Tight pants, cool haircuts and rock music. They’re commonplace, even cliché, in the United States, but they’re now the icons of a complex transformation in China.

The country’s ever-growing consumer culture almost requires an increased sense of individuality and its own counterculture. And considering the shape and energy of its emerging underground music scene, it’s hard not to project a parallel mindset onto China similar to that of the United States in the 1960s and ’70s.

But photographer Matthew Niederhauser, whose new book Sound Kapital documents the newly formed underground Beijing rock scene, says such projection is a mistake.

“Too often,” says Niederhauser, “I see journalists who parachute into Beijing for a few days seeking out performers who will feed them controversial quotes.” The motivations of these bands, he says, are not so easily classified. “The music scene is not about revolution right now, but about embracing an alternative, creative and open lifestyle in Beijing — something that China desperately needs.”

Niederhauser became immersed in Chinese culture as he traveled through the country and researched its urban development and the impact of cultural tourism in Tibet. In 2007 he stumbled upon a small but passionate group of rockers in Beijing who stood apart from cultural norms. He picked up a camera and started shooting. After two years he had an impressive collection of band photos and a unique understanding of the scene.

LISTEN: “Some Surprises Come Too Soon,” by P.K. 14 http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/12-pk14-some-surprises-come-too-soon.mp3

China, according to Niederhauser, “continues to face a litany of challenges.” Many of these stem from its “relentless industrialization and embracement of a free market economy that tends to reinforce mindless consumerism.” To which, these bands are a response.

Oh yeah, and the music is good, too. A handful of bands from the Beijing scene have recently toured the United States, drawing big crowds of fans.

Read on for arresting photos from Niederhauser’s book and his take on China’s shot of adrenaline into the complacency of rock music. You can also hear songs from the compilation CD that comes with Sound Kapital .

Top photo: Liu Liu

Bottom photo: Possibly the Beijing underground’s biggest and most influential band, P.K. 14 put on an epic rock show.

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: As an indie rock fan in the United States, I don’t feel like a similar scene could exist here anymore without the bands being marginalized as posers and hipsters. But in your photos there seems to be an authenticity in the subjects that can’t be faked. Is this just my perception as a Westerner looking in, or do you think there’s something about really tough circumstances in China leading to more authentic rock and attitude?

Niederhauser: The socioeconomic circumstances of China cannot be divorced from the music scene. Beijing is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. I originally returned in 2007 to begin a project documenting urban development and nouveau riche leisure activities.

I feel that if anything bonds these musicians together, is that they are repelled by and don’t wish to participate in a largely vacuous and inherently unsustainable consumer culture taking hold of China. While they might not brazenly attack the government, their embrace of such a fringe lifestyle along with the music they produce is a powerful statement in and of itself. This choice comes with a social stigma that is hard to imagine outside of China.

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LISTEN: “Beijing Is Not My Home,” by Demerit http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/18-demerit-beijing-is-not-my-home.mp3

There certainly is something authentic about the burst of creativity in Beijing’s music scene, and it definitely stems from some of the tougher circumstances performers face there. I am not saying this can’t happen in the United States anymore, but compared to my own experience in New York before returning to China, the performers in Beijing have an unaffected air that I couldn’t really find in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Seeing concerts in venues like D-22, Yugong Yishan, MAO Livehouse and 2 Kolegas simply blew me away my first month back in Beijing. I could never have imagined something like that occurring when I first lived there in 2000.

I feel the music scene in the United States is getting a bit too comfortable. It seems to be bored with pleasure and reconciled to churning out a lot of the same shit to feed media giants and booking agencies. Performers in China continue to struggle to make ends meet in a society that marginalizes anyone who marches to a different beat. They embrace a way of life that we tend to cut down with irony or scoff at in United States.

Top photo: Wang Jiang

Bottom photo: Demerit

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: The songs from the Sound Kapital compilation sound really well produced. Where are these bands recording? Is there a burgeoning studio scene growing in parallel with the bands, or are they using old studios previously used to record other types of music?

LISTEN: “Cat,” by The Gar http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/07-the-gar-cat.mp3

Niederhauser: The bands use many different established and improvised studios in China. There isn’t an Electric Lady Studios or Dischord House in Beijing. Some bands even travel abroad to record like P.K. 14. Still, even with the current wave of solid releases, the problem isn’t a lack of good studios, but a lack of good producers.

Rock and punk in China is just taking root, and it’s only been in the past few years that the music scene has reached a critical mass that seems to perpetuate itself with the support of independent labels. For now, the biggest producers in China are known for churning out cloying pop tunes and rarely take on or know how to approach anything remotely unconventional.

There are some exceptions like Yuli Chen, who works on a lot of independent projects even though he also produced the sound for the Olympics opening ceremony. Some labels like Maybe Mars even import producers such as Martin Atkins, Wharton Tiers and Brian Hardgroove. It’s all very ad hoc, but continues to have a lot of potential.

Top and bottom photos: The Gar

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: If this underground scene is like the ’60s or ’70s in the United States, a lot of these bands could stand to make a lot of money. Could they end up becoming part of the wealth machine that so many of them are rebelling against?

LISTEN: “AV Terminator,” by AV Okobu http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/02-av-okobu-av-terminator.mp3

Niederhauser: There is certainly a lot of hope these bands will in some way gain the recognition they deserve and be able to support themselves solely through their music. Even though most people in China refuse to fork out money for media, there is huge potential in the 1.3 billion people still unaware of such alternative music forms. The burgeoning scene in Beijing could be the tip of the iceberg, when you take the whole country into consideration.

I can only hope that this burst of creativity continues to spark scenes in other cities. Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou already sport steady concert scenes and continue to produce new talent. I think it is only a matter of time until this spreads through the interior of the country.

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As for the wealth machine, it is too early to tell. Converse consistently throws money around and even sponsored a tour for P.K. 14 and Queen Sea Big Shark that met with great success without being overtly commercial. Red Bull and Pepsi also sponsor over-hyped “Battle of the Bands” competitions that many performers refuse to participate in, as the companies try to tie them to their products in an unseemly manner.

There also seems to be big bucks in the large music festivals popping up around the country that can draw up to tens of thousands of kids. Stuff like this is very new to the scene. Unfortunately all of this commercial involvement with larger shows can also draw the conservative eye of the Cultural Ministry, who are more than ready to cut performers off, like they did to foreign bands and Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (ReTROS) for this year’s Modern Sky Festival in October.

Top photo: Zhao Xiao Xi

Bottom photo: The Gar

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: What gear and setup did you use to shoot the portraits?

Niederhauser: I shot all the portraits with a Canon 5D and a single strobe hooked up to a Profoto 7B pack in RAW. The Canon 5D was the first digital camera that I felt really rivaled film in quality. I can easily make 20×24 prints that are supersharp.

LISTEN: “Hard Heart,” by Queen Sea Big Shark http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/01-queen-sea-big-shark-hard-heart.mp3

As for lenses, I relied primarily on the Canon EF 16-35mm L II with my Canon EF 24-70mm filling in the gaps. I also have a lot of film from the music scene that I shot on a 35mm Ricoh GR1V, but when shooting portraits and concerts I really lay into the shutter and sometimes need to take over a thousand shots in a night to get what I want.

Top photo: Misandao

Bottom photo: Queen Sea Big Shark

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: Why did you keep the same backdrop for all the portraits?

LISTEN: “You Can Listen, You Can Talk,” by Carsick Cars http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/04-carsick-cars-you-can-listen-you-can-talk.mp3

Niederhauser: All of the photos are taken against the same exact wall in the back room of D-22. It has a lot of character with its chips and stains, while its ruddy tone allows the person to pop out of the background. More importantly, it ties everyone together. You know all the performers are going to the same place and provides an underlying visual link for Beijing’s music scene.

Top photo: Ruan Ruan

Bottom photo: Li Tie Qiao

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: Do you think there’s something inherently individualistic or rebellious about loud rock music, or are these rockers well-versed in the Western music scenes that they resemble and are emulating them?

LISTEN: “My Great Location,” by Rebuilding the Rights of Statues http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/10-rebuilding-the-rights-of-statues-my-great-location.mp3

Niederhauser: The performers in Beijing are now well-versed in the Western music canon, but their sound is certainly not a simple emulation. Nearly 60 years of rock and punk was suddenly dumped on Chinese youth about 10 years ago, and how they continue to pick it apart and digest the fragments manifests in many different ways.

There are over a dozen highly individualistic acts that continue to amaze me including Xiao He, Carsick Cars, AV Okubu, Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, Lonely China Day, P.K. 14, Snapline, Guai Li, Demerit, Hedgehog and many more.

Rock and punk and even hip-hop and electronica no longer split into clear Western and Eastern divides. No matter where you are in the world, this type of music emerges from urban environments in distinctly different ways. Beijing, for now, is in the middle of creative orgy, and it is hard to see what will come out of the mess.

Top photo: Yao Lan

Bottom photos: Ziyo

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: What reception have these bands had in the United States? Do you think we like the music for its novel origins, or do you find that the music is innovative even if you put it on the same level as U.S. rock?

LISTEN: “Zhong Nan Hai,” by Carsick Cars http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/19-carsick-cars-zhong-nan-hai.mp3

Niederhauser: I just finished a three-week tour of the East Coast with Carsick Cars, P.K. 14, and Xiao He for the Maybe Mars Chinese Underground Showcase. The crowds and other local bands who played with them responded enthusiastically throughout the tour, especially in Washington and New York as well as a number of colleges.

These bands are playing energetic and infectious concerts on a nightly basis. You really can’t plug them as a novelty act. I wouldn’t have spent two years documenting all of the performers if I thought the music sucked in the first place.

Top photo: Atom

Bottom photos: Glamorous Pharmacy

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser

Wired.com: Where do these musicians practice? Are there garages or some equivalent where the bands can rehearse? Or do they have to rent space somewhere?

Niederhauser: There are more and more practice spaces emerging in Beijing and especially in Tongzhou, a nearby suburb where bands flock due to low rents and living costs.

LISTEN: “Sunday Girl,” by Ourself Beside Me http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/06-ourself-beside-me-sunday-girl.mp3

Still, a lot of bands are now complaining about practice spaces being hard to book even as they continue to crop up in back hutongs or cramped rooms attached to basement parking garages around the city. There are definitely notorious spaces that some of the more established bands continually use, but landlords often jack up rates due to noise complaints, or kick people out unexpectedly.

Wired.com: Where do they get their gear? Are there music stores like Guitar Center selling electric guitars and amps, or do they order them online? Or are there boutique music shops?

LISTEN: “Spring House,” by White http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2009/12/05-white-spring-house.mp3

Niederhauser: There are tons of boutique music shops popping up all over the city, especially along Gulou Dongdajie which is near the Drum and Bell Towers in northern Beijing. People also shop online domestically, while companies like Gibson continue to get a foothold by offering instruments to bands for use during recordings. Still, some musicians on the recent Maybe Mars Chinese Underground Showcase in the U.S. were consistently scouring eBay for items they couldn’t find in China.

Photo: Hang Gai

All photos courtesy Matthew Niederhauser