Clean and efficient modern acid jazz from Julliard-trained musicians, not afraid to break into a smooth jam, let time signatures fly, and do a little free jazz experimentation. Great tunes to download and get some work done to at a coffee shop or maybe to just relax at home, open a nice bottle of wine, sit back, and enjoy. Namaste.
S24/7: A little bird tells me you're even more excited about this new set of songs you're recording than the last one?
Yes, we’ve contracted one Brad Fergeson to work with us again as he seems to have a knack for locating our many, many musical deficiencies and hiding them with computer trickery.
In seriousness though, I think Brad grew up with the same sort of white bread indie rock as we did, so he can relate to where we’re coming from and understand where we’re headed theoretically, tripping, stumbling, falling, failing to get there, as is the way we do things. We’ve got about 6 or 7 or 8 new smash hits and we’re trying to record just 4 songs or so for a little release. Our big hope is to release some stuff on CD along with some friends, X is Y, as a little sampler of our two bands here in Shanghai. Safety in numbers. Combine and conquer. The schedule for it is open-ended, as both bands are mired in the recording process now. We’re not exactly rich folks so we’re just trying to do the best we can with the material with the resources we’ve got at hand.
Hopefully, we can get something together and ready by the end of March, releasing it as a low-key sort of thing. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the coming months, not to mention lots of Shanghai bands releasing stuff so we’re just in the middle of that pack. Our big statement with it is this: “hey check us out, it’s boys climbing ropes -- still making the same sounding shit. You’re welcome everybody. Don’t forget about Dre.”
S24/7: How have you written these songs - collaboratively?
Yeah we hammer them out in the practice room whenever we get the impression that Shanghai as a collective entity is sick of hearing all our old tunes. Usually how it works is Jordan (singer/guitarist) comes in with a series of arresting and beautiful chords, pei pei starts singing wonderfully, I start playing a magnificently robust baseline, and then we hire and fire, hire and fire the drummer until he gets something going that isn’t offensive to our ears.
S24/7: Where have you got the best crowd reaction playing in Shanghai?
That’s a tough one. One of the important things in keeping a band going is to only remember the good shows. And amplify them in your mind by about a thousand. Best reactions of course are always at Yuyintang – home turf I guess -- when the crowd has just the right amount of alcohol, have already heard good stuff from other bands on the bill, and are happy to see more. It’s also a great crowd because its comprised of people who follow what goes on in Shanghai… Happy to say that there have been several shows like that for us recently. Or at least that’s the way I’m choosing to remember it.
S24/7: Tell us about your favourite bands in Shanghai right now - who should we be looking out for this Rabbit Year?
Off the top of my head, I really like Pairs’ new material. I like watching them progress outwards from their earlier starting point into places that seem like they’re unplanned, if you know what I mean. People sort of start with an idea or a concept and then after a while it gets perverted into something else, which is the real shit. Duck Fight Goose is like that as well, always trying to push things down certain paths that seem like they couldn’t have been planned out. Was at the practice room yesterday admiring han han’s random new synth, which is going to fuck up their sound quite a bit. Feels like X is Y are the same way, branching out from their earlier conceptual starting point. Those are three bands that I always like to see. I also like watching Rainbow Danger Club when they come out of hiding as well. They’re great. I admire their songs. Fever Machine, Friend or Foe. The Instigation were fuckin on last weekend at YYT. I like all that shit. Stegosaurus? as well. Those are great guys, incredible supportive of everyone’s stuff here in Shanghai. They go to everything, and that kind of thing – going out to other peoples’ shows, giving that kind of support -- is very important when times are tough and you want to pack it in. Even at the shittiest show where you blew everything, you can be like, “well at least Stegosaurus was there and they looked like they were enjoy it past the bad parts.” As a band as well, I trace what they do back to – just in my own experience of it – to shit that I grew up with like the vandals, dead milkmen, ween or whatever. It’s not really a schtick. It’s like a valuable counterpoint to rock posturing and whatever. They’re great and stylistically really important for Shanghai, I think.
Don’t want to come across as a lovey-dovey person – I’m not, I fucking hate people – but I’m just honestly enjoying a lot of stuff in various ways of enjoying it these days. Watch out for all of it, I guess.
Ah, last one. Saw this band Runaway Snail recently. They’re great too. Really good stuff.
S24/7: What do you love and loath about the music scene in Shanghai?
I like how there are all sorts of bands here that share affinities – either socially or aesthetically – but no one really is a copy of each other. People are supportive but with their own shit they do their own thing. And we can still play together. Like we play with Fever Machine and it doesn’t come across as a weird bill, which it might in other places. So you get some variety.
I don’t like dealing with any issue at all associated with race, nationality, “expat vs local”, any of that shit. It both bores me and I don’t even know how to respond to it really. Wish it wasn’t a factor but sometimes it is. Wish it didn’t enter into conversation but it does.
S24/7: What was the last record you bought, and one of the first?
Last record I bought was Meatloaf on the streets of Shangblah because Meatloaf doesn’t know how to not smash it every time. He’s a master. He’s the king. This was like 2 months ago.
First CD I ever got was Iron Maiden “Piece of Mind” for Christmas, right when CDs came out for the very first time – a fucking monster of a record. Think I got Spin Doctors that year as well. A banner year at the Short household. “One two, prince here before youuuu.”
A classic jam.
S24/7: Tell us something most people don't know about BCR?
We accept money for playing. Don’t think people know that. Strange. But we do. We have a standing policy that people can give us cold, hard cash. You wouldn’t think so but there it is. We’ll totally take all that money and spend. That. Shit.
S24/7: I’ve heard it said that more ‘constructive criticism’ would be good for the progression of the scene in Shanghai - any thoughts?
‘Constructive criticism’ is really just an umbrella for saying someone’s band is shit, which is fun to read, write, and say, but I dunno if you’re doing anyone any favors. People are going to do what they’re going to do with their music, and if you don’t like it, you can say something, but I don’t think it’s going to really affect anything, besides making the reviewer feel better about life.
There’s more work to be done in pointing people to things you like that they might not know about. Seems like you’re making your musical environment better – “progressing “ things -- when you do that, as opposed to shitting on something.
When people “constructively criticize” our band, my response it to turn that shit up. Fuck ‘em. Here’s what you don’t like, even louder.
S24/7: Why should people be sure not to miss your show this Saturday?
Freddy Mercury came to me in a dream last night and he told me to tell you this:
Don’t miss this concert on Saturday(it's passed!) because it’s going to be the greatest rock concert of anyone’s life and everyone is walking away laid, guaranteed.
Comments
hit the nail on the head
hit the nail on the head w/stego - most positive dudes around!