Chachy (Round Eye)
SPB: What is the most thankless job in the music industry?
Chachy: In mainland China I would say the promoters, especially if they're bringing in foreign acts. The live music scene in China is by no means safe from inspection and events like festivals and even regular club dates for controversial music like punk, noise, heavy metal, or hard rock stand on precarious ground. Nothing can be 100% guaranteed to succeed with live gigs. The ministry of culture have had their paws all over so many of the events we've put on over the years and from time to time we snag one of their claws and get scratched. Everything from lyrics and posters to the artists themselves get scrutinized and judged; is it in China Harmony's best interest to have this event go on? If no, no show and the promoters take the loss with sometimes fatal outcomes to their companies or ambitions. And if things go well and everyone is happy, still the promoter is a ghost. There's a lot of work involved with making punk or aggressive, alternative music happen in China so if you're able to, cheers your promoters and buy him a shot of bai jiu.
