ‘The Loop Sin’, a classic Reeder production full of heavy propulsive grit and live textural enhancements.

A well-thought out, well-crafted album with plenty of adventure, space and mystery within its multi-genre cocoon, ‘Fragment’ is likely to appeal to fans of electronic pop, techno, prog and alternative rock.

“I think ‘Fragment’ is a very listenable album” said Mark Reeder, “The club tracks work in a club environment, I know that because I have tried them out in my DJ sets, and the quieter tracks are to sit back and relax to.”

Proving musically that the Far East is not just about J-Pop, K-Pop and C-Rap, STOLEN have provided a welcome cultural counter-balance with one of the best albums of 2018.


‘Fragment’ is released by MFS as a vinyl LP and download album, available from https://stolenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fragment

STOLEN open for NEW ORDER on the following European live dates:

Prague Lucerna Praha (3rd October), Munich Philharmonie Im Gasteig (5th October), Berlin Tempodrom (7th October), Paris Le Grand Rex (11th October), Brussels Forest International (14th October), Amsterdam AFAS Live (17th October)

https://www.facebook.com/STOLENfromChina/

https://www.instagram.com/stolen_official/

https://mfsberlin.com/

https://twitter.com/KAIGUANCULTURE

https://open.spotify.com/album/3PzmbWjYqgiSZFFkZSh85s


Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th October 2018, updated 11th June 2019

STOLEN Interview

After a ten year absence, Masterminded For Success are back!

And the iconic Berlin label founded by Mark Reeder which discovered PAUL VAN DYK and COSMIC BABY have signed STOLEN, the hottest band in China, for the next leg of their musical journey. Reeder has always said he created his label for the Eastie kids and now he‘s ventured to the Far East and found STOLEN.

C-Pop trails behind J-Pop and K-Pop in the world’s cultural stakes, even among those fascinated by South East Asian culture but STOLEN aim to change the musical perception of China with their brilliant new album ‘Fragment’.

Released on MFS this Autumn, ‘Fragment’ will bring STOLEN’s Sino-graphic post-punk techno rock sound to a wider European audience. Recorded and produced in Berlin by Mark Reeder and Micha Adam, the working class sextet emerged from Chengdu’s underground music scene.

Along with FIFI RONG and Re-TROS, STOLEN are part of a new generation of creative Chinese artists who have combined East with West to create their own unique hybrid sounds.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK chatted to Liang Yi, lead singer of STOLEN, about the development of the band and the music scene in China…

The last time ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was really aware of the Hong Kong pop music scene was in 1989, when it was all-round entertainers like Sally Yip and Leslie Cheung plus lots of Western cover versions. How was the music scene in China when you were growing up?

I became aware and very interested in pop music around 1998 from about the age of three or four. Back then, a certain style of Chinese pop music began to emerge at that time, mainly influenced by Western pop music, and popular producers madly absorbed various musical styles from the West.

China was just waking up and everything was new to us. Almost every modern musical style was presented like this, but in a very empty way – that is, Chinese pop music was just emulating western pop music trends, but really without any soul. They combine the most basic elements of all styles from rock, jazz, hip-hop, electronics, or even drama, but with simple, easy to digest lyrics and melodies.

The environment in which I grew up did not constitute a music scene, because it was more a product of general entertainment business interests, and driven by commercialisation rather than creating something positive and culturally important. There wasn’t any desire to expand outside of China and make something that would express a modern, musical face of China. The idea that it could be culturally significant or go beyond our borders was never really considered, unless it was in the form of Chinese traditional classical music.

Although it is undeniable that there are some good Chinese pop records, they still fail to touch the level of what could be considered artistic. It’s mainly just similarity. Besides, because they had struggled so much before, people during the late 90s era considered food and branded clothing to be much more important issues, combined with their desire live and work in peace. The attitude of most people towards art is probably inaccessible, as they don’t really understand it.

Even in Hong Kong and Western Chinese communities, parents are not exactly supportive of children who express an interest in the arts. So how did your parents react when you said you wanted to make music as a career?

I have always loved singing and caring about pop music since I was a child, and my parents just watched.

They have never encouraged me to make music. I’m sure they would prefer I became a lawyer, doctor or architect, as it is very difficult for my parents’ generation to defy tradition. But as I seemed to be uninterested in things other than music and fashion culture, my parents just let me do what made me happy.

Towards the end of junior high school, I was fed up with hearing about the stupid activities of the petty junior gangster types who grew up in the small town where I lived, they were always doing something dangerous on the edge of the law. They thought this was cool. I think they were bored and this was their way to excitement.

I didn’t want a life like that. I wanted to do something creative, not destructive. After I received the admission notice from the Sichuan Conservatory High School of Music, I went to take the exam and the school accepted me. Since then, my parents have supported and always believed in my choices, even though they are probably very confused. They are more and more reassured by the positive achievements and reactions I receive and are confident at the choice I have made. In fact, many parents in China have begun to change their attitude towards our generation. They just want their children to be healthy and happy, and not do bad things.

In the West, we saw documentaries about WHAM! and JEAN-MICHEL JARRE visiting and touring China, did these concerts ever become stories that were talked about locally in the development of Chinese popular music culture?

For me, WHAM! is much too old. I was not even born at that time. Later, I learned that they came to China and caused a sensation, but there was no revolutionary change in our music scene because of it.

Did LADYTRON coming to Chengdu in 2004 have any impact?

At that time, I was still living in the small city where I grew up and I was not in Chengdu, so I am not quite sure. At least no one has ever mentioned it to me, so probably not.

What is Chengdu’s music scene like compared with Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai or Beijing?

In recent years, there seems to be very few new bands coming out of Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing. In such a vastly populated country like China, you would think there would be many creative people all wanting to make music, fashion and art. Maybe there are, but they are forced to think about their livelihoods.

In my opinion, this is mainly because these three mega-cities are much too biased towards financial development, so it is difficult to develop an independent music culture and arts scene in a place where the main focus is on construction, business and money. This has stifled the creative atmosphere.

Young people in China are beginning to find it very hard to get a good job, and then it is very hard to keep their job and so they are compelled to work all-hours, so there is no time to make music, besides, music is mainly a non-profitable business and if you are not dedicated or ambitious not attractive.

Yet I think it’s essential that we have and nurture our own alternative music and arts scene. This is what gives a country its cultural identity, not just the manufacture of consumer goods. There are a lot of difficulties in forming a band, and many questions arise, like where do you practice? How do you get gigs? There’s a lot of work involved to write songs, practice for a concert and maintain a presence, and so it is increasingly difficult for young bands to find these places and have the space to form independent bands.

For sure, as the city expands, Chengdu may be facing the same problem in the future, but for the present it is really good now. This is due to the fact that people in this part of Sichuan are more relaxed and prefer to enjoy life at a slower pace. We have our own small but energetic music scene. For us, the value is not so important. So life may be a little easier than in the special economic zones.

How is Chengdu shaping up as a creative musical hub? What types of bands are forming there and how does the government view these artistic ambitions?

It is very simple. Beijing is the centre, it’s the seat of our government, they want to present a good image of stability and so there are and must be maintained certain restrictions on all kinds of things, including the expression of creative art and independent music scenes.

This doesn’t mean things don’t happen, but they are not as relaxed like in Berlin or London. As the international trading centre of China, Shanghai has put more brains on the money. Chengdu as a historical city, is the key point for the development of the western region of China. Coupled with the casual lifestyle of the people, it has naturally contributed to the growth of art. Chengdu’s underground music scene from hip-hop to rock music to electronic music is the most dynamic in China.

The government is actually promoting Chengdu now as the cultural centre. They still focus on a more business-oriented culture, and they may not have time to pay attention to the real part of art. Sometimes we Chinese don’t have enough time to pay attention, because our development is happening very fast.

A lot of music that is coming out of China and being heard in the West appears to be more punk or rock based, so what attracted STOLEN to include an electronic element to its sound?

I am not really a hard rock or metal music fan. I like the idea of mixing of rock with techno though. Since discovering this specific style of music, I’ve come to prefer the more gloomier sound of British music, from bands like JOY DIVISION, PORTISHEAD, BLUR, MASSIVE ATTACK or RADIOHEAD.

I’m quite obsessed with the experimentation of APHEX TWIN, more or less some synthesizer elements of RADIOHEAD, or the sound of the Moog in PORTISHEAD’s music, the feeling of some dance music style featured in Damon Albarn’s own pop-band GORILLAZ, or the icy German synthesizer taste of JOY DIVISION.

These bands have given us inspiration and enlightenment, and at least we know that we can add a synthesizer or electronic element to our music too and we like it.

Until we had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong to see KRAFTWERK, we were not fully aware of what was possible.

This concert completely opened the door to us to study electronic music, so we began to integrate more electronic elements into our sound adding sampling and a large number of synthesizer passages, even adding synth effects to the vocals, we also added drum machines which would play in conjunction with our drummer.

Later, I studied how to make electronic music, but with using the same set up as rock music, and we made a lot of experiments. Finally, this has become the sound of the band at present.

We are very proud that we don’t sound like any of the other Chinese bands. Regardless, we hope our music will open people towards this mixture. It’s just a matter of time.

What are STOLEN’s own influences and how did you first hear about them?

As I have already mentioned, bands like JOY DIVISION, PORTISHEAD, BLUR, MASSIVE ATTACK, KRAFTWERK, NEW ORDER, RADIOHEAD, DEPECHE MODE or APHEX TWIN have been very inspiring to us. We still have a lot of music to discover.

I don’t know if people are aware that Chinas modern music development is very new compared to the West. Only since the end of the 90s has the country opened up and the attitude changed towards listening to music from the West. During my studies, my guitar teacher gave me a lot of his own CDs to listen to, which contained a lot of this style of music. But personally, I’ve realised I prefer the more dark, and deeper voices.

As a six piece band, how would you describe the creative dynamic of STOLEN?

We have been together as a band since we were teenagers and we are a fully played-up team.

There are no ego issues and each band member knows his place, function and that really helps us when we are all working or writing together, so no one is the special core.

Everyone contributes their part. Our keyboard player is more technical and he will do almost all our technical work. I am the director and give directions and creative input and ideas to the band, and the guitarist also brings a lot of motivation and some basic ideas. Bass and drums are responsible for writing their own parts.

We have a VJ too, who performs his visuals directly with us on stage as part of the band. He uses all his own self-made images, which go with each song and so he can be very flexible and he’s able to improvise whenever it’s required, he is a very live VJ! He is also responsible for the entire visual design of the band. We feel that this is good because everyone gives something to the puzzle and together we can create something that maybe even we can’t even think of. It is very nice feeling!

STOLEN have a gritty, techno rock sound with hints of pyschedelia, how did this develop?

I don’t quite understand this question, but if it’s about why we have a little psychedelic taste in our music, it’s probably because we come from Chengdu. Although we have this element to our music, I want to say that we are not hippies, we are much too post-punk for that, but we love psychedelic music and the culture of that era. Sometimes we add a little feeling to our own music, but that is totally unintentional.

The new album ‘Fragment’ is produced by Mark Reeder, how did you meet him?

Ni Bing, a mutual friend of ours, introduced him to us. Ni Bing has known Mark for many years and has done many tours of China with him, he also knows many foreign artists and is a senior player in the Chinese independent music business. He heard a demo of our music and felt that from all the people he knows, Mark would probably be most interested.

So when Mark was invited to DJ and show his film ‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989’, we were invited to perform at the same festival in Chengdu together. We sent Mark our demo and asked him his thoughts.

After he saw us perform live, we went into the studio together to make a demo. It ended up being an EP. He was able to define our sound the way we hadn’t imagined. That Mark finally contributed to this project was the first time we felt connected with JOY DIVISION, and we were very excited! Hahaha!

You came to Berlin to record with Mark and his studio partner Micha Adam, what did they bring to the STOLEN sound that you might not have found yourselves?

They made our sound more unified and harmonic. They didn’t change much about the songs themselves, they kept all our basic concepts, and they added a few ideas.

Mark helped me with the intonation of some of my lyrics, but it was mainly in their choice and use of sound that mattered most. It can be said that we didn’t know how to make such a record before, but Mark and Micha absolutely were able to show us how to do this and how they work as a production team.

So what is ‘Why We Chose to Die In Berlin’ about? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK loves how there are elements of KRAFTWERK in there at the halfway point before it mutates into something else.

This is a reflection. One day I watched a documentary about German synthesizer music at my home, where they mentioned Berlin a lot and I looked forward to visiting the city after reading about it. At the time I wrote it, I hadn’t even been to Berlin. So there was no superfluous concept, it was only in my imagination and perhaps some hope.

When I visited Berlin for the first time, I realised what an amazing place it is, and that’s when I discovered that my initial concept was actually not a dream, but had been fully materialised. We loved Berlin and we thought we could all die happy there.

Glad to hear you like some of the Kraftwerkian ideas in this song. Obviously it doesn’t sound like KRAFTWERK, but we were inspired. In fact, I was a bit worried that the audience would feel that this song is a bit too flattering… but this is the kind of club sound that I yearn for and is something that can be played every day, it’s not about the nightlife, drugs, or worshiping foreign things… it’s just from my imagination and the desire for the unknown.

‘Chaos’ is a superb album opener with a mighty sound which moves into all sorts of places musically, how did you achieve that?

Do you think so? Thank you, that’s great to hear! In fact, this song was almost like the band’s bottleneck and before we made this song, we were not certain how to bring it together. Mark managed to do that. He helped us a lot.

After our first album, we wanted to make new music, faster, but this desire affected us all mentally and we were almost stuck for nearly half a year. We wanted to make the structure and sound of our music much simpler and clearer and more fluid.

We were thinking of just making an album that was basic and sounded like we would be playing the songs live, but Mark pointed out to us that we could just simply record a live album if we wanted that, and that the studio is a place to push the bands boundaries, be creative, think outside the box and excel.

He said, an album is a documentation of a moment in a band’s career and it reflects that moment for all time. At the time of making ‘Chaos’, this song seemed to meet our requirements at the time, but Mark took us on a new adventure.

What is interesting about your arrangements is how they develop within a single song, ‘Turn Black’ being a case in point. Do you think the attitude is almost like progressive rock?

We initially wanted to make a very club-friendly dance track, so we asked Mark to come to our studio in Chengdu and guide us. I think because of his background and age, Mark understood exactly what we needed and we made a demo together, which we  released as an EP in China.

He still managed to keep all the dance elements and add atmosphere, but also make it sound like a rock track too. This inspired us immensely. It had a techno edge but was still quite rocky. This was great to fuse these two elements because many people found it to be more rock and that was equally suitable for our little scene! The version on the album is actually a reworking of the track, so that those people who bought our EP don’t feel they are getting the same song.

STOLEN in places, have a very European electronic Goth template as exemplified by ‘Copyshop’, but your raw vocals really set it apart from anything that people may have heard before within this style. Was that intentional?

Is that true? We didn’t know this song would invoke this feeling! I don’t know if it was intentional or not. It just happened. It was a feeling we wanted to express, we didn’t think about the Goth aspect. We thought that this song would be seen as very Chinese.

The song is about imitation. In the past, many bands would simply copy artists and fashionable styles from the West. It’s so much easier than creating something for yourself, especially when someone has already done all the hard work before you. There is no risk involved. It is our basic principle to try and separate our sound from other music. We can let others hear our influence, but we don’t want to become a “copy shop” ourselves! We are trying to inspire others to join us and create our own Sino-sound.

How are your plans for releasing the ‘Fragment’ album coming along?

It is all very exciting. First, we have released ‘Chaos’ as a single. Then we will release ‘Fragment’ globally at the end of October. We will be releasing it in China on an independent label and it will be the first time that a band has not signed away all its rights to the songs, which is the usual practice for a band. In China, a band usually gets money for the album and then loses all control. We wanted to do it the European way. This move is so radical in China. It’s never been done before. So we are setting the bar really high.

The biggest surprise is that Mark has reactivated his MFS label and will release ‘Fragment’ on vinyl, in conjunction with our French manager’s label in Europe. Mark stopped his MFS label in 2008 because he was bored and said he wanted to wait until something excited him. Our album will also be released on UMAA in Japan too, which is also very exciting for us. We are currently in the midst of intense production preparation and I’m doing lots of interviews.

What are STOLEN’s hopes and fears? How difficult is it to arrange to perform live in places like Europe for example? And how does this compare to performing in China?

Our hope is to be the new voice of a young, modern China and we want to be the first band representing China in this way. The fear is always that our music is not good enough to compete on the global stage, but Mark said that’s rubbish, and that we are good enough. I have to believe him, after all, he has seen us perform a few times and I think he can judge.

As for touring differences, well maybe because we have seven people in the band, flight tickets are a big pressure on the show side. Not every venue can afford to fly us over. In China, it’s easier and cheaper. And not forgetting, we are almost starting from scratch in Europe, as no one knows us… yet.

However, the European performances we have experienced were all undoubtedly very professional and in a way shocking to us. We learnt so much. I only refer to the maturity and professionalism of the European performance system with awe as it really showed us what is possible.

China will eventually get better, but since performing in Europe, we have always insisted on bringing our own attitude. To inspire more Chinese workers to this industry, we always try our best to bring some of our own lighting fixtures and our own stage team with us on tour.

I hope that the performance environment of an independent band will have a positive effect in China.

Do upcoming Chinese artists like Re-TROS opening for DEPECHE MODE and FIFI RONG collaborating with YELLO give you optimism for a wider breakthrough?

Yes, of course! We would also like to have a respected European band embrace us too and appreciate us as well. The idea of touring with the likes of NEW ORDER, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM or THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS would be more than a dream come true. I also believe this will eventually happen. We will also work very hard for it!

The Chinese music market likes ‘karaoke versions’ of songs to be available, does this figure in STOLEN’s plans for the release of ‘Fragment’?

Karaoke is something that has grown up with us, but at the moment it doesn’t apply to us. I can’t imagine anyone singing ‘Chaos’ in a Karaoke club! The messy copyright situation and poor sound quality of the cover version music is not so attractive. But your idea is very interesting. You really know China! I’m surprised!

A lighter final question… ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK likes to do ‘True Faith’ by NEW ORDER at karaoke, so if there was a song you had to sing in a karaoke bar, what would you choose? 😉

Hahahahahahahaha! OK, I would choose PORTISHEAD ‘The Rip’ or ‘Over’! After all, I am a singer! I hope to sing more difficult songs in the future. Hahahaha…


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to STOLEN

Special thanks to Mark Reeder

‘Fragment’ is released by MFS on 26th October 2018 in digital and vinyl LP formats, available from https://mfsberlin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/STOLENfromChina/

https://www.instagram.com/stolen_official/

https://twitter.com/KAIGUANCULTURE


Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
19th October 2018

Introducing STOLEN

With Re-TROS opening for DEPECHE MODE on their 2017 UK Arena tour and FIFI RONG collaborating with YELLO, China is becoming a hub of new music talent which potentially can appeal to the rest of the world. 

The next act likely to breakthrough are STOLEN from Chengdu in Szechuan province which serves the hottest food in China thanks to their locally grown peppercorns.

And now in STOLEN, they have the hottest band in South East Asia. A group of young working class guys, their gloomy style has a dark European air, although other aspects of STOLEN’s sound are trickier to pinpoint geographically. Meanwhile the growly vocal presence of Liang Yi is something unique in electronic music.

STOLEN’s debut album ‘Fragment’ has been produced by Mark Reeder and Micha Adam in Berlin, while it will be released on the former’s legendary record label MFS which gave Paul Van Dyk his first break as a recording artist before he became a superstar DJ. From their 2015 album ‘Loop’, ‘Electric Echo’ characterises their raw Sinographic sound.

But refined under the studio auspcies of Mark Reeder, ‘Chaos’ is the spiky progressive opening track from the ‘Fragment’ album, energised by a mix of electronics and techno rock. The accompanying monochromatic video written, directed and edited by Formol featuring a tape gimp possesses a starkly mysterious quality, very much like STOLEN themselves.

The band met Reeder in Chengdu while he was on a two month tour of China with his film ‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West Berlin 1979-1989’ and went to see the sextet perform. “It’s unlike anything you have ever heard from China” he enthusiastically told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “It’s groundbreaking, exciting and ecstatic”.

This fragment is STOLEN, from China!


‘Chaos’ is from the album ‘Fragment’ released by MFS in digital and vinyl LP formats released on 26th October 2018, available from https://mfsberlin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/STOLENfromChina/

https://www.instagram.com/stolen_official/

https://twitter.com/KAIGUANCULTURE


Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th October 2018

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