Stagediving & Bullet-dodging: 2011 Reader Bar & Club Awards Host, Helen Feng

Your favorite Reader Bar & Club Awards will be awarded by the Beijinger tonight, and we hope you're ready for the all-you-can-drink bar and a party. We know someone who is ready - our guest host, Helen Feng. As the lead singer of Free The Birds, and one of the original members of Pet Conspiracy, she’s made herself an icon in Beijing’s music scene. Before her biggest gig of the year (those are our words and not hers), she shares some thoughts with us about Beijing's nightlife scene ...

If you had to choose between shutting down all Bars or all clubs which would you close? Why?
Clubs. There are more cool bars I like, and I tend to go home earlier than before these days. Now I usually go home at 11, or at most midnight.

What's your favorite bar or club in the city?
I used to like White Rabbit a lot, but it's closed. Right now, I think it’s Migas, it's not so pretentious like some other places, it's relaxing and there's good music. And there's a new place near Gulou that I just found, I don't remember its name. It's right next to Contempio, it's really nice and a bit folky, I will definitely go back.

Where did you play your first gig in Beijing?
It was at Loup Chante in Wudaokou in 2003, Gouzi (Yugong Yishan's owner) was running it, and it was his first bar. It could contain only 20 people, at most 40. The stage was so tiny, but that was the only place to play in Wudaokou back then.

Where in Beijing do you like to play at now? Why?
Probably Yugong Yishan. I'm good friends with people there. After all these years, I still like hanging out with the same old people. It's also where we had the most gigs. MAO is not bad, but it has more and more teenagers now, and the old people like us go to Yugong Yishan, just kidding. I don't play in Beijing so often these days though.

What was in your mind when you jump off the stage at Strawberry Last year?
F**king rock & roll! S**t.

What kind of music would drive you crazy the fastest?
Pop-country. I like some pop songs, and some old country songs are also OK, but I can't stand pop-country, like Shania Twain. I grew up in Texas and everybody was listening to that in school, it was awful. And they got so excited hearing that, it was driving me crazy. And it still makes me feel bad now.

What was the most recent thing that stimulated you?
Ah, I just got a big rabbit from my friend. It once wanted to jump off from our balcony and it eats our light bulbs and also all kind of plastic stuff, and likes smelling our dog's butt, I don't understand it at all.

What will you never do?
I will never do bungee jumping. I'm scared of jumping now.

How many personalities do you have?
I'm different towards other people and being with my boyfriend, he thinks I'm crazy. In public I don't have many personalities, maybe one personality on stage and one off stage. My stage style has changed a little actually. I was like a maniac but now I'm getting slower. People have more energy when they are young and think more when they get older. I focus on the music more now.

What was the worst drink you had? What about the best one?
Once a friend made me drink some medicated liquor that was made with snakes. It tasted really bad and I almost fainted afterward. And the best one? Beer maybe. I had some really good beers in Germany, it was really relaxed when I was there. I think it is the drinking environment that matters; I've had a lot German beers in Beijing too, but didn't feel as good. If you really enjoy the moment, then everything tastes good.

Share a special moment you had in a bar or club with us ...
It was the first time I went to a rave party, I almost got shot. It was in an underground bar in the Fifth Ward, Houston. The drinks were so expensive in the club, too expensive for us, so we hid lots of drinks in the car. My friend was wearing a red scarf on her head and it was red, but we were in the blue area. A guy drove by and shot at us. I didn't know what was happening, when I looked around every one was on the ground, and I was the only one standing up. My friend told me that we got shot at and I still didn't believe it, until I saw the bullet shells on the ground. Then I sat on the ground immediately and couldn't stand up.

What's your next big plan?
Album releases. Free The Bird's was going to get in the studio, but a band member is opening a restaurant, so it's postponed. It will probably come out in the end of the year. I'm also working on my personal album, I will go to Rome next month to work with my producer, and it will likely release in August or September in Europe, but it might not be released here. I will probably start my own record label to release the album in China.

See Helen tonight at our 2011 Reader Bar & Club Awards, hopefully there'll be no shooting. The After-party is open to all, starting at 9pm. Tickets are RMB 100 and the open bar lasts until midnight.

Photos from Douban.com/ziyo