Chinese underground interviews: Meet the 2Kolegas owners.
The Interview is both in English and Chinese, so don’t
hesitate to share it .
Interview #3, Liu Miao and Gaofeng of 2Kolegas:
Hi Liu Miao, you and Gaofeng are the two owners at “2Kolegas”, an important live venue in Beijing. When did you open 2Kolegas and why ? What can you tell us about 2Kolegas ?
We openned 2Kolegas on the 28 May of 2005. We celebrate the anniversary of the bar every year, it’s a very important event for us. I think 2K is a lot like me and Gaofeng, it’s a place with a strong personality where you can be relaxed, find friends, be a hippie, a place people one can easily like.
You are originally from Ningxia, a province of central China, how is life there ? How about the music there ?
你们两个人原来是宁夏的，那边的生活怎么样？那边的音乐怎么样?
I am from Ningxia, Gaofeng is from Inner Mongolia. There are many young people in Ningxia doing music, I’m not there often there these days so I don’t know very well what happens there. Still, I know there are lots of young people in Ningxia playing music and that makes me very happy.
Gaofeng came to Beijing to go to University, he was never going to class and was playing music, playing bass, then later he quit his job. I came to Beijing because I wanted to start a band and see concerts. I have been in the scene ever since.
2Kolegas is located in a Drive-in, why did you choose to open 2Kolegas in this area ?
2个好朋友酒吧在北京汽车电影院里面，你们为什么选择这个地方开酒吧？
It’s very simple, the atmosphere in this place is very different. There’s a lake, there’s grass to lay on,it makes people feel like they are not in the city. The place is a bit isolated, so noone comes to bother us, and we won’t bother anybody haha.
Liu Miao, you play in 3 different bands, including WHAI (Electro-Rock), Li Dong (Folk) and Nucleus (Grunge). How did you start playing drums and what are you plans for the future with those three different bands ? What does it mean for you to play music in Beijing ?
I have three bands which I all really like. Those three bands have very different styles. Lidong will publish its second album this year. Nucleus and WHAI are preparing albums recorded in real studios and also many concerts, it feels great haha. I came to Beijing because I like music, it’s been 13 years now. I am still playing music and doing things connected to music, this is what is interesting for me.
What do you think of the Chinese music scene ? How do you think it is going to develop ?
你对中国地下音乐有什么看法？你觉得以后会有什么发展？
I think the underground Chinese music still isn’t mature enough, it still is mostlhy in a phase of imitation, but there are also bands that have started there own creative path, this is something that should be respected. These bands should have more possibilities to play in good shows and big music festivals etc… Also, it is important to educate the audience and interact wih them, in that way things will go further.
What are the most interesting bands you have seen in all your years at 2Kolegas ?
你们那么多年在两个好朋友听到和看到的最好的乐队是谁？
There are many many good bands that play at 2K, I don’t know who is better, I can only say who is more mature. For example, « The Amazing Insurance Salesmen », my own three bands, reTros, Nova Heart etc…
There also bands coming from the West to tour un China, they are all very good. To be honest, their also are a lot of very bad bands. This is what I think.
We plan to change 2K a little bit, make it a bit bigger. We will change the lights, the sound equipment and make things a bit more professional. We will use the area outside a bit more.
Under the right circumstances we will do our own music festival.
