Why? Shijiazhuang dares to call it the City of Rock and Roll Rock | Shijiazhuang | Rock Music

Shijiazhuang, which is jokingly referred to as the capital of the province with the least presence, has recently become popular due to the need to build a "city of rock and roll".

Hong Kong has Beyond, Wenna bands, Beijing has Cui Jian and new pants, Taipei has Mayday and Caodong has no parties, Xi'an has Zhang Chu, Zheng Jun, and Xu Wei, Chengdu has sound toys and secret operations... As a newly emerging industrial city with only over 100 years of history, Shijiazhuang dares to be called the "City of Rock and Roll"?

On July 13th, a news hit the national hot search.

Shijiazhuang Release states that in order to cultivate the soil of rock music in Shijiazhuang and shape a local rock music brand, a series of performances and themed activities will be held to attract fans to "check in" and watch the show. From July to October this year, Shijiazhuang City will hold the "Rock Home Town" - China's "Rock City" music performance season. By hosting a series of large-scale rock music performances, we aim to comprehensively build China's "City of Rock and Roll".

Rock elements in Shijiazhuang subway station

"Can Shijiazhuang play rock in this city?" "Playing rock in the village can go crazy!" "Is this the last stubbornness?" "The official promotes rock, so it doesn't rock anymore." "Why can Shijiazhuang build a 'City of Rock'?"... "

Fate: "Rock Home Town"

Shijiazhuang, also known as "Rock Home Town", is a coincidental name that seems to predict that it will become the "City of Rock and Roll". In fact, this name was born nearly 20 years ago.

When it comes to the history of rock music in Shijiazhuang, one cannot help but mention two rock music magazines: Popular Songs and I Love Rock Music. In 1986, renowned composer, national first-class composer, and former chairman of the Hebei Musicians Association, Cao Xianbang, founded the magazine "Popular Songs". Initially, it was just to adapt to the market of pop music, but from its inception, it happened to catch up with the wave of rock music that had just been introduced to China, so the content of rock music has always been reflected in the magazine. Until early 1999, under the reform work of the then editorial team, this magazine was renamed "Popular Songs Rock".

The magazine "I Love Rock Music" in a coffee shop in Shijiazhuang

However, as "Popular Songs" is an official magazine founded by the Hebei Provincial Art Research Institute, some reports and attitudes related to rock music culture are not suitable to appear in it. At the end of 1999, the revision team of "Popular Songs: Rock" left and founded the "I Love Rock" magazine. This is a monthly audio magazine with an audio and video edition. It issues a high-quality independent music cassette or CD from both domestic and international sources every month, and the magazine comes with it. It has been rated as a professional rock music magazine in the industry, with a wide range of content, depth, and high authority.

In 2006, a reader wrote a letter to "Love Shake" and happened to find that the three characters in Shijiazhuang corresponded to "Rock Home Town". So, based on the reader's letter, the editorial department specially created a special topic to describe the development of rock music in Shijiazhuang, introduce the local musicians in Shijiazhuang and their exchange experiences in participating in local performances.

"So there was the term 'Rock Home Town' as early as 2006," said Duan Lang, the new media manager of Love Shake.

Due to the decline of print media, "Love Shake" transformed from a print version to a new media in 2014. At the end of 2017, "Popular Songs Rock" received a verbal notice from the Hebei Provincial Art Research Institute, requesting a temporary suspension of publication.

"Although these two magazines have ceased publication, they have cultivated the soil of Shijiazhuang rock," said Duan Lang.

Enlightenment: Rock and Roll Comes

In 1984, two years before the establishment of "Popular Songs", American rock bands "Chaoyang Band" and "Miserable Friday" came to China to participate in cultural exchange activities between the two countries, and their first stop was Shijiazhuang. At that time, the reform and opening up had only been 6 years, and Shijiazhuang, as the provincial capital city, had only been 16 years. All young people in the country were eagerly waiting for new culture and new consciousness to fill their minds. The combination of guitar, bass, and drum sets has left those who have not yet bid farewell to the model play feeling a huge shock.

"This should be China's first rock performance, even earlier than the widely recognized 1985 Beijing concert of the band" Weimeng ", said Xing Di, the lead singer of the local rock band" Horizon "in Shijiazhuang." At that time, I was less than 20 years old and could play guitar, but I had never seen that formation. In that closed era, it was so beautiful. "

To this day, Xing Di still vividly remembers that performance. "Although it was a rock music style, its lyrics expressed a lot of world peace and love, allowing people to calm down, feel time, life, and feel the people around them with their hearts.".

This summer, Xing Di returned to the stage and supported the rock music industry in Shijiazhuang with practical actions.

In 1992, Xing Di formed the first rock band in Shijiazhuang - Horizon, and composed 8 songs that year. Among them, "Find a Place to Cry" won the National Public Welfare MTV Award that year. Subsequently, Xing Di resigned from his official job at the Hebei Provincial Song and Dance Theater and chose to "drift north" to reorganize the Horizon Band. In 1997, the first album "Flowers Falling on the Balcony" was published. In 2000, he released his second album "Lucky Day", which sold 100000 copies without any promotion.

In 1997, due to the birth of a child, he gave up the thriving Horizon band and returned to Shijiazhuang, returning to life. "When I came out to buy milk powder for my child, my records were playing on the streets and alleys, with mixed feelings." However, Xing Di never left music. After returning to Shijiazhuang, he started his own recording studio in the "Wonderful Infinite" record store and continued to work on music creation, producing music for multiple film and television dramas such as "Yang Guang's Happy Life".

Due to its strong rock genes, many excellent rock bands have emerged in Shijiazhuang. The band "Universal Youth Inn" has become famous throughout the country with their song "Kill That Shijiazhuang Man", as well as excellent original rock bands such as Relativity, Pulse, Wealth, Dizziness, Planet Striking Trees, Rotating Axis, and Dawn Leaders.

Gene: Always Rock

When it comes to Shijiazhuang, some people will describe it as magical, mediocre, and lost.

More than 100 years ago, it flourished due to trains and was known as the "city pulled by trains". It has less cultural heritage than Xi'an, less prosperity and refinement than Shanghai, and no cultural symbols worthy of admiration. Here, North China Pharmaceutical, Shiyao Group, various cotton mills, steel mills, and coal mines gather, and heavy industry pollution has made it one of the cities with the most severe haze in recent years.

But precisely because Shijiazhuang is a fusion city that gathers from all over the country, it is more inclusive, open, and diverse. The people here are not so hot, and they almost live a routine life, just like the lyrics of the Wannian Youth Hotel, which says, "Get off work at 6 p.m. and change the clothes of the pharmaceutical factory; my wife is cooking porridge, and I go to drink a few bottles of beer; I have lived like this for 30 years..."

Xing Di loves food. Two years ago, he opened a Lanzhou Lamian Noodles restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, and also liked to study the practice of old Beijing fried soy sauce noodles. But when it comes to Shijiazhuang's "specialty" Anhui authentic beef noodles, Xing Di is more excited. "Anhui noodles are too rock and roll".

Authentic Anhui Banmian with Rock Gene in Shijiazhuang

At lunch time, Xing Di ordered a bowl of noodles, plus one or two beef, one Soy egg, and one bean chop. It only cost 23 yuan. He specifically told the boss to put more pepper. The aroma of chili peppers stimulates the deliciousness of beef, and any excipients can perfectly blend with the plate noodles. Just like Shijiazhuang, a tolerant but inconspicuous city, "Plate noodles cannot be eaten too much, at most once a week, because eating too much is addictive."

The personality of the people of Shijiazhuang has given birth to two types of rock music styles. One is explosive from calmness, with a focus on catharsis and metal music; Another type of straightforward narrative, similar to the creative style of the Youth Hotel Band, focuses on describing daily life.

"The pain left by time in Shijiazhuang is a bit too much, and the song of the Ten Thousand Year Youth Hotel can easily hit people's hearts. It happens to tell the story of this era and us who live in it," said Duan Lang.

In recent years, Shijiazhuang has indeed been rock and roll.

In 2006, Han Qiang founded the first Livehouse in Shijiazhuang - Underground Velvet, named after the American rock band "Underground Velvet" founded in 1964. In recent years, almost all domestic rock bands and even many foreign bands have chosen this place as their tour stop. As a result, many well-known rock bands such as second-hand roses and escape plans were able to establish ties with Shijiazhuang.

Han Qiang introduced the underground velvet Livehouse and placed it in a coffee shop he managed

2023 is often referred to as the "first year of music festival revival". This year, these national brand music festivals, including the Strawberry Music Festival of Beijing Modern Sky Company, the Midi Music Festival of Midi Music School, and the Wheat Field Music Festival of Taihe Music Group, have been performed throughout the country, sparking a wave of tourism consumption wherever they go. However, they have not yet arrived in Shijiazhuang.

These national music festivals have not been held in Shijiazhuang due to various factors, but Shijiazhuang has not become a "desert" for music festivals. It has been quietly building its own music festival brand - Underground Velvet has held two "Hebei Original Music Festivals" since 2015, and Shijiazhuang enterprise Starlight Media has been holding Starlight Music Festivals since 2013, once a year. Currently, it has a certain regional brand influence.

Future: Continuing Rock and Roll

Shijiazhuang has become a hot topic again for creating a "rock city", but this "red" has been mixed with a bit of "black" - it has not received the same unanimous praise as "Zibo Barbecue", and many related videos and articles are filled with questioning voices: many of these questioning voices come from the local area of Shijiazhuang.

"I don't understand why I have to make sarcastic remarks about my hometown. Shijiazhuang is working hard to create a brand new IP for itself. It also wants to follow the path of Zibo, and it needs a prominent feature. Why do people always think that my hometown can't do it? We should support it." Netizen Chen Zizi refuted on social media.

However, Ms. Feng, a "Zhuangli person" who works in Beijing, is full of understanding of the actions of the Shijiazhuang government and the reactions of the people: "As the provincial capital city, Shijiazhuang has always been like a small transparent city. This time, daring to step forward and do something has really mustered up courage. Perhaps the hot searches in Shijiazhuang in the past were negative, and we Shijiazhuang people are not as confident as Zibo people, afraid of not doing well."

If a city is afraid of not doing well, it will obviously not make further progress. This "official announcement", whether it is "true red" or "fake black", shows that there is a restless and enterprising heart in Shijiazhuang, which has been silent for a long time - it can be Beijing's "moat" or its own "Rock Home Town".

"Breaking free from everyone's' stereotypes' and creating a refreshing 'IP' in Shijiazhuang is already quite rock and roll," said a rock musician from Shijiazhuang. Xing Di also believes that there are many interpretations of rock spirit, not all of which are rebellions. "Have you ever heard of the Beatles? As rock benchmarks, many of their music is also full of love and positive content." Imagine "once sang the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics." Xing Di couldn't help but hum.

In the eyes of most spectators, Shijiazhuang has indeed started to rock, but will it really continue to rock and become the true "City of Rock and Roll"?

This is not only the answer that rock musicians in Shijiazhuang want to know, but also a question that the Shijiazhuang government has been exploring for the past six months. "In fact, the slogan proposed by Shijiazhuang this time is not just a momentary trend, but has already been considered and researched for a period of time," Duan Lang revealed.

According to his recollection, in 2021, relevant parties in Shijiazhuang proposed the idea of creating rock culture symbols. Due to the impact of the epidemic, specific plan discussions were officially launched at the beginning of this year. On July 13th, local media reported that Shijiazhuang will hold the "Rock Home Town" - China's "Rock City" music performance season. "I didn't expect this news to have a nationwide response."

Han Qiang said, "During this period, Duan Lang and Xing Di participated in several seminars organized by relevant parties. There were debates and compromises during the discussions. As ordinary people in Shijiazhuang, I really hope that this time our city can be free to do something."

"To become a viable 'city of rock', Shijiazhuang needs to have its own spiritual core and promote the city rock spirit that everyone generally agrees with." Xing Di didn't mind expressing his suggestion. He believes that this spirit needs to be established by all people in Shijiazhuang. "After the epidemic, we need a special spirit and spirit to develop," he said

To develop a city, it is not enough to rely solely on spiritual and cultural aspects. It also requires industries. According to the Statistical Bulletin of Shijiazhuang City, in 2022, the added value of the primary industry in the city accounted for 7.9% of the total GDP; The proportion of added value in the secondary industry is 32.9%; The proportion of added value in the tertiary industry is 59.3%, which is close to the national average level.

"But as a provincial capital city, Shijiazhuang needs to attract more employment, improve people's income and living standards, and further increase the proportion of the tertiary industry." Di Minghui, a special researcher at the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that Shijiazhuang can take advantage of the opportunity to build a "rolling city" and do a good job in the foundation and service facilities of the music upstream and downstream industry chain, in order to attract more people to come to Shijiazhuang.

The recent weekend performances held in Shijiazhuang have attracted many citizens and tourists to watch

As music industry practitioners, Xing Di and Han Qiang both hope that the Shijiazhuang government can provide good services, just like Zibo.

"For example, the old site of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory, which witnessed the industrial development of Shijiazhuang in the city center, can be used to create a rock band incubation block and build a top tier Livehouse in the country, with a focus on the future." Thinking about the future, Xing Di excitedly said, "I know rock people so well that wherever there is a good Livehouse, they will compete to go without even inviting them. When the top band comes, the audience also comes."

Di Minghui also pointed out that compared to first tier and new first tier cities, Shijiazhuang has lower living costs and is suitable for the growth and development of emerging bands.

Han Qiang proposed that in addition to providing good services for the rock industry, the government also needs to provide good services in municipal management, such as allowing fireworks to be set off at the opening ceremony of the Hebei Original Music Festival, avoiding posting stickers near public welfare performances, and appropriately relaxing motorcycle control on weekends

"Now that Shijiazhuang has its own Livehouse brand and outdoor music festival brand, it indicates that the city of Shijiazhuang does have its own rock music genes. However, if I want to become a true 'city of rock', I hope to introduce more national outdoor music festival brands and invite international high-quality rock bands to perform in Shijiazhuang. Competition and diversity can promote development," suggested Duan Lang.

Episode: Rock Together

Although Shijiazhuang has just taken the first step towards building a "city of rock", it has already plucked the strings of the hearts of rock enthusiasts.

Han Qiang brought his good friend Duan Lang and said, "Can 'Love Shake' resume publication now?"

Several of Xing Di's rock band friends in Beijing called him and said, "Teacher Xing, Shijiazhuang has built a 'Rock City'. Do we have to go?"