New Article: That's on 0093

I have a feature on the 0093 practice space/music organization in this month's That's Shanghai. Text below, or link here. It was a lot of fun to do, catching up with the bands and organizers, and spending many an afternoon and evening hanging out down in the bunker.

We had to cut some interesting background material for space; and I’ll post the full draft online soon. One is that the space was originally opened by Wu Jun, who is rather a Shanghai rock legend by now. He and “Shanghai rock Godfather” Sun Mengjin in 1997 founded Godot, the city’s first punk band. Running until 2005, its rapidly revolving membership made it Shanghai’s “School of Rock” - so many of our top musicians had stints in Geduo. Wu, after handing 0093 over to Lao Jiang, opened a practice and recording studio on Wuxing Lu, which is smaller but a lot more professional than 0093, and the chart-hitting latest Honeys album, among others, was recorded there. Wu also was the organizer of the 1234 Beach Rock and RockIt! music festivals in ‘06 and ‘07, and for about 18 months organized the Sunday rock nights at Bonbon.

The 0093 compilation is intended as a tribute to the 2000 “Shanghai Underground” compilation album organized by Sun Mengjing and featuring trailblazing early Shanghai punk and metal bands like Prague Spring and Nutcracker (where Dingma’s Lu Chen first cut his teeth, and/or cracked his nuts). Back then ShRock was a bit dichotomized between the Punk and Pop Pies 派, but even entrenched as I was in the latter I recall what a splash the album made. Not many people remember those bands, or know how much they contributed to creating our current lushness, but I’m working on that.

Another thing we left out is the new 0093 performance venue: news of it is circulating online, but due to their lack of a performance license for it, mentioning it in the print media would have been risky.

The album was orginally supposed to be out this month, but now is expected in June. Which, in rocker time, means August.

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Enter the bunker of sound - 0093

Written by Lisa Movius

0093 is more than just a practice space, it's the pulsing heart of Shanghai's music scene

Number 93 Lingling Lu is easy to miss. If you're not looking carefully for the number plaque, all you'll see is the "Underground Shelter" sign on the sidewalk and the various advertisements for American Standard toilets around its door. Even upon discovery, it appears like a stairway leading down into nowhere, and rather feels that way for the first few minutes until the lights flicker bright enough to see the deco detailing on the walls. And only then, after you pass through a series of massive, ancient sealable doors (and start to hear the music) does this space's status as the nerve center of the Shanghai rock scene become obviously apparent.

Known now as 0093 – Lingling puns as double zero in Mandarin – this labyrinth of a former bomb shelter houses over ten dedicated rehearsal rooms where dozens of Shanghai's bands, particularly younger and more stylistically underground bands, practice their music. The venue has fomented a tightened musical community that has blossomed into a regular 0093 concert series, often giving new bands their first chance to step onstage.
Certainly, young Shanghai bands have been proliferating at an unprecedented rate over the past two years, and much of the support necessary to thrive can be attributed to 0093 and its directors Jiang Shaoqing (who goes by Lao Jiang) and Wang Xiaotian (known as Tiantian).

"There are a lot of new bands now, and they need to practice and to perform," says Yuyintang director Zhang Haisheng, who hosts the 0093 series at his venue. "0093 is first and foremost a practice space – and how can a band perform if it can't practice?" While there are many underground rehearsal venues in Shanghai – their most popular competition is Juju Studio on Huashan Lu – "0093 is the biggest, and the place to see and meet a lot of young bands."

"0093 gives Shanghai rock its own place, a communications base," explains Topfloor Circus (Dingma) singer Lu Chen. "To young bands, it's very important that they get practice and performance experience and get to know each other. I remember how much harder it was for us and other old bands before." Dingma began practicing at 0093 in 2003, back when the bunker hosted only one small rehearsal space deep inside its bowels. In 2006, the year Lao Jiang began managing the space, Dingma came out with their third album; all of its songs were written at Lingling Lu, and the band named the now-classic hard punk album Lingling Rd 93 Revisited, Timmy!

"Lao Jiang and Tiantian were entertained when it came out, we hadn't told them before," Lu Chen recalls. "They didn't react, but I could feel that after that they felt they could turn the place into a brand." By 2007, the directors had launched a Douban.com group, which remains the most active means for promoting their bands, and started using the name 0093. At the end of that year, Jiang recalls, they threw their first 0093 showcase. Held at Yuyintang, the concert was a small trial run for the massive official launch party a few weeks later at the now-defunct Four Live, which featured some of Shanghai's biggest names: Dingma, Yuguo, Torturing Nurse, Momo (then called Happy Strings), Chaos Mind, Muscle Snog, Mortal Fools and Crazy Mushroom Brigade, as well as a headlining spot for Beijing's Joyside.

Most of the subsequent 0093 showcases, including the ninth installment on April 3 at Yuyintang, have been smaller ticket affairs aimed at supporting unknown bands, but they did another big blowout show as an earthquake benefit last May. The eleven-band line-up included Banana Monkey, Little Nature, Boys Climbing Ropes and Bang Bang Tang, and was the downtown debut of new favorites Candy Shop (Tianpin Dian). "We've been practicing at 0093 since we started, and it's given us a lot of opportunities," says Candy Shop guitarist Nicholas Zoe. "We were in the Earthquake Benefit, our first big show, because Lao Jiang invited us. We attracted some attention then, [Yuyintang's] Zhang Haisheng offered us more shows, and that's how we got started." Many young bands tell similar tales.

Wang also runs a CD shop out of 0093, and a forthcoming compilation album will expand the organization's scope even further. Titled Indie Underground Vol. 1 and due out later this summer, it will feature eleven to twelve tracks, all from 0093 bands, including Dingma's 'Shanghai Welcomes You,' Banana Monkey's 'Double Trouble' and tracks by Bang Bang Tang, Candy Shop, Pinkberry, Hanging Gardens and Five-Pointed Star.

Jiang anticipates the compilation will be a souvenir of the bands and of a time, a poignant sentiment in the face of vague rumors that the space might be shut down next year for fire safety reasons. Lao Jiang denies the rumors, nonplussed about their source and too happily busy to worry, enthusiastically present around the clock although he no longer lives in the bunker as he did for two years. Lu Chen observes, "To do something, you need to have a feeling, whether it's having a band or a space. If you love it, you will do it well… Lao Jiang and Tiantian love the place, and love what they're doing. They're happy, and that's why 0093 works as a brand. Otherwise, it's very hard to do."

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Four 0093 bands you need to hear

Top Floor Circus 顶楼马戏团
Dingma is pretty much the only Shanghainese band that other Shanghainese bands unambiguously admire. Formed in 2001 with renowned video artist Liang Yue contributing vocals, Dingma are famed for their Shanghainese lyrics and frontman Lu Chen's often maniacal onstage theatrics. Continuously evolving throughout their three albums thus far, they started folk and went punk, throwing their fans for a loop. Cold Fairyland's ex-bass player Su Yong migrated to the band last year, although Dingma is on a semi-hiatus until this autumn, with several members embarking on their own solo projects in the meantime.

Banana Monkey 香蕉猴
Banana Monkey have been staging a strong comeback with several shows per month after taking a break from May to October 2008. Their heady garage rock and energetic stage presence made them a favorite for club shows soon after their establishment in 2005, following stints in Marrow and other local bands. Banana Monkey's songs, with titles like 'Drunk Daddy,' 'Baby in Red' and 'You're So Pure' (many of which were written at 0093), are all in English and show self-confessed influences from Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes. Six to ten tracks will find their way onto a self-released EP later this year.

Candy Shop 甜品店
Founded in January 2008, Candy Shop first grabbed attention when they won Maxell's student band competition last April. Since debuting more publicly at the 0093 Earthquake benefit, they've bucked the student band trajectory and become nearly ubiquitous at Shanghai's main live venues. The name came about because their lead singer, Melodie Lee, "is tianmei" – sweet and beautiful – explains bass player Chris Cai. Guitarist Nicholas Zoe describes their Linkin Park-influenced style as "pop and nu metal, and now sort of rap-metal" since adding an MC, YKE Yang, but the group continues to experiment and evolve. So far Candy Shop has twelve original tracks, of which 'Four Ti Ti' was used in the recent film Park Shanghai. The band entertains ambitions of eventually signing with a major label – a possibility, given how far the group has come in just a year.

Bang Bang Tang 棒棒堂
Like Candy Shop, Bang Bang Tang (or Lollypop) debuted at one of Maxell's competitions in November 2007, a month after the band was formed. It also features a female singer – the charmingly geek-chic Xiao Bai – and is comprised mostly of students, rising to prominence through the 0093 showcases. However, Lollypop's style is decidedly indie pop, and along with their eight original songs, their sets are peppered with covers of musicians like Alanis Morissette, Janet Jackson and Joan Jett. Bang Bang Tang's 'A Song for my Angel' was included on last year's Neocha online compilation and the station FM 101.7 plays some of their songs; and the band hopes to release an album this year.