An Interview with Up-and-Coming Post Punks Lonely Leary Ahead of Sep 17 Gig

Qiu Chi went to a small university 30km outside of Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, but it felt more like a prison than an institution of higher learning. It was situated low in a confining alley between two massive mountains, and that topography made the road that lead to the school tough to travel and often traffic clogged. To make matters worse, the school had strict policies prohibiting its students from staying out too late.

To briefly stave off claustrophobia, Qiu would strum his bass in his dorm room. Before long he befriended a couple of other bored youngsters, Song Ang and Li Baoning, and the trio would eventually become Lonely Leary, one of Beijing’s hottest up-and-coming bands. During this holiday weekend the post-punk trio (which features Qiu on bass, Song on guitar and Li on drums) is set to play two back-to-back must-see gigs, the first at Yugong Yishan on September 16 as the opening act alongside fellow countrymen Birdstriking for New Zealand noise rockers Die! Die! Die!, before giving their own headlining performance at School Bar on September 17, sharing the bill with Death Narcissist, Noise Arcade, and DJ Wujing.

The irony of playing Yugong Yishan, one of Beijing’s biggest and most popular live houses, isn’t lost of Qiu, given the reference to mountains in the venue’s name and the depressingly low valley near Jinan where Lonely Leary got its start. However, Qiu says playing School Bar on a semi-regular basis is an even more exciting summit surmount.

“When I left Jinan to come to Beijing, to continue my university studies and also see if I could become a successful musician, I never dreamt I’d be able to play in exciting livehouses like this,” he says. “Back in Jinan, we would listen to Beijing bands like Joyside and really look up to them. Now I get to see and chat with (Joyside bassist) Liu Hao at School Bar all the time, and show him what we can do onstage. We’re so excited about that.”

You can a taste of Lonely Leary’s songs here (including the aggressively upbeat “Stay Ugly,”; the brooding, slow-building “Arsonist,”; the forbiddingly ephemeral “Prayers for Preparation,”). The band will open for Die! Die! Die! at Yugong Yishan on September 16 at 9pm (tickets are RMB 100 at the door, click here for more information). They'll also play a headlining set at School Bar on September 17 at 8pm (tickets are RMB 50, for more information see the poster above or click here). Before the show, there will be a market where music geeks can purchase a plethora of CD's, cassettes, and other hardware.

Photo courtesy of Lonely Leary