Andrew Field, in his new book Rocking China (Earnshaw Books, 2023), documents one of the most exciting moments in the history of Chinese indie music. Through interviews with key players in these scenes over a period of two decades, Field explores the meanings of rock music in Chinese society as well as the many challenges and obstacles to the development of indie rock scenes in China. Highlights include a journey by rail into the heartlands of China with the hardcore rock band SUBS and legendary “rock godfather” Cui Jian. Along the journey to document the live rock music scenes of Beijing, he discovered an emerging world of musicians, bands, clubs, festivals, promoters, record shop and record label owners that were pushing the envelope of indie music for China and the world. This book takes the reader deep into the world of independent rock music that has been flourishing in urban China since the 2000s.
Andrew Field is an American historian, documentary film producer, and professor at Duke Kunshan University. Based in Shanghai, Field is a scholar of musical history and creative culture in contemporary China, including the role jazz music played in 20th century Shanghai. He is the author of Mu Shiying: China’s Lost Modernist (2014) and Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics (2010), and one of the co-authors of Shanghai Nightscapes: A Nocturnal Biography of a Global City (2015).
Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of economic anthropology, medical anthropology, hope studies, and the anthropology of borders and frontiers. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here.
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