Happy Christmas to all you lot. May your bellies be full and your greatest desires realised.
Split Works recently announced the inaugural Jue Festival, a city wide celebration of music and art across Shanghai and Beijing this January. Jue organiser Archie Hamilton recently answered some questions for Timeout. They will appear in January’s edition, but we have the full set of Q&A here.
What made you think of doing this festival?
A number of factors led to the decision – firstly, international bands are on the move in January, heading south to Australia for their summer festival circuit. We figured that establishing a small music and arts festival would be the best way to get our hands on a few good ones.
Second, January is sooooo dead and boring. We are hoping to bring a bit of colour to this grey month
Third, we’ve been wanting to do an urban festival for a while. We can do something a bit more earthy, un-branded and collective. So far, the reaction has been great…
Why January? Why not summer?
For the reasons above, but also because there are only 2 really good times to have festivals in summer – May and October, and as we know there is plenty going on in those months already…
Why mix music with theatre and art, fashion etc? What’s the thinking behind that?
I grew up in Edinburgh, and every summer, the Edinburgh festival and fringe was an incredible introduction to the delights of all the arts: comedy, spoken word, music, fashion, art. Every August was spent running around the city trying to experience as much as possible.
As an increasingly international country, China needs ways to appreciate as much culture as possible. Many individuals and groups are doing an amazing job at bringing variety to the cultural landscape, but often, non-celebrity driven events compete for very limited space in the media. We hope that over the years, Jue can become something that attracts artists and musicians to China in years to come, as well as stimulating the local creative communities to present their work and have it promoted to a wider audience.
Who chose the artists / acts how and why?
We wanted to showcase the best of Chinese and international art and music here in Shanghai and Beijing. We are presenting some shows that we feel very passionate about ourselves (Maybe Mars are an amazing incubator for Chinese talent, and Demerit are the band we feel most strongly about here in China at the moment – they are simply unmissable live), and we try and cherry pick international musicians that are on the move at that time of year. We are also working with local galleries and promoters who work so hard to push forward the creative agenda here and we are incredibly grateful to them for their trust and energy.
Who is your pick of the festival? Who are you excited about seeing or do you think is currently great (remember we are focusing more on the music)
All of the artists are amazing in their own right, but if we had to choose, we would pick Demerit, simply because they are the Chinese band that we are most excited about. Their show is raw, but it is tight. It’s explosive music and it stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of their international counterparts…
Who do you expect to go along to the show and what should they expect?
We realise that punk music isn’t for everyone, but anyone who wants to feel the visceral energy of a proper live show should make sure they see Demerit. But see as much as you can – South Rakkas Crew do an incredible Dancehall variation on the hip hop theme, and throw everything else into the mix. Maybe Mars are featuring the best of Chinese indie talent and really pushing it forward, and you really have to see the variety of styles that runs through the We are Enfant Terrible/ Funky Finger/ POPclo night of insanity. It’s live, it’s 8 Bit, is out there. You know, it’s all great stuff. People should use the opportunity to get out there and see as much as possible…