Nowadays in Beijing, a lot of young rockers are eager to dive into the flow of the market, hoping to catch a big wave. Then you have the boys from Residence A, who for two years have simply been making the music that their heart tells them to – and the result is a seriously promising young band.

Quiet. Loud. Quiet again. Not the most accurate description of Mogwai's music, but not bad for a four-word introduction to one of the most influential bands ever to have come out of Scotland. We spoke to the band's resident multi-instrumentalist, Barry Burns, as Mogwai prepared for their slot closing out the last night of this week's Modern Sky Festival (Oct 3-5: For details on the festival lineup and ticket information, see our Live Music Roundup). We started by asking Barry about the band's Gremlins-inspired name ...

“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! That’s the first time I heard Western music. Even though I didn’t make it to their show in Beijing, they still changed my life.

You might recognize Weng Weng as the quiet one in the Acupuncture Records mob, most often seen sulking sternly behind resident pretty boy ELVIS.T. But don’t think of him as a supporting player. This is one of Beijing music’s elder statesmen, one whose passion keeps the scene going through thick and thin.

Yan Jun is a person who gets bored easily – he deals with it by starting a new project almost every other minute. He has published millions of words, worked as a radio DJ, organized events, established labels, gathered big musicians together for crazy ideas; nowadays he focuses his maverick thoughts mainly on making “music.” And his latest brainchild is to perform a live show in your living room. But only if you first invite him and pay him, of course.