Rock, Italian Style

2012-05-31 16:41 Global Times Web Editor: Xu Rui comment

The minds behind Subsonica are set to hit Beijing tonight. [Photo: Courtesy of Francesco Del Maro]

Italy and China share certain cultural similarities: great food, ancient empires and unique relationships with Communism come to mind. Rock music, however, is not a prime export of either country.

Hopefully this will change, at least briefly, during Hitweek, the traveling music festival which brings together Italian and Chinese rock bands. They'll start sharing the stage tonight at Tango 3/F but despite its name, Beijing gets just two days of the festival before Hitweek moves its riffs to Shanghai on June 3.

Kicking off this rare taste of Sino-Italian-rock are electronic veterans Subsonica, Chinese rocker Zhou Yunshan and indie rock quartet La Fame Di Camilla, with hard rock headliner Negrita along with Yunnan folk-rockers Shanren following up tomorrow.

Likely the biggest draw taking part in the fourth annual Hitweek, Subsonica first made it big in 2000 with their hit "Tutti I Miei Sbagli" (all my mistakes), a catchy yet sinister blend of synths, dance beats and rock currency.

"We just want to let people know that Italian music is not just the pop-singing style heard worldwide," said says Davide "Boosta" Di Leo, the group's keyboardist and founding member. "[Italy has] great melodies but we're also able to put them on an interesting bed of mixed genres."

For non-Italophiles unfamiliar as to why these three bands are representing Italian rock in China, festival managing director Francesco Del Maro explains.

"Negrita and Subsonica are two of my favorite Italian bands," Del Maro told the Global Times. "Their music and attitude is something that conquers any kind of language barrier."

"The English language will give you the opportunity to reach a wide market in theory," said Ermal Meta, lead singer of La Fame di Camilla who sings in both Italian and his native Albanian. "But in order for an Italian band to be taken seriously they have to sing in Italian."

"Singing in Chinese is a necessity," said rocker Zhou Yunshan, "because it can express meanings that English can't. Plus, I want more Chinese out there in the world."

"Nobody wants to write the greatest song in the world and then destroy it with cheesy English," says Jordan Baretta, a music critic who has worked in both the Italian and Chinese music industries. "But I've found that even if the English is incorrect Chinese bands will often sing it anyway, because they know what they want to say."

As China has seen slow growth in rock music, Italian musicians admit times have also been tough back home.　

"It's a tough time for Italian music," said Baretta. "The economic crisis has brought about hard times. Rock is becoming a kind of small niche."

"But right now in Italy political music is getting major exposure," he added.

"Rock is on the wane in the EU," said Baretta. "There are not a lot of young people in Italy right now, and the media doesn't really care."

If anything, Hitweek provides an opportunity for musicians from opposite sides of Eurasia to exchange notes. For Chinese bands looking to get to Europe, Di Leo offers this advice. "Make good music, have a great live show. It could start like a domino."

"There's a whole aesthetic in Chinese rock that Italian bands can draw from, a unique sense of melody, aspects of Daoism and Buddhism that make it into music," said Zhou. "It's not obvious, but just a way of thinking about space in your songs."