Musical Multitaskers: A Guitar Player’s Literary Love Affair

Musical Multitaskers is a month-long series about Beijing’s nimblest songsmiths and their most eclectic side projects.

Strum the string, turn the page ... that’s been David Mitchell’s motto throughout his stay in Beijing, as he played guitar in the jazz-folk troupe Panjir and wrote a memoir about the Xinjiang desert treks that informed the band’s songs. Below, Mitchell talks chords, prose, and why he has embarked on a new journey to Dubai.

What are the similarities between finger picking a guitar and thumbing through a manuscript?
The creative process is the same with every art form – the question is identifying the parts you need. I’ve written 20-odd pieces of music since I came back from Xinjiang. They started off quite improvisational, but as I practiced and played, they became more composed pieces with a coda. I take the same approach with editing and writing text, and figuring out the arc of the whole thing.

How did you learn that kind of structure?
I trained to be a jazz player at the Berklee College of music and studied with a guy named John Thomas-Williams, who was a guitar player for Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker. But after being in Beijing a while, I fell in love with Uyghur music from Xinjiang. Akbar, a great guitarist and friend of mine from there, introduced me to the music and we started Panjir.

I learned to play the satar from a member of the Xinjiang Ensemble of Music and Dance. The satar is the granddaddy of the guitar – it’s a long, very ancient lute with 12 strings. That’s great because in Western music you play a simple melody and then change it by the harmonic chords. In Eastern music, there are no chords, basically, so what you have to do is write longer, more intricate melodies that take the listener on a journey.

You’re about to leave Beijing for Dubai. If you love traditional Chinese music so much, why not stay?
My daughter’s three years old now. When she was on her way, I felt I needed a day job, because I wasn’t earning enough to support a family as a full-time indie musician in Beijing. So I got a job at a PR firm, and now I’m getting transferred to Dubai.

Also, I’m ready for a new music scene. I think people here are too used to spectacle.

When we talked to Pet Conspiracy, frontwoman Mary said she prefers elaborate shows because they’re “more fun and give you more satisfaction because you have a project, not just a band.” You disagree?
Everyone here wants to make a statement onstage, strut their stuff, kick over microphone stands and have purple hair. I think there are larger audiences elsewhere for music that is a bit more contemplative. The great thing about being away from China is that I’ll have a more objective eye to finish my book and reflect on the traditional Chinese music that inspired me.

To listen to tracks from Panjir, go here.

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Readers, do you feel that Mitchell is being too harsh on the Beijing music scene? Do you prefer stripped-down shows or elaborate spectacles? Give us your thoughts below.

Photos: David Mitchell