Life and Leisure

Back with a Wave

By Chen Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-09 08:00

It's not been plain sailing for the four members of Queen Sea Big Shark, which instantly became one of Beijing's best-loved bands with the release of its self-titled debut album in 2007.

They followed this up by supporting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Modern Sky Music Festival later the same year, but were forced to take a six-month break in 2008 when the lead singer, Fu Han, was involved in a car accident.

They returned to the music scene with a tour of the United States in 2009 but then decided to take another mini break, in June, because they were exhausted.

Fu started work again as a graphic designer, guitarist Cao Pu went back to being an architect, bassist Wang Jinghan did a part-time job as an English translator and drummer, while Xiao Wu traveled across the nation.

"We simply felt used up," Fu says. "Unless there's a shared idea that's building up something new, it's very hard for us to continue to pour hearts into it, especially if it's something creative."

"It took us three years to write 13 songs for the first album," Fu adds. "We have various ways of making the music - sometimes we just wait for inspiration."

Now, Queen Sea Big Shark is back with its second album, Wave, that was delivered with a trademark electro-rock beat at the band's return party at Yugong Yishan, in Beijing.

Dressed in a flying red cape before stripping down to a fluorescent leotard, Queen Sea Big Shark's lead vocalist Fu Han is a commanding presence on stage.

"Let's go with the wave and get connected," Fu shouts to the crowd as she performs high-pitched electro-dance anthems, like Glow in the Dark and Comxxpuda.

The concept behind the new album is futuristic, making guitar, bass and drum beats that don't sound real.

"We made them sound more like they were produced by a robot or a computer," explains guitarist Cao.

Like many Beijing bands, Queen Sea Big Shark's retro rock style draws strongly on Western influences, such as The Beatles.

"We like the 60s and 70s lifestyles, which were crazy and romantic. We still sing about love, loss and the society we live in, dealing with the emotional, physical and spiritual roller-coaster rides we are experiencing," Fu says.

The four members are not close and seldom hang out together like other bands. They typically finish work on music at home independently and send them to each other on the Internet. Each member develops and adds his/her parts, and after that they do a rehearsal to make the sound more complete.

"This album is not a studio album, it's more like a DIY effort," Cao says.

The success of the work is down to their free spirit and original creations. They design the stage settings and clothes themselves and like to forget the rules.

It was in the spring of 2004, when Fu, a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, was knocked out by a live performance from PK 14. She made a call to her friend, Cao Pu, who is a big fan of heavy metal.

"The show was so cool. How about we make a band ourselves?" she asked.

"OK. I play guitar and you sing," replied Cao.

They formed the band and came up with the name accidentally when they wandered around Beijing's Houhai area.

"I saw a sign saying: 'Don't anyone touch our stuff. We're queen sea big shark.'" Fu says. "Queen Sea Big Shark is a gang name probably. And maybe it determines who we are now."

China Daily