‘Get on
board’ goes the refrain in the midst of ‘Trip to Cairo’, the second song on
Dirty Fingers’ new album
How'd I Turn So Bad? And it’s hard to escape the sense that this order applies to
the whole Dirty Fingers project: either get on board or get left behind.
The
Shanghai-formed quartet’s live shows can feel like a runaway train in gig form.
With no set-lists, regularly inebriated performers and a fervent fan base, the
shows crackle with an unpredictable, chaotic, almost out-of-control energy. Despite
the underlying sense that the whole thing could come off the rails at any
moment, it’s near-impossible not to enthusiastically jump aboard.
Frontman
and lyricist
Guan Xiaotian is the personification of rock singer swagger, to
the point that when he’s performing ‘I Like Your Girlfriend Too’ it’s a genuine
cause for concern for even the most stable of relationships. Guitarist Bing
Xiaohai and bassist and principle composer Zhang Haiming exude a casual cool,
often appearing as bothered about hitting the right notes as they are about
where the next drink and cigarette is coming from. And the whole spectacle is
propelled by regularly shirtless Brazilian drummer Ale Amazonia who seems
intent on pounding the drums into complete submission. It’s messy, but intoxicating – and enormous
fun.
How'd I Turn So Bad? somehow distills all of this into an album. The record is spliced together from two largely as-live sessions: one
on the floor of Beijing gig venue Yugong Yishan (which ironically they’ve never
actually played a show at) and another huangjiu-fuelled
affair with producer Li Ping in Little Wizard’s Shaoxing rehearsal space.
The result is a
12-track blast of attitude-laden not-give-a-fuckery, with whirlwind punk instrumentation
smashed together with wry, sometimes vindictive lyrics on songs such as ‘Fake
Rock Star’ and ‘Arkham Who?’ (watch below). There's little subtlety on display, but as Guan puts it, the LP is 'not flawless but the right expression of our natural gift.'
The album
is being released through Maybe Mars and features involvement from Chinese
post-punk godfather Yang Haisong, but bares little resemblance to the PK14
frontman’s oeuvre on the label. ‘He was the sound engineer, not the producer,’
explains Amazonia. ‘Maybe Mars gave us a choice of producers and we chose
ourselves. Haisong recorded us but didn’t really say anything – I don’t think
it’s really his style – but it’s awesome that we don’t sound like anything else
on the label. We don’t want to become part of the Beijing clique.’
Despite
Maybe Mars being one of China’s most influential rock labels, Dirty Fingers decided
to sign a one album, one tour deal. In keeping with the strong DIY ethic that
once saw them put together their own 33-province tour, the band are intent on
going it alone.
‘For us to have a sustainable relationship with Maybe Mars, we
knew we couldn’t be their bitches,’ says Amazonia, whose day job running the
capital’s White Tower venue coincidentally sees him answer to Maybe Mars
founder Michael Pettis. ‘We don’t want to depend on other people,’ adds Amazonia.
The sense
of being on the outside naturally makes the band a magnet for others who don’t
feel part of the mainstream. ‘We’re a bad influence of course from their
parents’ perspective, but it’s important that Dirty Fingers is here, to feedback
to these young kids,’ says Amazonia. ‘It’s fucked up to think that in a city as
big as this everyone is happy with their situation. Some kids need a band like
this.’
Occasionally
however, this can attract the wrong kind of attention. Last year, the band went
through a lengthy ordeal with a stalker, which turned particularly nasty when
she started reporting them to the police for various alleged misdemeanours. The quartet – who at the time were
living together in Yangpu district – were ultimately put in prison for several
days on drugs offences, a history that gives the album title a more serious
edge. Amazonia escaped deportation by a whisker, while Guan still has to regularly return home to Hangzhou for urine tests.
Few
would’ve blamed Dirty Fingers if they’d decided at this point that it wasn’t
worth carrying on, but instead Amazonia says the experience made them wise up
and become stronger. ‘For us it was worth it – the band is good and we have an
organic chemistry. We’re family now, more than family. We see it as a second
chance, but we know there can’t be any fucking around now. If you want to be a
legendary band – which is the goal we’ve talked about since the beginning – you
have to get shit straight.’
With this
new sense of purpose, the band is now targeting global domination. ‘We need to
go abroad,’ says Amazonia. ‘Not just for the sake of it, but because we really
want to build an audience. That’s the game we’re trying to play.’
Before
Dirty Fingers are unleashed on an unsuspecting overseas market, they’re taking
off across China once more - and their Shanghai
homecoming promises a riotous Christmas Eve at Yuyintang.
