words rachel mok

Wang Wen meets The Swamp and Elf Fatima in a three-way mutual admiration shake-up.

Hailing from Dalian, Wang Wen have been dubbed the foremost post-rock band in China. Paul, Elf Fatima’s guitarist, considers Wang Wen’s home – a seaside city formerly governed by Japanese and Russian colonializers – similar to Elf Fatima’s in Hong Kong. And that’s probably why the two bands share similar musical influences, tastes and direction. Wang Wen’s guitarist, Xie Yugang, agrees their music has been pretty much shaped by their environment, though China’s north-eastern city is still backward when compared to, say, Beijing or Shanghai. “The regional government and the masses don’t care about art and culture. But one big difference is that we have a better natural environment, a cleaner city and fresher air here. We can concentrate in creating music that we like.” To Xie, the city is relatively isolated but that’s why Wang Wen’s music is so soul searching – a quality many of their listeners have commented on.

It is this unique non-metropolitan feel of Dalian that produces bands outside the usual dance-rock, post-punk proliferation. “There aren’t a lot of indie artists here, but I think what made us different from other cities is that we have more bands and audiences that love ambient and post-rock,” explains Xie, as he cites Ma Ma Bao You (Blessed by Mum), the experimental Spiral Cow and genre-blending Fan Gao (van Gogh) as some of the bands from Dalian to look out for.

Currently touring in Europe and trying to put up with expensive living standards in Denmark at the time of the interview, Wang Wen say blending the music of East and West is not a part of their agenda. Still, their last album (they’ve released four and an EP), 7 Objects in Another Infinite Space, sometimes draws complaints of being too Western and having lost the band’s originality. Xie is not concerned about the criticism. “We only want to express ourselves from our deepest emotions. It may be very Chinese or it may be very Western,” he says. “But we are only concerned that the emotion is real.”
Since forming in 1999, the band have transformed from a Smashing Pumpkins-like raging rock outfit into a poetic, heart-striking and atmospheric five-piece. Xie admits they imitated a lot of their favourite bands including Pixies, Nirvana, The Doors and, of course, the Billy Corgan-led iconic Chicago band when they first began, but soon got tired of that.

They stopped penning lyrics when they considered audiences were focusing more on the words than the music – and when Xie became tired of having to write lyrics right after composing the music. So when they were exposed, by a Canadian audience after a gig, to the music of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, post-rock counterparts from Montreal, it was reason enough to concentrate on instrumentals. Xie still does sing occasionally – and The Swamp’s vocalist Hz describes his voice as “very moving”. Probably that’s why the two bands collaborated earlier this year.

The Swamp’s latest release, The Metamorphosis, is a CD and DVD combo featuring two new tracks and 13 cover versions of the quintet’s works by musicians from the Mainland, Taiwan and the HKSAR. Wang Wen took part in the project and metamorphosed Depression into a “guitar-band’s dance track, yet keeping The Swamp’s warm and gentle touch”. Sharing the same love for The Smashing Pumpkins and ancient Chinese stringed instruments, the two bands enjoy jamming – and drinking – together. Hz cannot wait to see Wang Wen playing again. “And not to mention we have Elf Fatima this time as well!” he enthuses.

Catch Wang Wen, The Swamp and Elf Fatima at Club Cixi on July 19. The show starts at 7:30pm and tickets are $150 from White Noise Records and Zoo Records or $180 at the door.