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.

Chinese ethnic bands and musicians are making an ever bigger scene in Beijing and in the wider world. Some of them are not satisfied playing only the ethnic card. Jurat T.T. (from Xinjiang) is one such musician. He started to get more attention after opening at the Mamer & IZ’ album launch in July. Since then, his energetic, dark and psychedelic sessions have gained him quite the acclaim from Beijing’s indie crowd. How can that be enough? After years of endeavor, he will finally launch his first album – Sans Famille – this Saturday (Dec 17) at Temple bar. We spoke to the musical dreamer.

For years, banjo girl Abigail Washburn, singer/songwriter Kai Welch and Chinese singer/guzheng master Wu Fei thought about collaborating on something together. When Wu Fei was in the US, the three started combining American country tunes, traditional Chinese influences and their wild ideas. They called themselves Wu-Force, and presented their work in Beijing in the summer of last year. Washburn is currently on her "Silk Road" tour, but she'll be making a stop in Beijing this weekend, where we’ll get a chance to witness the newest creations from Wu-Force. We recently asked Wu Fei to give us a hint of what to expect.

Hugo Manuel may be the only songwriter to snag his stage name from a UK toy company that started up during the Victorian era. But what’s even stranger is why the budding British electro guru copied that goofy title. His drawing on such an obscure reference had nothing to do with know-it-all pretentiousness. In fact, aside from using the name as his own, Manuel has no intention of paying homage to Chad Valley at all.

Spain's La Pegatina has brought joyful beats to over 15 countries and plays over 100 shows a year. Their spontaneous, upbeat rumba ballads have the power to bring out the sun from the darkest clouds. Now they step onto the vast land of China to have a tour with the pride of Mongolian rock, Hanggai. Before the grand traveling party hits Beijing, here's what these Spaniards had to share with us:

If you have to use completely different instruments to play your songs, what instruments would you choose?
We would certainly create a Human Beat Box Rumba band! As we have so precious voices… It would be amazing!

What's the weirdest stage you’ve played on?
We were playing in France in Festibaloche Festival. We played a few songs in a canoe pulled by a car in a park!