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Future Orients is a new Chinese rock band from the Beijing label Maybe Mars, who’ve just finished recording their first album. Humbly self-described as just another ordinary four-man band, the group was born by chance when the four kindred spirits first met in a university dorm and discovered that they loved the same music. Their sound has been described as post-rock, post-punk, math rock, indie, and even dance – but guitarist Guo Zhen actually considers their sound to be more or less pop. Ultimately, he says, what they are aiming for is psychedelic disco, or just something with a beat that people could dance to.
Future Orients是一支中国的摇滚新乐队，隶属北京音乐厂牌Maybe Mars，新近完成了他们第一张专辑的录制。谦称自己只是一支普通四人乐队，他们的组合可谓诞生于大学寝室的偶然，几个同样热爱音乐的年轻人因为志趣相投走到了一起。外界常将他们的风格归为后摇、后朋、数学摇滚、独立音乐，甚至舞曲——但是吉他手果真认为他们的作品其实差不多就是流行乐。他说，最终他们的目标是要做迷幻的士高，或者只是可用来跳舞的音乐。
Take a listen to some select demo tracks from Future Orients:
以下为Future Orients新曲小样选集，欢迎试听:
Their influences include Mogwai, PK14, DIIV, NEU!, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, and Pink Floyd, but the one band that they all seem to agree on is Foals, whose angular and methodically kinetic style of post-punk has clearly had a stylistic influence over the Future Orients’ sound. Lead singer and guitarist Yong, despite all of their rock influences, insists that the band know nothing about rock music and that that is not what the band makes. What Future Orients make is “sissy pop and middle-aged 70s disco music”, and what they are are just a pop group who like to write songs that are hard on the ears.
他们在音乐上受到Mogwai、PK14、DIIV、NEU!、Joy Division、Kraftwerk和Pink Floyd等乐队的影响，但所有成员一致认可的似乎是Foals。Foals后朋音乐中的生硬和有条不紊的跳跃在Future Orients的音乐中有着分明的风格影响。尽管受到来自这些摇滚乐队的相应，主唱兼吉他手阿勇坚持认为，自己的乐队对摇滚一无所知，并且它也不是乐队创作的内容。Future Orients创作的是“娘炮流行和中老年人迪斯科”，他们只是一支喜欢写难听歌曲的流行乐队。
We meet the band in their own basement studio under an apartment complex in West Beijing, where they rehearse all afternoon for an upcoming gig. Lead singer Yong tells us that, “Right now in China, things are pretty good. There are more festivals, gigs, and foreign musicians coming from abroad. It’s not a bad time to be in a band. People are taking copyright issues more seriously, and more money is being invested into the independent music scene. These are all good things.” The band admit that, despite just starting out in their short career, they haven’t really encountered too many challenges so far.
他们自己的工作室位于北京西边一处公寓小区里的地下室里，他们在这里为一个即将到来的演出排练了一下午，我们也在这里碰面了。主唱阿勇告诉我们: “现在中国都挺好的。音乐节多了，演出多了，国外过气大牌来的多了，最近版权问题搬上了台面是个好事。独立音乐圈也开始有资金流入，也是好事。” 乐队坦言，尽管他们在这条职业道路上刚刚起步，却迄今还未遇到过太多挑战。
Guitarist Guo Zhen says “the independent music scene here is improving all the time, and there are more and more opportunities (for us) to perform. Also more good bands from overseas come here now to play gigs, but if anything, the whole music environment and local rock scene here is not stimulating enough. It’s not as competitive as it is abroad where there are just so many great bands making great music. I prefer to be more stimulated. Because there are far fewer top bands here, sometimes some really strange acts can play music festivals, which I don’t think is so good.” One thing that is worrisome for the band is how over the past two years in Beijing, many performances and gigs have been suddenly canceled, and there always seem to be some new censorship regulations.
吉他手果真说: “我觉得整个市场在变好，乐队演出机会多了，也能看到很多国外的好乐队演出。如果要说一个的话，就是可能整个环境的刺激还不够吧，在乐队作品方面竞争不像国外那么激烈，国外好乐队太多了，我喜欢那种刺刺激激的感觉。因为这里优秀的乐队数量太少，导致什么奇怪的乐队都能上音乐节演一演，这点很不刺激。“困扰着这个乐队的一件事，就是在北京过去的两年里，很多演出被取消，甚至有所谓下架歌曲名单这种事出现。
The band have only just finished recording their first album, which includes ten songs in total, and are now in the process of mixing it. Their goal was to record it quickly and to keep on making new music. For Guo Zhen, the band’s immediate goals are to keep on rehearsing, continue to explore their sound, and keep playing gigs until they have exhausted themselves. Yong says that the only thing that really matters to them is to make the best of today, after all nothing in the future exists. Perhaps a good description of this young band’s mindset can be found in the lyrics of one of their songs: “Sing with all your passion / put your hands up / let me embrace your dreams / let me see your real face / let’s smile, now we’re young / let’s look forward to a better tomorrow.” Maybe Mars plans to release Future Orients’ first album later this year.
Contributor, Photographer & Videographer: Leon Yan
