Playlist: Alice Ting Ting, Founder of Borderless Music Label

The Beijingers | Jan 14, 2018 1:00 pm | Add a comment | 1200 reads

Few live shows go unnoticed by Alice, known to most as Ting Ting, given that she frequents and organizes music and art events around Beijing. Her fiery red hair can often be spotted in the front rows of gigs and her seemingly never-ending energy often drives fellow fans out to the dance floor. The creator of the Borderless music label knows the name goes far: “I believe music is borderless,” she says when asked about her current work with Japanese and Russian bands she brings in to tour China. “You don’t have to understand the lyrics to enjoy the music.”

I meet Ting Ting on a cool October evening, her layers of baggy clothes first catching my attention. “My favored genre of choice can often be quite narrow since I mostly promote rock, so now I am trying to immerse myself in hip-hop,” she laughs. Since she is rarely lounging home alone, we talked about her favorite party-related songs and her love for Temple Bar.

You are throwing a hot summer rooftop party, what is your crowd listening to?
Is it a crazy and wild rooftop party? I would play Queen Sea Big Shark’s “E Ocean.” They sing “Give me all your love tonight, I will show a new part of your life,” and I think it’s a perfect line for a summer rooftop party.

The fast-approaching aftermath of the party is an inevitable part of any outing. What would you play while cleaning up with your friends as the sun comes up?
Oh, definitely reggae. My first choice would be “慢慢飞” by 龙神道 (“màn màn fēi” by Lóngshéndào). It’s a great tipsy clean-up song that instructs listeners to “fly slowly,” so I would in all likelihood tidy up slowly since I would be pretty drunk. Their keyboard player is now considered somewhat of a key opinion leader in the scene, making him an authority on Beijing’s underground rock music goings-on.

We are in a buzzing but a nicely relaxed brewery. What would you want to hear when you are out drinking craft beer with your friends?
I recently went to the new Jing-A [Xingfucun Brewpub] and they played all of my favorite songs, so I’m wondering who is making their playlist. I used to listen to a fair amount of Britpop and it would have to be Supergrass’ “Alright” for brewery tunes.

What would you throw on for a cozy winter dinner party?
I love dinner parties! My roommates are always up to cooking and dining together. I’d put on some jazz, specifically a track that my friend recently shared with me called “La Mer” by Charles Trenet from the soundtrack of the movie Dreamers.

What was the last song you heard while you were out that you asked the name of?
I even took a picture. It was obviously in Temple! In October, when Temple bar was closed [due to the 19th Party Congress] it was quite strange as I usually go there every week. The song I asked about was Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper.”