Wild Children
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History
In February 1995, Wild Children was founded in Hangzhou by Zhang Quan and Xiao Suo. In May, Zhang Quan and Xiao Suo went back to their birth place: Lanzhou, a city in Northwestern China. They spent almost a whole year to investigate on and collect Chinese Northwestern folk music. During the time, they started from Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, walked along the Yellow River until arriving in Inner Mongolia.
In March 1996, Zhang Quan and Xiao Suo came to Beijing and practiced with a couple of local musicians.
On January 1, 1997 at Da Xi Club, Beijing, Zhang Quan and Xiao Suo, together with Zhang Jian (mouth harmonium), Yue Hao Kun (bass guitar) and Yu Wei Min (drums) performed with the name of "Wild Children" for the first time. In March, Zhou Guo Bin, a drummer coming from Sichuan Province joined in Wild Children and started to use hand drums transformed from traditional Chinese drums. On August 23, Wild Children (Zhang Quan, Xiao Suo and Zhou Guo Bin) held a special performance in Lanzhou. In October, Zhou Guo Bin left Wild Children. Zhang Quan and Xiao Suo continued to stay in Beijing, performed occasionally at different places. During the time, Ye Hong Min played drums for Wild Children temporarily.
In June 1998, Gao Hui joined in Wild Children, practicing as a drummer.
In early 1999, Wild Children recorded its first demo tape Incantation (Demo) and performed on February 6th in Beijing for demo tape launch. In November, Wild Children was invited by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London to participate in the "Beijing in London" Festival. Gao Hui left Wild Children during the same year.
In June 2000, with the participation of Zhou Guo Bin (hand drums), Wild Children performed at "French Music Festival" held at the French School in Beijing. Li Zheng Kai (bass guitar) and Dong Zi (ganzas) also participated in the festival. In July, Zhang Wei (accordion), Li Zheng Kai (bass guitar) and Chen Zhi Peng (hand drums) formally joined in Wild Children. On August 24, Wild Children performed at a bar called "THE LOFT" in Beijing and produced its first live recording CD: In The Loft.
In the year 2001, Wild Children performed weekly at River Bar in Beijing's Sanlitun area. On May 18, Wild Children participated in the "New Youth New Music" Festival held at Peking University, Beijing.
In May 2002, Wild Children participated in 2002 Beijing MIDI Music Festival. In June, Wild Children released underground its first album Incantation. In August, Wild Children participated in LiJiang Snow Mountain Festival 2002 held in Lijiang, Yunnan Province. In November, Wild Children was invited to perform at a bar "ARK" in Shanghai, and produced its second live recording CD: Wild Children Shanghai ARK Live.
In February 2003, Wild Children, together with the guest performer Zhang Wei (percussion), participated in 2003 Hong Kong Arts Festival "Beijing Folk Rock".
On February 21st, 2004, they performed at the New Get Lucky Bar. Following that concert the band was off and on again, however did not further perform this year. In March, their song 消失 was included in the Pocket Music 3 magazine. On October 30th, Xiao Suo died. On November 3rd, the band re-united, however with the exception of Long Guo, no original band member was left in the lineup. On November 4th, they hold a memorial concert for Xiao Suo at the New Get Lucky bar, entitled: 為野孩子楽隊小索送行. Thereafter they do not use the name Wild Children for their activities anymore.
In September 2005, their song 消失 is included in the compilation record Pocket Music Hits Vol. 1 (VA). Furthermore their record Yellow River Ballad, a live recording from August 23rd 1997, is released.
In 2008, their record In The Loft was reprinted and re-released.
In December 2009, their song 離開 was included in the So Rock! Magazine (no. 93)
Discography
Major releases
Yellow River Ballad - 2005
Shanghai Ark Live - 2002, November
Incantation - 2002, June
In The Loft (Live) - 2000, August
Incantation (Demo) - 1999, February
Compilations
Pocket Music Hits Vol. 1 (VA) - 2005, September
Beijing Band 2001 (VA) - 2003
Midi 2002 Live (VA) - 2002, July
Little Bar 1997-2002 (VA) - 2002, June
Appearances in magazine compilations
- Pocket Music 3 - 2004, March
Appearances in Podcasts
- Dragonradio no. 003 - 2005
Further information
Official pages
Other pages
Articles & Interviews
- Lukas Kirschner (2010), Zeitgenössische Chinesische Folkmusik, published on 1 December 2010
