The Face

From Rock in China Wiki

Background Information
Name (English)	The Face
Name (Chn.)	面孔 / Mian Kong
Origin	Beijing
Genre	Hard Rock, Glam Metal, Heavy Metal, Alternative rock
Years active	1989-1999
Members
Vocals： Chén Huī 陈辉 Bass： Ōu Yáng 欧洋 (Overload, Zheng Jun) Guitar： Fú Níng 符宁 (Yan, Thin Man) Drums： Hé Yán 何岩

[edit] History

[edit] Introduction

The Face is one of the representatives of chn. 2nd generation rock bands starting out at the beginning of the 90s. They were one of the last signings of the famous label Gun Shi (Rolling Rock Rec.), their funky style of rock and metal was quite influencial around that time and their debut a milestone for this genre. The band disbanded around mid or late 90s and reunited around 2006. Bass player Ou Yang has been active till today in bands like Zheng Jun and Overload and he is also a co-owner of the famous Beijing venue Yugong Yishan.

Now the band is signed to chn. new hopeful record label Pilot Records, more glorious deeds are awaiting us from this great band!

[edit] The members

Chen Hui: He started to learn the violin and singing from his child days and he was interested in music and literature. He wrote the lyrics for songs such as Dream (梦) or 飘. After the disbanding of The Face he went on to work on his solo material and released the record 解脱 in 1999.

Ou Yang: He was born into a family of musicians and always had a good grasp and isight. During song writing he always knows how to take the best elements of Western music and include it in his songs. After the disbanding of The Face, he was active in bands such as Overload or worked with Zheng Jun together. He also travelled to the UK studying electronic music production.

Ning Fun: Since childhood he loved music and practised hard. From 1998 to 2002, he was the lead guitarist for Beijing band Thin Man and formed in 2003 the band Yan (艳). In 2006 he returned to The Face.

He Yan: He joined The Face in 2006.

[edit] The Band

The Face formed 1989 in Beijing. It's first song was included in one of China's first rock compilation records, released by the Magic Stone Record Company (魔岩文化) in 1990: Give me a little love (给我一点爱) in China Fire 1 (中国火1). In 1992, their first lead vocalist and their drummer decided to leave the band, giving way for a new lead singer and a new drummer, which stabilized the band lineup, so that the band could start writing new songs. With the change in lineup and the start of their creative song writing, the band also swtiched from a former purely rock attitude towards a more pop metal orientated-music style.

In 1994, they were included in the compilation record Beijing Rock 2 (摇滚北京2) with two songs: Dream (梦) and I am not tired (我不累). Their song Dream was airplayed by more than 20 radio stations nation-wide in their best music charts and the Tianjin cable TV station listed the song for 17 weeks in their charts.

In 1995, they signed with one of the world's five major record companies, BMG, and released their record Instinct of Fire, which is a collection of 10 songs, writing in the past three years. The record included typical hard rock songs, such as Dream or What are you (你是什么), but also featured more pop metal songs such as I need (我需要). The record reached rocket-high sales with 700 thousand copies sold and manifestated itself as a classic rock album in China.

In 1996, the band announced the split of The Face and each member went on to do their solo careers.

[edit] 2005 - 2007

The Face in 2006

In the second half of 2005, the idea of reforming The Face was born and in 2006, the band reformed with the following lineup Vocals： Chén Huī 陈辉, Bass： Ōu Yáng 欧洋, Guitar： Fú Níng 符宁 and Drums： Hé Yán 何岩. On September 10th, they performed at the Beijing Pop Festival 2006. March 16th, 2007, they performed at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. March 24th, they performed again at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. April 27th, they rocked the Mao Live. July 22nd, they performed at the Huhhot 首届鄂爾多斯草原揺滾音楽会 music festival in Inner Mongolia. July 28th, they performed at the Starlive for the 記念『在路上』出版五十周年 event. November 16th, they rocked the Yugong Yishan.

[edit] 2008

On January 1st, 2008, they performed during the release party of Reflector's record 成长瞬间 in the HaiDian 展覧館. May 30th, they performed at the Yugong Yishan during a charity concert for the victims of the SiChuan earthquake. June 7th, they performed in Tianjin's 13 Club. June 13th, they performed at Tangshan's 後海音楽倶楽部. Over time, 高鵬宇 has joined on guitars and the band extended their lineup to five members. September 20th, they performed at the Yugong Yishan. At that time He Yan could not participate and Wang Lan acted on his behalf behind the drumkit. October 2nd, they joined the Modern Sky Festival 2008. November 9th, they performed in Tianjin's 紅橋意庫創意園区A庫 at the 天津第三届原創音楽季群英会 music festival. December 10th, they performed in the Yugong Yishan.

[edit] 2009

The Face in 2009, Shanghai, Photo: Yoshito Katori

On March 27th, 2009, they performed at the New Get Lucky Bar. June 12th, they performed at Nanjing's 古堡 bar. June 13th, they performed at Shanghai Yuyintang. June 14th, they performed at Hangzhou's 旅行者 bar. July 3rd, they performed at the Starlive during the 環境危険の揺滾危険 event. August 30th, they performed during the 夏日領航2009大型音楽季 at the North Gate of the Olympic Stadium. October 2nd they performed as support act for SKID ROW in the Starlive.