The Swamp

From Rock in China Wiki

Contents 1 History 1.1 1994 & 1995 1.2 1996 1.3 2001 1.4 2002 1.5 2003 1.6 2004 1.7 2008 1.8 2009 1.9 2010 1.10 Member photos 1.11 Performance Timeline 1.12 Participated Festivals 1.13 News from the band 2 Discography 2.1 Major Releases 2.2 Compilations 2.3 Appearances in Magazines 2.4 Appearances in Podcasts 2.5 Videos 3 Further Information 3.1 Official Websites 3.2 Other sites 3.3 Interviews 3.4 References

[edit] History

Formed in Spring 1993.

The Swamp, aka Zhaoze, an indie band from China. Their music is regarded as electronic and psychedelic, combined with progressive rock, post rock, and avant-garde electronic music to produce detail, touching, passionate, and boundless tension in the everlasting sadness. With their profound lyrics, The Swamp provides us a dark and beautiful poetic world.

Unique live performance is also a trademark from The Swamp. Apart from drums, guitar, bass, and keyboard, hand sonic, sampler and effects are used in gigs frequently. These additions not only bring innovation to the live environment, but also provide the band greater freedom to create.

The name of “The Swamp” is an analogy of human’s nearby nature until the home of the spirit --- our innermost secret. Both of them are similar in some ways: fed up yet attached to; fixed yet mobile; ruined yet vital. This could be the best explanation to The Swamp’s music.

From the very beginning, The Swamp is accompanying with an independent attitude. Everything is done by themselves, including writing, editing, performing, producing, and recording. Even artwork, CD distribution, and concert coordination are DIY by The Swamp. From 1996 – 2004, The Swamp has hatched and involved in Kaiping Music Festival, which is already an important sign to the rock scene in Southern part of China.

[edit] 1994 & 1995

In 1994, they performed at many universities, gradually changing their early music style towards punk and psychedelia.

In the summer of 1995, they participated in the band competition 曁大麒麟杯校園楽隊大賽, however did not win any awards.

[edit] 1996

何人 joined a college and hence was moving on with his education & career. However A Lai and Kai Liang returned to the band and continued it. May 4th, they performed during the 第一届“南方”五四新青年音楽会 concert. In June they recorded their first demo song 沼泽. The song (沼泽) is broadcasted on five radio stations in e.g. Foshan and Guangzhou and received warm feedback from listeners. In October they appeared in the radio show 省港深勁BAND賀台慶 of Guangzhou radio.

They also participated during the first Kaiping Music Festival.

[edit] 2001

2001 Wuyi South Aestheticism Rock Series Concert

2001 Foshan Popular Frontline Square The Launch of The Album Swamp

2001 Zhuhai Gymnasium Original Rock Concert

[edit] 2002

January 18th, 2002, they performed at the Industrial Oasis bar (華工緑洲 bar). In January 我們都将枯萎 got place no. 1 for three consecutive weeks. February 18th, they performed at the 台山電台春節揺滾音楽会 festival in Taishan. February 26th, they performed at Foshan's 佛山市東建世紀広場 during the 城市民謡夜 四周年元宵音楽会曁≪1997-2001城市民謡夜嘉賓原創作品音楽集≫発行首発式 festival. In June they participate in Zhuhai's Live BAR 沸點楽隊結成5周年記念に参 event. In August 2002, they joined the Yunnan Lijiang The Snow Mountain Music Festival and upon return to Guangzhou, bassist Roy got the message that his daughter 妹妹 got cancer. After a 6 months chemo therapy, the situation worsened and together with the band and friends, several money raising were organised in 2003 as well as the release of the compilation record You are our angel (VA), on which friends and fellow musicians participated and covered the song To our angel for Roy's daughter.^[1]

[edit] 2003

Further in 2003, The Swamp was signed to 89268, an independent record label in Hong Kong.

[edit] 2004

January 10th, 2004, they held a charity concert entitled 救救妹妹 in Kaiping city at the 開平市人民会堂. March 21st, they hold a gig entitled 真愛創造奇跡 in the SOLO bar. This was to commemorate the successful surgery on 妹妹 and to thank everybody on their support. April 4th, they performed in the Guangdong Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences during the 2004 ROCK聚広州 event. April 8th, they performed at the 佛大北院 during the 愛心動感音楽会曁吉協周年晩会 event. April 16th, they performed during the 嶺南学院広州校際楽隊連誼音楽会 event. May 5th, they performed in the 関愛楊梅大型社会募捐活動 event. May 23rd, they performed during the 6th Kaiping Music Festival. May 27th, they performed at the University of Guangzhou during the 広州大学模倣精英大賽 event. Further in May their EP 2 Dimensions is released.

They released 2CDs compilation “Swamp + City” in 2004. In winter the same year, The Swamp kicked off their “Breaking away from the orbit” China tour in 18 cities. After that, The Swamp was often invited to Hong Kong for performances. Media in Hong Kong including MCB Magazine, City Magazine, South China Morning Post, RTHK, etc have interviewed The Swamp, and greatly appreciated their music in new album so as their live performance.

2004-2005 The Swamp "Breaking away from the orbit" China Tour (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xian, Luoyang, Chengdu, Chongdu, Wuhan, Changsha, Qingdao, Kunming, Zhuhai, Kaiping, etc. 18 cities)

2004 Hunan Changsha "Nature's Way Staying High" Live

2004 Chinese Music Media Award Live series: The Swamp qualitative change, radiating in GZ

2004 The 6th Kaiping Music Festival

2004 Guangzhou The 1st Rock in Guangzhou Live

In Feb 2005, The Swamp is the only band from China who joined the performance in 33rd Hong Kong Arts Festival. In April, The Swamp joined The 2nd Pearl River Poem Art Festival with a poet, to present us the beauty of “poem and music”. In June, Jingwen Records released two official CDs Swamp and City. In June, The Swamp participated in the Inner Mongolia Gegentala Grassland Music Festival sharing the stage with Cui Jian, Dou Wei, etc. In October, The Swamp first joined The 6th Beijing Midi Music Festival bringing the rock scene in Southern part of China to Beijing.

2005-2006 Foshan Radio the 8th Anniversary Concert of "City folk night"

2005 The 6th Beijing MIDI Music Festival

2005 Hong Kong the Swamp × Aloks 31G Live

2005 Performance at HK TVB "360°music limitless"

2005 Guangzhou Caribou (UK) + The Swamp "Summer Sweating" Concert

2005 Inner Mongolia Gegentala Grassland Music Festival

2005 Guangzhou The Swamp & friends "Falling into the humid haze" Live

2005 The 2nd Pearl River Poem Art Festival "Republic of Sound"

2005 The 33rd Hong Kong Arts Festival

In 2006, The Swamp released a new EP The Drifting Heart and started the tour which was named “Here comes the wind” in more than 10 different cities in China. During the tour, The Swamp joined The 7th Beijing Midi Music Festival. When the tour finished, they joined Shenzhen China Rock Festival and Zengcheng China Rock Festival, which featured many well-known bands in China, such as Cui Jian, Xu Wei, Tang Dynasty, and so on. The Swamp was glad to be invited and left a great impression for the audiences of their post-rock sound.

2006 Guangzhou "we're together" Live

2006 The 1st Zengcheng China Rock Festival

2006 "Go Party" Hong Kong Asia music party

2006 Shenzhen China Rock Festival

2006 The 7th Beijing MIDI Music Festival

2006 The Swamp "Here comes the wind" China Tour (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jinan, Dalian, etc. 13 cities)

In this year 2007, it will be a fruitful year for The Swamp. They had just released a new single “Time to flow back” on 1 June; and the other half of the year, they are going to release three albums: Lab Yellow Session “Lost dream” (July), “replay/remix” album “The Metamorphosis” and studio album “Xi You Ji” (December).

2007 Lab Yellow Session "Lost dream" Concert

2007 Guangzhou "Band sound never over" Live

[edit] 2008

March 21st they performed live at the Guangzhou University town.

October 3rd, they performed at the 9th Midi Music Festival in Beijing. After their performace, Qingdao magazine REDSTAR caught up with them and interviewed them for their November issue. Asked how the independent music scene in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is like, they answered:

It can be divided into two parts. One is the audience. In the PRD, there are lots of people who like indie music, as Guangdong is one of the important trading ports in China, which enables the people in Guangdong to access western culture. What’s more, the popular culture in HK and Taiwan has a great impact on Guangdong as it is close to these two places. Therefore, in Guangdong, people have different preferences no matter whether it's Chinese or western rock music, or other sorts of indie music. The other part is we don’t have much original music in Guangdong. But recently we have seen more and more people form their own bands, and some of them are truly excellent - particularly A, Golden Cage and Secret Backyard.^[2]

October 26th, 2008, The Swamp got interviewed by Rock in China. Asked on whether they see themselves rather as a band from Guangzhou, a South-Chinese band, a Chinese band or a rock band, Hai Liang responded:

That sounds interesting. In my opinion, I wish to remind myself, The Swamp as a band, should have its own music style and which is also unique to the others. We don’t have to claim our band as rock band, electronic band, or even Guangzhou band and with other additional properties. This is just a way helping people get to know us. However, I can feel that, in south China, especially the beautiful landscape in my hometown as well as the warm feeling local accent & childhood days and all the sweet memory, which indeed changed and influenced our music composition unobtrusively and imperceptibly.^[3]

At the end of November 2008, the band decided to drop their English name The Swamp (literally translated from "沼泽") and adapt the Chinese pinyin "Zhao Ze" (or: zhǎozé).^[4] On December 11th, they performed at Shenzhen's 摇滚.

2008 “Canglangxing•the experimental symphony of Guqin and guitar” The Swamp live in Guangzhou

2008 “The Swamp & friends” China tour (Changsha, Wuchang, Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Nanjing, Hefei, Ningbo, Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,etc.)

2008 University town &「jing」art space “we are together” Space reset music live

[edit] 2009

In January, their song 憧憬之船 is included in the X-Music Magazine no. 381. In February they are being interviewed by Sohu.com. March 7th, they performed in the 191 Space. April 10th, they performed in Qingdao's LaVilla restaurant. April 11th, they performed in Qingdao's MAX 09 festival. April 12th, they performed in Jinan's 班卓音楽 bar. April 18th, they rocked Guangzhou University 城穂石村新覚青年公館2階. April 25th, they performed in Macao's 高等校際学院礼堂. July 24th, they performed in Changsha's Freedom House. July 25th, they performed in Wuhan's VOX bar. July 26th, they performed in Inner Mongolia's Huhhot City during the 第二届緑色旗幟草原音楽節 music festival. September 12th, they performed in the 191 Space during the 声鋭・首届中国後揺音楽節 music festival. On December 14th, their song The drifting heart is featured on the Neocha EDGE blog.^[5]

[edit] 2010

On May 2nd, 2010, they performed on the Tang Stage of the Midi Music Festival 2010. On July 17th, they performed at the Qingyuan Niu Yu Zui Festival 2010.

[edit] Member photos

Hai Liang

Xi Hui

Hai Xun

A Lai

[edit] Performance Timeline

2003 Shanghai "Asia Music Festival"

2003 Guangzhou "France Music Fetival"

2002 Yunnan Lijiang The Snow Mountain Music Festival

2002 Foshan Radio The 4th Anniversary Concert of "City folk night"

2002 Taishan Gymnasium Guangdong Bandsound Spring Festival Concert

2000 The 5th Kaiping Music Festival

1999—2000 The 4th Kaiping Music Festival

1999 Guangzhou "The South Never Lose" Guangdong Bands Live

1998 Guangzhou Luhu South New Rock Concert

1998 The 3rd Kaiping Music Festival

1997 Guangzhou "The Bands Arrive in The City" Rock Concert

1997 The 2nd Kaiping Music Festival

1996 The 1st Kaiping Music Festival

1996 The Anniversary Live of Guangzhou Radio (The bands of Guangzhou, Shenzhen & HK)

[edit] Participated Festivals

Midi Music Festival 2010, May 1st-4th 2010	Qingyuan Niu Yu Zui Festival 2010 - 2010, July	Modern Sky Festival 2009 - 2009, October	Midi Music Festival 2008 - 2008, October
Midi Music Festival 2006, May 2006	Midi Music Festival 2005, October 2005

[edit] News from the band

Feed taken from their blog

[edit] Discography

[edit] Major Releases

The Boat/憧憬之船 EP - 2008, November	The Metamorphosis - 2008, April	Lost Dream - 2007, October	Time to flow back - 2007, June
The Drifting Heart / 心猿 EP - 2006, April	City - 2005, July	The Swamp (Jingwen Release) - 2005, July	Breaking away from the orbit (Tour release) - 2004, October
The Swamp & City - 2004, October (Hongkong Release)	2 Dimensions / 二维 EP - 2004, May	The Doctor / 求医记 (Mini Album) - 2003, September	The Swamp - 2001, October
Red Brick Wall / 红砖墙 EP - 2001, May	Carolane (Mini Album) - 1999	Demo EP - 1997

[edit] Compilations

Midi Music Festival 2005 (VA) - 2006, May

You are our angel (VA) - 2003, November

[edit] Appearances in Magazines

• So Rock! Magazine (no. 75) - 2008, May
• Pocket Music 14 - 2007, July
• So Rock! Magazine (no. 33) - 2004, August

[edit] Appearances in Podcasts

Pissing On The Bamboo Curtain - 2008, March

Pissing On The Bamboo Curtain - 2008, February

[edit] Videos

• MV: 心猿 / The Drifting Heart
• MV: 惊惶 / Fear
• MV: 时光倒流 / Time to flow back
• MV: 沮丧 / Depression
• MV: 梦想的颜色...未来水世界 / Dream's color...water world

[edit] Further Information

[edit] Official Websites

• Official Website
• Official Blog
• MySpace.com Page (down)
• Myspace.cn Page
• Neocha Page
• Douban Page

[edit] Other sites

• Yaogun.com Page
• Last.fm Page

[edit] Interviews

• Interview with The Swamp by Rock in China, 2008
• Interview with The Swamp about the Kaiping festival by Rock in China, 2008
• Interview and article about The Swamp, their The Doctor (The Swamp) release and its related background
• Interview with Sohu.com Part 1 and Part 2

[edit] References

1. ↑ "重新找到善良--“沼泽乐队”的生存主张". 邱大立 of Dayoo.com, published at Tom.com (2004-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-11-21.
2. ↑ Redstar Qingdao (2008-11-07). "Fear and Loathing in Beijing". Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
3. ↑ Interview with The Swamp, October 26th 2010
4. ↑ Via email to Azchael, November 2008
5. ↑ Adam J. Schokora (2009-12-14). "tracks the swamp". Retrieved on 2010-07-24.

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