American D.I.Y. Musician Establishes A Base In China

After writing about 88tc88 and the potential for outside acts to develop an audience in China, I heard from Aaron Gibson, a DIY'er in every sense of the word, who has performed in China and is planning a return visit. Aaron provides insights into going it alone and his experience of reaching crowds of enthusiastic locals outside of major East Coast cities echo those shared by Jack Doom of Corrupt Absolute, a band that has made multiple low-budget tours of China.

Aaron Gibson is a singer/songwriter/bass player who now plays solo. It's been a difficult transition from working in bands but, after losing a guitarist while on tour, he decided to make a go of it and has not looked back.

Aaron's mother has been teaching at a university in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province for 12 years and is actually well known for her work with student speech teams. Like many Chinese cities, Nanchang contains millions but does not have the cosmopolitan elements of Beijing and Shanghai.  However, that may actually help account for the response Aaron received on his first visit.

Aaron visited Nanchang a couple of years back with plans to perform for students at the University and immediately encountered a serious cultural difference. Many students at the school were interested in the show but believed they needed a more specific invitation to attend. Nevertheless, over 450 students came with connections to his mother's classes. This show turned into a series of local performances featuring enthusiastic audiences, many of whom were unaware of the bass guitar as an instrument. Among other events, he briefly appeared on China Central Television.

Since then Aaron has visited again without performing but began preparing for an upcoming trip in August in which he will be playing as much as possible. Though he may also perform in more well known cities, including Hong Kong, his focus is on opportunities in Jianxi and, according to Jack Doom of Hawaiian metal act Corrupt Absolute, that may be his best bet:

"I prefer to play the small places the big bands won't go. We'll go to small places in China where they've never seen a white guy and we'll get three or four hundred people at a show."

In fact, Doom believes that major cities like Shanghai and Beijing are already on the way to being saturated and when he's played in clubs where bigger acts perform, he says:

"you're playing to 40 people. I'd rather go to a city I've never heard of and play to 150 or 200 people that are gonna bust a club down because they're so crazy."

Doom advocates hanging out, getting to know folks and building on those contacts. Aaron also took the route of jumping in and being open to each opportunity as it was presented while getting to know local folks. For example, he met members of a local band that said they would set up a show at which he will headline if he would also play with them as the opening act. In general, he found folks really interested in and impressed by his work despite or because of their lack of exposure to Western culture.

Given that online music piracy is a huge part of the equation in China, Aaron is not planning on trying to make money by selling music, though he will be checking out the services of 88tc88. He says young people will buy merch such as tshirts and he's working with a company in Xiangxi to have shirts waiting for him when he arrives.

I'll be keeping up with Aaron's experiences with 88tc88 and his eventual trip to China for a future report. I'm also researching other resources for musicians who wish to establish a base in China. Despite the difficulties and cultural differences, performing there offers the chance to connect directly with unjaded music lovers, an experience increasingly difficult to have in the West and in such well-established markets as Japan.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and music industry resources at Music Biz Blogs. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.