Up-and-Coming Rockers Paper Tigers Discuss Their Hutong Hipster Muses Ahead of Jianghu EP Release, Apr 15

You know him all too well, or perhaps you've even morphed into one yourself – the uber cool, alleyway dwelling Beijing expat with perfect Mandarin and up-to-the-minute knowledge of all things trendy. These quirky Beijing characters are the subject of The Paper Tigers' song and video "Hutong Hipster," the lead single from their debut self titled EP (which they will release at Jianghu Bar on April 15 before heading out on a national tour). Below, frontman Joey Catanzaro talks more about hutong hipsters, breaking into the Beijing music scene, and drinking too much whiskey. You can get an exclusive sneak peak of their new EP to listen along to here.

Why were hutong hipsters a good muse for your new EP's lead single and its video?
There’s great music from all over the world that has inspired, or been inspired by, subcultures from different moments in time. In Beijing, we’ve got Hutong Hipsters, something very much born out of this time and this place during a period of change.

Does it equate with movements like punk in 1970s Britain? Probably not. But it belongs to Beijing, it’s ours and it’s yours, and I kind of dig that. It’s like young Chinese people and expats tried to put together a jigsaw puzzle but instead of making the same tired picture, they accidentally put together something weird and new. And that’s sort of what we are about as band, capturing Beijing as it is now, telling some of its stories and putting music to some of its songs.

The first single track from our new album, "Hutong Hipster," is a bit ridiculous and a bit catchy, and I think that’s OK, because we sort of had earnest intentions of capturing this feeling and this moment in time, and there’s a fine line between being earnest and ridiculous. The hutong hipster tag aside, I honestly believe there really is something going on with the scene and the community here in Beijing and it has this energy and vitality that I can’t help but feel is a bit of a subcultural bookmark.
So who are some of the biggest hutong hipsters you know?
It’s hard to say because I guess I’m still not entirely certain about the exact definition of a hutong hipster. It’s something I’ve pondered while shivering with friends in my hutong house (that has no central heating but a super authentic vibe), shopping for Feiyues, and ordering jianbing in my best Beijing taxi-driver-cum-pirate accent. I’ll get back to you when I have a definitive answer, but just like pedaling anywhere on stylish but impractical fixed gear bike, it might take me a while.

The video was quite successful, attracting almost 10,000 hits. How did it feel to see it go so viral? I'm guessing it would have been tougher to get that many hits back in your native Australia, or in a Western country saturated with up-and-coming rockers.
As someone who once made a rather meagre living playing and releasing music back home in Australia, I have to say there is something going on here in Beijing. There’s an awakening and a creative cauldron here, and anyone who says otherwise obviously doesn’t go to enough gigs at School Bar, DDC, and Jianghu. But bands are just symptoms, if you will, of a scene. And it’s the audience in this city makes this scene. People actually watch live music here. Gigs pack out. People aren’t afraid to listen, and I mean really listen, even if it’s something new. Sure, there’s a lot of people here in China, and undeniably that means a band can hit critical mass faster.

But I think simply just looking at the numbers diminishes a simple truth: Music lovers here genuinely support live and local music. It took me probably a year or more back in Australia to sell 10,000 copies of an EP. The Paper Tigers film clip has only been up for a few weeks and we’re pushing 10,000 views. Honestly, we all just feel very privileged to be part of what’s happening in Beijing, and what’s happening here is being driven by some amazing people – on-stage and off-stage – who have an amazing passion for music.
Reviewers have described you as "explosive" and "danceable" live performers. Can you tell me a bit about the best show Paper Tigers has ever had, and what you did onstage specifically to put it over the top?
It’s really hard to say what the best gig has been. We jump on stuff and climb stuff and we sweat a lot and get into the crowd and fall over and hurt ourselves and keep going. I loved the launch show for our music video at DDC, because we got all these bicycle bells – in keeping with the hutong hipster theme of the clip – and handed them out and everyone was ringing them and seemed to be having a good old time. That said, it was personally probably my worst performance. I got a bit over excited and drank to much whiskey. What did I learn from that experience? Maybe If I drink faster the whiskey won’t be able to catch up with me?

Tell me a little more about your debut EP in general, and what some of its biggest influences and inspirations are.
It’s about Beijing: This wonderful, frustrating, gritty, glittering, modern, traditional, vibrant place where we all live. “Put your face mask on, because it takes your breath away,” is one of the lines from one of the tracks that I feel sums up the vibe. It features seven songs, one remix put together by the incredible Dub Zen Melodist, and the discerning listener may also hear guest vocals from members of The Harridans, Jokers’ Belief, The Hunters, and Macondo – yep, we got Macondo vocals before Macondo did. It features two soundscapes made out of a cacophony of Beijing sounds; in other words, your ears are now a subway stop.

We wanted it to be situated here and now, an exploration of the scene and life in Beijing, but it’s not a concept album. It’s gritty sometimes, a little new wave at others, has a bit of 1970s punk rock swagger, and unashamedly comes with a few hooks. We wanted to make something people could dance to, something that sounded like someone had spent a bunch of money to make it sound like they didn’t spend any money, something urgent and frenetic with loads of character, including flaws.

Alex, our guitarist, did the heavy lifting in terms of tracking, mixing, and producing. I guess I was assistant producer, which among other things meant I drank a lot of whiskey and frustrated Alex a lot. Now that I think about it, Alex was also assistant whiskey drinker. In all seriousness though, Alex led the charge of what was a team effort. Daniele, our bass player, and Mao Mao, the drummer on the record, were both invaluable in terms of song writing and input when it came to those crucial tweaks to final mixes. Production-wise, there’s something about it that reminds me of The Clash circa Rock the Casbah. The influences range from Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys to the Cure and Joy Division and … again … The Clash. It was mastered at Treelady Studio in the US by Garrett Haines – whose credits include Wiz Khalifa, Maybe Mars releases by Chui Wan and The Yours, and remastering for Nirvana.
Any specific plans for the album that you'd like to share?
We’re releasing it online and will be rolling it out on a few platforms for download, but for those who want something tangible, we’re also putting it out on custom made USB sticks in some pretty special packaging. In keeping with the local scene theme, all the artwork was done by a local artist, Fei Fei. She’s incredible. Oh, and it’s going to be cheaper to buy at the launch show on April 15. Special one time offer! And we are also giving away some free stuff.

So what comes next for The Paper Tigers?
Our national tour starts straight after the EP launch. We’ve announced a bunch of dates and will be announcing more, shortly. The idea is to hit as much of China as we can, gradually over the rest of the year, because we have day jobs. We’ve written a bunch of new material and we are considering releasing something else in some format later this year, and there’s another music video in the works. But right now, we’re all very focused on the launch show this Saturday at Jianghu. I don’t know if we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve with this record, but I can say we’ve had a blast getting to this point, and I don’t see that changing, any time soon. We’re very grateful to everyone who has helped out, listened, danced, or given us a slot on a bill. A lot of blood, sweat and beers have gone into this thing, and not just from us.

Paper Tigers will perform at Jianghu on April 15 as part of their self titled EP launch. The opening acts are Jokers Belief in a special acoustic performance and The Harridans' first show back after their long hiatus. The show starts at 9pm, and tickets are RMB 50 at the door. Check out our event listing here.

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

Photos: Paper Tigers, 69