Having set-up the now go-to independent rock scene blog Kungfuology back in 2008 (joined a year later by his partner in crime Jake Newby, to whom this site(S24/7) owes much gratitude and many a favour), Andy Best has played an important role in keeping people informed of the goings-on in 'the scene' (a term that causes him problems in itself), bringing interested parties together to debate and collaborate and last year, with the creation of Qu Records, making a couple of landmark records with some of the city's brightest prospects.
And now, after six months off (though not sunning himself it would appear!), he's back to the grind. So, what better moment to get his take on how things stand with the Shanghai independent rock n roll scene and how things have changed during the ten years he's been in China?
S24/7 : So what was the premise for setting up Kungfuology in the first place?
"I came to Shanghai after teaching in various countries, found out a bit more about the music scene, got settled and have always been too lazy to leave! I did bits and pieces of writing for magazines etc., but it wasn't really my thing. After being here a while I was looking around for sites, originally a chinese language blog, that gave an objective view of what was going on. I asked around and people said, "well, we use Douban", but I was looking for something that gave more in-depth considered opinion and there simply weren't any. So eventually I just said "fuck it, I'll do one", and try to just report on the bands I've seen but not make any judgements on them, and then it just kept going…"
S24/7 : 'No judgement?'
"Yeah, Jake and I both agree that we should simply present some information, include some links, then people can go there and make up their own minds. The only time we do voice strong opinions is when it's to do with matters very close to our hearts, like with me for instance, the cross-over world between advertising, brands and gigs etc. - don't go there unless it's absolutely necessary. But this is where the comments (that have just been turned back on, FYI) play such a big part. That's a place for debate, and if I think that someone has made a great point I'll often refer back to it and carry on the debate. In this way, blogs really can be dialogues".
S24/7 : What has been your experience of the development of the music scene in Shanghai?
"Well, this is how I see it. In any given city around the world - including our home towns - there are basically three groups: 50% are new, inexperienced or part-time bands; then you've got 40% that are experienced enough, they've been around long enough that they're a good band with original songs and so on, but they're not setting the world on fire. Then you've got 10% that have something about them - it could be like Pairs here; they've really got that spark, something about them makes them stand out from the crowd and they're a special band. So I think, taking into consideration the limitations in China and the lack of an industry, the Shanghai scene is no different. It's only smaller due to another can of worms… the whole political and business climate in the country. In fact, I think we're probably doing better than that, considering the set-backs, and hurdles and the fact that most bands are part-time we're doing really well."
Listen to Pairs - Oh Ghost :
"And anyway, how do you define 'the scene'? To me that phrase has two distinct uses - one is any music event, regardless of genre taking place on a given day. The other, and what I mean when I talk about 'the scene', is quite specific - young local people who have an idea for a song or a form of original music who want to put that expression out to an audience. When you think about what effects that scene, it's not the end product, it's the beginning - the venues like LoGO or Yuyintang that will let anyone play; the recording studios especially. Back when we first started writing the single most profound influence on the scene was undoubtedly the 0093 recording studios who had twenty-odd rooms available for 20RMB an hour, all in, fully equipped. So young kids could afford to play. Evidence of this influence is the fact that the first Top Floor Circus LP was entitled '0093 Revisited', as a hat-tip to the studio that gave them their first break".
S24/7 : Which bands are in that 10% in Shanghai, or have the most potential in your opinion?
"Well when you talk about bands with the potential to break out I suppose - and I’ll probably get killed for this as everyone has their own opinion - The Mushrooms. They started around 2006 as a kind of rap metal type band, then they had a line-up change and got into the more commercial metal type sound. All the way through their lead singer (who’s Chinese nickname is Pu Pu)… He’s this super likable, super cool and super savvy guy who does web design for his job and marketing and he just attracts fans locally. When Douban first started their band pages he really embraced that; every fan who asked him a question he’d personally get back to, in a very nice way. He communicates with every single person who comes on his page to listen to his music."
Listen to 为什么你爱他 - one of The Mushrooms' demo tracks :
"He spent most of 2008/2009 relentlessly building their fan base. Making T shirts, giving them out at every show, writing songs with Chinese lyrics which could be grabbed and sung along to, personal lyrics. He did a really good job and in the summer of 2009 he did three shows at Yuyuintang and he just packed them. Every single one was packed; there were people crying at the end. They had a group of hard core fans who were at the front moshing, there were girls screaming. The singer crowd surfed for 10 minutes! It was the best gig ever! From that they then got signed by a Hong Kong-Taiwan industry label - the label is quite poppy but the head of the label has a rockish taste. He started an indie label and then signed The Mushrooms. So after they got signed they promptly disappeared, weren’t allowed to play any gigs and have been in the studio ever since - almost two years now. Then on top of that you have bands that have gigging careers. Cold Fairyland, Crystal Butterfly who are the 90s bands that have stuck around. Top Floor Circus – they’re like Shanghai's top underground band; they don’t always sell out big gigs but you’d definitely call them successful. They are a good example of a band riding the glass ceiling of getting into trouble".
Listen to Top Floor Circus - 我爱外来妹 :
S24/7 : Regardless of the 10% then, what do you consider success when a lot of bands are perfectly happy playing good gigs, playing to their fans but don’t care about the commercial side of things?
"Well I find that liberating. I’ve always been more interested in the non-commercial side of it. You can say that you can come here and not succeed in the commercial sense as there isn’t the industry for it. On the other hand it’s very easy to succeed as a person who just likes to form a band and express themselves because it’s not very cliquey and closed off. You can pretty much play any venue most nights. Basically you and I could form a band together, write a few songs and someone would give us a chance. And then someone will take an interest, check out your Douban page, offer to record you. There's a community of people, both local and international, that genuinely love independent music of all forms. But personally, I don't think people take enough advantage of all this. Back in 2009 Pu Pu of The Mushrooms showed us, showed all of us, that if you get in there and use the tools at your disposal on the Shanghai scene then you can go places, you can break out. After Jake and I were at those gigs and wrote about it we thought "this is it, there's going to be a huge renaissance now" of DIY ethic and people really pushing the boundaries. "The bar has been raised", we thought. But half the scene just went all jealous and derisory about it, had a really negative view about things and the other half just really didn't pick up the baton. And then the Expo came along and the scene basically went quiet for a while.
The only people I really see picking that up now are some of the internationals that have formed a collective, the X is Ys, Moon Tyrants, Rainbow Danger Clubs. They're all super motivated, but within the core local scene I don't see bands really embracing that. Local bands don't have any excuse - they've got the language, the understanding, the tools like Douban but don't seem to take advantage of them".
Listen to Moon Tyrant - Cities
S24/7 : What advice would you give to a new band starting out in Shanghai? Something we've discussed with a lot of people is that it's hard for new bands to prepare as they're almost immediately thrust on to the stage at Yuyintang or wherever.
"Well my flatmate, Sophia Wong who books all the bands at Yuyintang has just started a new band, Next Year's Love. She's fairly new to it, though F from Pairs is also in the band. But they've been working on new songs and developing a style and immediately people are like "come and support us at LoGO" or "play Yuyintang", because people are so friendly it can be quite easy - as soon as you've got a band you'll be offered a gig so there's a lot of pressure. So my advise would be don't tell anyone you're in a band, until you're ready for it! But you really can't hide - as soon as you go down to Juju's or 0093 Space, someone will find out about you! Either be prepared to jump in at the deep end or guard your secrets!
But take Next Year's Love - they've now played a few gigs, shown immediate improvement and are enjoying themselves, so maybe it's not such a bad thing. And they're going to play the Good Jive 3 show on 9th July with 8 Eye Spy and Duck Fight Goose - living the Shanghai dream in six months flat!".
S24/7 : A lot's made of the contrast between the respective Beijing and Shanghai scenes - how do you see it?
"Well in Beijing it's crazy - there's a club for every conceivable genre. A metal club, a folk club; specific places for people to listen to specific kinds of music. But to talk more widely about China in general for a moment… There is a common misconception about the Chinese music scene that it’s in a cycle and it’s behind the West. But ever since the internet came into being every single Chinese person with an internet connection can go on to Pitchfork or wherever and know everything and have an encyclopedic knowledge of every type of music out there. You know, you’ll meet people here and you’ll think "shit, I’m out of touch". It’s more the life experiences that make people pick their influences and therefore make their music a certain way.
In terms of labels Shanghai has nothing like they do in Beijing - Maybe Mars, Modern Sky etc., these are traditional labels as in funded organizations that will pay for everything. But there are a new breed of independent labels such as Zhu Lu He Feng, who are trying to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities that there are, like playing commercial appearances, for which the bands don't always see as much money as they should, but that's another story. To be fair, Zhu Lu He Feng are half and half. Lezi who runs it is a super nice guy; you guys know… He has contributed a lot to the scene. Sonnet, his band, are a mainstay of the scene. Their label have another side though, they've managed to crack the university circuit so that’s the most successful thing for them".
Listen to Sonnet - Sorry :
S24/7 : You went into the 'recording business' last year yourself, setting up Qu Records. Do you have any more plans for further releases?
"The story with Qu Records - do you want the background? Well I saw Pairs live - I had met Xiao Zhong the year before, jamming at the rehearsal studios - and I had a bit of money in the bank. The first time I saw them at Yuyintang all different types of people were like "who is this?" - they had something, Shanghai's first 'high-power, lo-fi duo', and people were really into that. I convinced the guys to record by arranging for Adam (Gaensler) to come down to Yuyintang on a Tuesday night and for Pairs to play their set to an empty room.
We decided to give the label a name and make the record available on Bandcamp. But we thought we'd better have more than just one band and Little Punk from Boys Climbing Ropes was telling me about this little book of all her poetry she had and she'd recorded a few songs with her playing acoustic guitar, so over the summer we did it and that came out."
Listen to Little Punk - Cuties :
"We had no more expectations for it than that, but in the back of our minds if another band came along that fit that lo-fi style then we would approach them - Sophia helped me out with it as well. And since then we haven't, but it's there waiting! If anyone wants to form a lo-fi duo you don't even have to send a demo, I'll just come and record you! But again, this all really came about because of that network I've talked about - I've been here supporting the scene for a long time, so when I asked for all these favors people were like "yeah, no problem!". I don't know if people will agree a second time… We'll find out!".
Finally we asked Andy to pick a couple of his favourite posts out of a total now nearing 500. Here they are:
"My favorite two posts are one on that infamous Mushrooms show and the one concerning the Pepsi fiasco. One post highlights the success of independence and grass roots organising in this scene while the other highlights the dangers and failures of getting into bed with brands and commercial ventures with no true industry to break into".
be like 
it's the beginning - the venues like LoGO or Yuyintang that will let anyone play; the recording studios especially. Back when we first started writing the single most profound influence on the scene was undoubtedly the 0093 recording studios who had twenty-odd rooms available for 20RMB an hour, all in, fully equipped. So young kids could afford to play. Evidence of this influence is the fact that the first 
question he’d personally get back to, in a very nice way. He communicates with every single person who comes on his page to listen to his music."
almost two years now. Then on top of that you have bands that have gigging careers. 
"Well my flatmate, Sophia Wong who books all the bands at Yuyintang has just started a new band, 
In terms of labels Shanghai has nothing like they do in Beijing - 
We decided to give the label a name and make the record available on Bandcamp. But we thought we'd better have more than just one band and 
