Unofficial Documentation
of the Taiwan Underground Music Scene
When I first came to Taiwan in January of 2004, I was
thinking more about my new career in the field of teaching English as a foreign
language than writing about the music scene. After one year of going to shows
and meeting indie fans and musicians, I felt that the scene, which has been
developing over the past ten years, deserved some kind of documentation. This
project spans the sixteen months that I had spent in Taipei, from my first major
show (Say Yes to Taiwan) in February 2004 to the Spring Scream festival in April
2005. In the process of documenting Taiwan's underground music scene, I have
three goals in mind. I hope to educate the foreigners living in Taiwan that are
misled by 7-ll sellouts like the girl pop trio S.H.E into thinking that Taiwan
has no good music to offer, show how western music has diffused into Taiwanese
culture in a positive way, and furthermore, promote Taiwan's underground bands
to indie audiences elsewhere in the world.
My determination to complete this project has several
influences, including three specific examples of ethnomusic subculture
preservation, such as Clinton Heylin's punk reference work From the Velvets
to the Voidoids: A Pre-Punk History for a Post-Punk World(Penguin), the
psychedelic compilation Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British
Empire and Beyond(Rhino), and finally, the works of folklorist Harry Smith
and ethnomusicoligist Alan Lomax.
When I was a high school student in upstate NY I stumbled
across a book that would change my perception on the history of rock and roll. I
truly discovered punk when, as if by miracle, I found Clinton Heylin's From
the Velvets to the Voidoids in the school library. Heylin collected
interviews and reviews about the east coast punk movement beginning in the late
60's with the Velvet Underground and culminating with various artists playing a
wide variety of punk styles such as the Ramones, Talking Heads and Richard Hell.
This book let me in on a great scene that I wished was not dead, gave me great
disdain for the soulless "radio rock" of the mid 90's, and pushed me to search
for more obscure independent music. After reading From the Velvets..., I
wanted desperately to be a part of some kind of scene like the one depicted in
black and white photos of people that happened to grow up in the late 70's and
just happened to be called punk. Whatever the reality of such a scene may be, if
it even still exists, I haven't been able to be a part of one. After only being
in Taiwan for a short time, I can't really consider myself as part of the Taiwan
"scene." I'm only an observer that has experienced many happenstance meetings.
However, one of the goals of my project is to unify the musicians, artists and
videographers working within Taiwan's underground under a common medium. One
could feasibly compile interviews with Taiwan bands and come up with a similar
book to From the Velvets..., if obstacles involving language and culture
could be overcome.
(Blues and Tattoos;
Da Gi Shion at DV8)
The Taiwan underground scene has been developing for quite
a while and the members are close in their art and friendship. Many of the
musicians have played together, organized shows together and worked together on
projects involving film and video. My position as an outsider makes things quite
difficult because of language barriers and cultural differences. I imagine
Heylin felt more comfortable writing about NY punk culture from within, than I
feel documenting the Taipei underground scene from the outside. While I've
gained the support of many people, there is still some occasional, yet
frustrating miscommunication about the reason for this project. Therefore, I've
started this project with short introductions about the bands that I have seen
which may read more like journal entries. Eventually I would like to contact the
bands for interviews about their history, influences and ideas and add them at
the end of each band's section.
Most of the bands featured on this website play a variety
of contemporary western styles such as indie pop, power pop, post-rock, and
various punk styles. What is interesting is that much of the music retains some
quality that is distinctly Taiwanese, even if it is done so without conscious
effort by the creating artist. One can find Buddy Holly style Rock n' Roll or
Green Day style Pop Punk in almost any country, however, chances are the lyrics
are written in the singer's mother tongue and the music is slightly altered by
the culture's native music structure. This is true for Taiwan as well. While at
university, my taste in music was pushed further back in time from 70's punk to
the garage rock of the 60's, and I avidly listened to the Nuggets
collection from Rhino Records. Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the
British Empire and Beyond features 60's psychedelic, garage and mod rarities
from countries as far as England, the Netherlands, Brazil and Japan. Much like
these genres spread across the world like wild fire in the sixties, contemporary
independent and mainstream styles ranging from indie-electronic to hardcore to
nu-metal have reached Taiwan. Taiwanese bands usually start in senior high
school by doing their favorite western covers and organizing their own shows
where maybe eight bands will play a three song set. Some of these bands will go
through several "phases" where they will copy a western genre, and then
"upgrade" to another more popular genre to attract a bigger audience. They end
up being the more popular bands and amaze the audience with their flashy clothes
and synched poses, yet annoy the real underground scenesters. While not all of
these bands continue after high school, many of the musicians are exposed to a
wider variety of western independent music at university. They meet others with
similar interests and form bands just like at any other university in the States
or around the world. Again, sometimes the music goes down the mainstream path to
popularity as in Taiwan's rap metal band XL, but sometimes the youth take a turn
for the underground and create music less identifiable as in Green!Eyes.
Consequently, you have many mainstream bands that are conscious of their
unoriginality alongside bands that just play the music that they find
interesting. The punk scene is a little different. Because punk is a much more
confined genre than indie rock, many of the bands latch onto a western style
such as pop punk or hardcore, and therefore are at risk of being labeled as
posers and copycats. However, punk music relies more on energy than on
creativity and there are several Taiwan punk bands that really let loose. Much
like how the Nuggets II collection compiled the world's best unknown
garage bands of the 60's, I wish to compile the most original Taiwanese punk and
indie bands on this web-site.
(Green!Eyes at The Wall (photo: Eatbrain))
Finally, by archiving Taiwan's Indie scene, I hope to
expose some bands that have long remained unknown outside of Taiwan. Later in
university, a friend of mine who is into out-music, the avant-garde and early
American folk music sold half his CD collection to splurge on folklorist Harry
Smith's American Anthology of Folk Music(Smithsonian Folkways). After
listening to the six CD set, I was curious about this ethnic music that had
almost been lost and forgotten. Soon, I found out about Alan Lomax who went on
many excursion to the American South and Midwest throughout the 30's, 40's and
50's to record and archive folk songs in order to preserve them for the Library
of Congress. He was also responsible for promoting the blues and folk singers
Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. The work of both of these researchers helped spark
the 60's folk revival headed by Bob Dylan. While Taiwan's underground music
cannot be lost because of the digital age, part of my project is to promote a
scene that has been building for over a decade. It is time that these bands are
heard outside of Taiwan.
The lay-out of the website is simple. There are six
categories of music: Indie, Punk, Electronic, Indie Pop, Taiwan Rock and Ex-pat Rock and two categories for events:
Venues and Festivals. Each music category will have a journal style introduction
to the scene preceding listings of labels and bands. Under each band's section
you will find a picture followed by a story about the band, possibly an
anecdote. If the band has a CD or a demo I will do a review and, if possible,
post a downloadable mp3. Of course the site wouldn't be complete without links
to the bands and labels. Enjoy.
To the foreigners on Taiwan who are reading, I ask you to
respect the island and its various sounds. Be open to what you hear. Don't be
too quick to judge. There is creative, original and energetic music out there,
and I'm sure you have friends back home that might be interested in it.
To anybody with a love for indie music and the indie
spirit, please discover Taiwan. These musicians put a lot of heart into what
they are doing. They struggle against tradition which doesn't readily accept
their making a carreer out of playing western guitar music. Consequently, they
often have to make peace with their parents over making this music. They are
also continuously at odds with government, which is a non-stop tug-of-war battle
between Taiwan independence and re-unification with China. More importantly,
government often sponsors music events such as the Say Yes to Taiwan concert,
yet demands that all Taiwanese males participate in obligatory military service
which is often the end of many bands. Indeed, the Island of Sound is often a
land of contradiction as well.
(Nipples at Say Yes to Taiwan 2004)
To the Taiwanese, I hope that I have made an accurate
presentation of the scene and I hope it serves to make it stronger. I would be
very happy if it helps your music radiate from the island as well as builds
appreciation for your music in Taiwan. While I would really like to see more
people dancing and really getting into the music at your shows, I really want to
see Taiwanese bands have more of an opportunity to tour outside of Taiwan. When
it comes to getting recognition in the intenational market, I sense some
hesitation from Taiwanese musicians. Sometimes, I believe that many Taiwanese
indie bands have a self-confidence problem. On several occasions I've talked to
Taiwanese musicians about the difference between Taiwanese bands and western or
Japanese indie bands, and they mention that the level of the latter is much
greater. I don't believe this is always true. While Japanese and western bands
have much less political and cultural pressure than Taiwanese bands, and
consequently, more time to develop their skills and style, they often lack the
"heart" that shows through in their Taiwanese counterparts. Especially at this
point in music history with pseudo-underground, hyper-stylized hipster bands
taking over the air waves, many "indie" bands opt for style and fashion over a
true love and dedication for the music. Taiwanese underground bands have less of
a fashion sense and emit more of a sense of urgency, intensity and honesty
which, if it doesn't always show through at weekend performances at The Wall,
becomes more evident at the bigger festivals. And more often than not, these
bands truly demonstrate skill and creativity that equals Japanese and western
independent music.
But why should we talk about music in terms of levels anyway? How can we
measure expression where the lights are low in the underground? In fact, your
music has deeply impressed me. After being in Taiwan for a little over year,
meeting creative people and seeing fantastic performances, I've decided to
return to NY. While I miss your shows every day, I'm tired of dancing in a crowd
by myself. I haven't given up on this island, maybe just a rest. Some of you
have become good friends, and some of you have made me want to be creative on my
own. I can never forget your music. I will take it wherever I may go and I'll
tell the people I meet that I've been to the Island of Sound.
(Me at The Wall, Chasing Sparrow in the Air (Photo:
Eatbrain))
Addendum
Since I have already explained the ideas behind the project, I feel I should
add a little more about who I am and how to contact me. Before embarking on a
trip to teach English in Taiwan I received a degree in Anthroplogy, French and
Linguistics from the State University of NY at New Paltz. Hence, I've tried to
make this project a little deeper than simple rock criticism. While I have used
my background to help me in some ways, I have not done any formal preparation
involving field work or hypothesis testing. I've simply made some friends, gone
to rock shows and noted some basic observations. Therefore, much of what I state
on this site is based on first-hand experience and inference. If anyone has any
complaints please e-mail me. I am an amateur and self taught web-designer. I've
tried my best to make everything aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow. I would also
be thankful for any advice involving design and graphics. All the photos were
taken by me except where noted (special thanks to Eatbrain). If the photographer
is unkown I would gladly include his or her name. If anyone would like to be
removed from this website, e-mail me. I've tried to keep this positive, however,
one of my goals is to be objective as well. There is no way of separating raw
experience from my personal bias, so I've tried to make sense out of my
experiences in a clear and straightforward manner. If any one has any
suggestions or would like to make any contributions please email me. Finally,
the bands included on this site are primarily the ones that I have had personal
experiences with. I know there are many other bands all over Taiwan. I saw
several at Spring Scream 2005 that really piqued my interest. I would like this
site to be an ongoing project. So I will look into accepting contributions once
the whole site is finished. Again, please feel free to e-mail me with any
considerations at islandofsound(at)gmail.com.
-Marty S. Hodulick
