I'm kind of jealous of Zach Mexico. He writes books and poetry, plays in bands and speaks Chinese. He's well set for whatever THE FUTURE throws him at with MAD SKILLZ like those.
His new-ish book is China Underground out earlier this year from Soft Skull Press/Pop Matters (Review on Deckfight here). Zach even has TV talents such as displayed here in a piece about China's Tsingtao Beer on Current TV:
Zach took a few minutes to answer a few questions about China Underground.
1) Have you heard about or caught up with any of the characters since the writing of the book? Are most of them still on the same path?
Yeah I've seen a bunch of them. The screenwriter character and I just went surfing together in Hainan Island. Everyone is still doing pretty much the same thing, and no one has changed.
2) I saw in the liner notes that you spent some time with Current TV in China during the Olympics. How was that experience and what type of effect did the Olympics have on the Chinese underground culture, if any?
A lot of clubs were shut down and concerts were cancelled. A few of the coolest places in Beijing were rented out as corporate suites for the duration of the Games, which was kind of a bummer because we didn't have as many places to go at night.
3) Do you think there has always been this type of "unexplored underground" in China? Or is it really just the outgrowth of capitalism that now allows some to form punk rock bands or to pursue their art?
For sure, I think there has been an artistic underground -- look at Lu Xun and Shen Congwen and some writers from the beginning of last century. Now it's just different: anything you do that's not directly related to making money is subversive in some way, because this cash-focus is just such a dominant paradigm.
4) The story of Hassan in "The Uighur Jimi Hendrix" really stuck for me--maybe just because of his confidence and brashness. Which stories do you find yourself continuing coming back to or remembering? Or is too hard to pick a favorite, like trying to choose a favorite child?
I like them all. The ones I always think about were the ones that didn't get finished for one reason or another. There was a lot of great stuff in some of those, and I just think: what if, what if!
5) Also, kind of the oddest 'underground' story to me was the Killing People Club one. I don't know it just seems like an odd game to create such fanaticism. Was that the only game/club like that at the time that created such a frenzy or was there a lot of other type gatherings--something like a really popular Gin Rummy fad that you just didn't decide to about? Are the Killing People Clubs still going strong?
They are still going strong. People are really into Magic: the Gathering now, or a homespun equivalent. I agree that the game was odd, and there were surely other games - tons of my friends spend most of their lives playing mah-jongg, and others play games online.
6) Finally--working on any new writing or band projects?
There will be new albums from both my bands out in January: The Octagon is releasing "WARM LOVE AND COOL DREAMS FOREVER" on Serious Business Records, and Gates of Heaven are putting out a greatest-hits compilation called "GOLDEN MASTER."
Right now I'm hard at work on another book about China, as well as a surf-noir screenplay set in Hainan Island.
More after the jump...
Showing posts with label china underground. Show all posts
Showing posts with label china underground. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
review: China Underground by Zachary Mexico
Q&A with Zachary Mexico tomorrow!
China Underground
by Zachary Mexico
Soft Skull, 2009
Thankfully this is not some "gotcha" piece on Chinese youth culture. Thankfully this is not a trend-stirring book about "The Future of The Chinese People." Thankfully this book did not try to add a provocative subtitle like “China Underground: The Chinese Punk Subculture and What You Need to Do Now About It.” Thankfully, Mexico never takes such condescending tones to his readers, to his subjects, to himself. Instead Mexico develops a wonderful balance between fascinating narrative subjects and the slices of history that are necessary to understand their lives.
So Mexico travels to different parts of the country and profiles several characters of an authentic underground, starting with a blogger-photographer who stumbled into his craft, to the illegal distribution of ketamine, to massage/prostitution/escort services to guitarists and punk rockers. Mexico is right in telling these particular stories—they create an intriguing and diverse picture of China’s landscape, while also allowing him time to place bits and pieces about China’s energy woes and increasing economic development.
One chapter is what Mexico calls the “Uighur Jimi Hendrix,” about a lackadaisical, but talented guitar player named Hassan who is “Chinese, and he is not Chinese.” Born in the Xinjian Uighur Autonomous Region, Mexico describes Hassan as appearing “as Middle Eastern rather than Asian” and speaks English like Jeff Spicoli. Mexico gives the impression that Hassan knows how unusual he is, and he uses it to his own benefit in taking advantage of friends’ houses and rides all while honing his music. Mexico follows Hassan to a bureaucratic office to get a DSL connection, reinforcing the strange contrast of a partially-Americanized Chinese youth without the full access of one—Hassan is American, but not American, embracing many of the slacker stereotypes yet without the complete access of America; he is Chinese, but not Chinese. Somehow in this same section, Mexico delivers a great historical account of the ethnic minorities involved in Chinese government and the different provinces that they come from. Its these touches that makes Mexico’s stories useful beyond their funny anecdotes—it teaches just as much as it intrigues.
All of Mexico’s stories center on a main character, but often lead to places unexpected. A chapter on a screenwriter leads to a breakdown of the Chinese educational system and the methodology for developing Chinese films and TV series. Again, it’s a “same, but different” feel regarding the Chinese government. They’ve started down the road culturally to whatever American offers, for better of for worse, but specific hiccups and tweaks make it distinctly Chinese as Xiaoli, the screenwriter, must navigate China’s complicated censorship.
Mexico seems to be the perfect person to find and write about these stories. He studied at Columbia University along with work in China. He knows the language and lived in the country while operating a nightclub before moving back to the States. He’s the perfect translator, so to speak—a smart guy with a keen sense of the "hip and cool" and the perceived "hip and cool." He’s deft at revealing his access points only when they’re interesting or come about due to unusual circumstances, otherwise the reader is left to amaze at Mexico’s great access and journalistic ability.
More than history, more than short stories and anecdotes, China Underground is a great mix of the high and low nature that it so courageously documents.
More after the jump...
China Underground
by Zachary Mexico
Soft Skull, 2009
Thankfully this is not some "gotcha" piece on Chinese youth culture. Thankfully this is not a trend-stirring book about "The Future of The Chinese People." Thankfully this book did not try to add a provocative subtitle like “China Underground: The Chinese Punk Subculture and What You Need to Do Now About It.” Thankfully, Mexico never takes such condescending tones to his readers, to his subjects, to himself. Instead Mexico develops a wonderful balance between fascinating narrative subjects and the slices of history that are necessary to understand their lives.
So Mexico travels to different parts of the country and profiles several characters of an authentic underground, starting with a blogger-photographer who stumbled into his craft, to the illegal distribution of ketamine, to massage/prostitution/escort services to guitarists and punk rockers. Mexico is right in telling these particular stories—they create an intriguing and diverse picture of China’s landscape, while also allowing him time to place bits and pieces about China’s energy woes and increasing economic development.
One chapter is what Mexico calls the “Uighur Jimi Hendrix,” about a lackadaisical, but talented guitar player named Hassan who is “Chinese, and he is not Chinese.” Born in the Xinjian Uighur Autonomous Region, Mexico describes Hassan as appearing “as Middle Eastern rather than Asian” and speaks English like Jeff Spicoli. Mexico gives the impression that Hassan knows how unusual he is, and he uses it to his own benefit in taking advantage of friends’ houses and rides all while honing his music. Mexico follows Hassan to a bureaucratic office to get a DSL connection, reinforcing the strange contrast of a partially-Americanized Chinese youth without the full access of one—Hassan is American, but not American, embracing many of the slacker stereotypes yet without the complete access of America; he is Chinese, but not Chinese. Somehow in this same section, Mexico delivers a great historical account of the ethnic minorities involved in Chinese government and the different provinces that they come from. Its these touches that makes Mexico’s stories useful beyond their funny anecdotes—it teaches just as much as it intrigues.
All of Mexico’s stories center on a main character, but often lead to places unexpected. A chapter on a screenwriter leads to a breakdown of the Chinese educational system and the methodology for developing Chinese films and TV series. Again, it’s a “same, but different” feel regarding the Chinese government. They’ve started down the road culturally to whatever American offers, for better of for worse, but specific hiccups and tweaks make it distinctly Chinese as Xiaoli, the screenwriter, must navigate China’s complicated censorship.
Mexico seems to be the perfect person to find and write about these stories. He studied at Columbia University along with work in China. He knows the language and lived in the country while operating a nightclub before moving back to the States. He’s the perfect translator, so to speak—a smart guy with a keen sense of the "hip and cool" and the perceived "hip and cool." He’s deft at revealing his access points only when they’re interesting or come about due to unusual circumstances, otherwise the reader is left to amaze at Mexico’s great access and journalistic ability.
More than history, more than short stories and anecdotes, China Underground is a great mix of the high and low nature that it so courageously documents.
More after the jump...
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