Q&A With Rising Local Shoegazers Wonder Sea Ahead of Oct 12 and 20 Gigs
Plenty of local bands count Western post-rock and shoegaze legends among their biggest influences, but Wonder Sea (playing International Cassette Store Day at Temple on Oct 12 and Glory of the City showcase at School on Oct 20) take that notion to a whole new level. The rising group’s frontman, for instance, settled on Alison as his English name, in dedication to English shoegaze titans Slowdive’s 1992 track of the same name.
“I love Slowdive so much,” says Alison (pictured second from the left in the lead image above, which was taken before the band's original lineup changed). Alison adds that while he has yet to see the long renowned UK band live, he has obsessively pored over as many documentaries and videos of the group as he can find. He also long harbored fantasies of Wonder Sea opening for Slowdive, and having a chance to meet them backstage, enthusing: “I think I would be so excited if I had a chance to talk to them.”
That dream came true earlier this fall when Slowdive performed to a slew of enthused fans in Beijing's Tango 3F. Aside from seeing the veteran band perform, Alison also had the opportunity to meet none other than guitarist and vocalist Neil Halstead while he and his bandmates were in town. Alison recalls feeling like a starstruck young fan and telling him "'My English name was Alison because of your song!'" Alison adds Neil was very gracious and even autographed his shirt.
And while Wonder Sea’s love of Slowdive is apparent in their dreamy intricate guitar tones and vocals, the band also has plenty of reverence for established Chinese acts. Among their biggest muses in that regard: Wuhan indie elders Chinese Football. “I saw them play twice,” Alison recalls of Chinese Football. “The first time was at [Wudaoying’s] School Bar in October of 2015 and they were so amazing that, after only hearing them for the first time, I already knew I wanted to form a band like theirs.”
“By the way, I also love playing football,” Alison adds with a laugh.
Aside from their enthusiasm for established bands, Wonder Sea is also looking forward to partaking in Hazy Summer Night and being exposed to fellow up and comers from across the country. The gig’s well-stacked lineup includes like-minded diehard music lovers like the My Bloody Valentine-inspired Xuzhou band Zoo Nail Householders, Chengdu band Sonicave (who count The Cure and Savages among their influences), Shenzhen noise rockers Nouvelle, and Xiamen pop savvy band Kirin.
Even though Alison isn’t a Beijing native, hailing from Hangzhou, he formed Wonder Sea with classmates at their university in Beijing’s West lying Huilongguan neighborhood. However, after their founding drummer left, the band recruited a replacement who had nothing to do with their university, a drummer named Iris from Hong Kong who frequented shows in Gulou since moving to the capital for work. She says Wonder Sea quickly became “my most favorite Beijing band. I’d watch them play at School all the time and their vibe impressed me a lot, in part because it reminded me of the early stages of Downer, my Hong Kong band that played shoegaze, dream pop, and noise.”
As the newest member of the band, and part of the only Beijing act to hit the stage at this past August's Hazy Summer Night, having a background in a far-off southern city’s music scene, one might think Iris would have plenty in common with some of the visiting bands for that fest, and would look forward to connecting and finding common ground with them. To that assumption, she instead points out: “Music connects people, it always does. You don’t need any language because we communicate via the sounds we make. This is also the way we communicate with audiences.”
Therefore, Hazy Summer Night was not about these bands making their 'Beijing debut,’” she adds. “Instead, it was just a beautiful occasion and stage that gathers beautiful people together, creating beautiful moments. So I was looking forward to the boundaries we’ll all break together onstage.”
Wonder Sea will perform at Temple Bar on Oct 12 and School Bar on Oct 20.
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Photo courtesy of Hazy Summer Night