In a Gadda da Shanghai
Crystal Butterfly takes wing
by Lisa Movius
 Hu Die, or
Butterfly, was among old Shanghai’s foremost glamour queens.
In the cultural melee of the 1930s and ?0s, when Shanghai was
as often called the Hollywood of the East as its Paris, Hu Die
and others such as Ruan Lingyu and Bai Yang charmed audiences
around China and around the world. Her films included classics
such as Sister Flower, Madness, and Sorrows
of the Autumn Fan, and she was also a well-known singer.
She was the first Chinese actress to win international fame,
and her circle of intimates included Charlie Chaplin, among
others. Hu Die was very much entangled in the intrigues
of old Shanghai, and was the mistress of Kuomintang
intelligence mastermind Dai Li. She had a colorful
career indeed.
It was in evocation of Hu Die that Shanghainese band
Shuijingdie (Crystal Butterfly) selected their name. The
band concedes that the connotations initially appear more
feminine and delicate than might be appropriate for three
twenty-something guys. They insist, however, that their follow
Shanghainese understand the reference to Butterfly’s glamour
and mystery, as well as to an era when creativity flourished
in the midst of chaos and corruption.
After winning the MTV Band Call competition late last year,
Shuijingdie has been steadily on the rise. Currently they’re
talking record contracts with a few Beijing companies, and
preparing to enter the studio next spring. After a
recent performance where they opened for Zheng Jun, the
general consensus of the local media was that Crystal
Butterfly had resoundingly upstaged the visiting star.
Shuijingdie was formed only a year and a half ago, but its
members were part of another band, Lunar Eclipse, for three
years prior, and the band’s history stretches even further
back. About twelve years ago, guitarist Wang Wenwei and bass
player and vocalist Pang-pang attended the same middle school.
A shared interest in music and Kung Fu movies brought the two
lads together then, swapping tapes of foreign bands and buying
their first guitars. They said back then that they would
someday have a band together, and the two friends and
apartment mates see their current status as a natural,
inevitable progression. “Maybe it was fate.?
They met drummer Chen Song through a friend when first
forming Lunar Eclipse. “With three members, we’re constantly
explaining to people that we’re not a punk band.?The band is
better at explaining what they aren’t than what they are.
Their strongest influences are British groups like Suede, the
Clash, and the Velvet Underground, which is evident in the
dramatic, New Age feel of their slower songs. Wang
Wenwei’s guitar, while not Shanghai’s most technically
precise, has a creative ingenuity that has defined the band’s
style. Strong, haunting, and giving a slight feeling of
being underwater, the band describes their music as “hua li?
beautiful, ornate, and multifaceted. “Our slow songs are
serious, and make the listener feel ‘high??says Pang-pang of
pieces such as “Like an Apparition?and “Forest of Illusions.?
With their faster songs, Crystal Butterfly experiments more
with a variety of styles. While the “hua li?undertone remains
subtly apparent, it is overshadowed by introduction of strong
elements of funk and jazz, as in the case of “Judy’s Too,?or
of pure, self-indulgent pop, as with “Girl Friday.?nbsp;
“Judy’s Too,?about an evening at Shanghai’s infamous den of
modern vice, has proven very popular with local audiences,
although the band members themselves rank it as one of their
least favorites.
Shuijingdie has so far produced two demos, both recorded
entirely on their own at home. With the first tape, featuring
three songs, they came off as still a little wet behind the
ears. Even so, bootleg CDs of it are now in circulation around
Shanghai. The second demo, featuring seven songs and completed
in July, shows a remarkable maturation in both the music and
their recording capabilities. The music, the sound and
the presentation is more professional than many of the
“real?rock albums released recently in China.
During the day writing and recording more songs in
preparation for their eventual album, the band’s evenings are
busy with performances at various bars and discos. About
once a month they have a chance to showcase their own material
at rock parties, but the rest of the time they’re reduced to
the cover gigs that Shanghai bar owners for some reason
prefer. Friday and Saturday nights find them playing English
cover songs to the indifferent clientele at Malone’s American
Cafe, with additional vocals from Malone’s house singer
Yin-yin and Tribesman founder Ah Wen, and also joined by
19-year-old roaming saxophonist Qiu Chen. They also play
Fridays at 9:30 at the Apollo Archery Bar on Tianmu Lu. They
slip in a few of their own songs during these sets, but it
fails to compare to the hot-wired jam sessions at the
Tribesman all summer prior to its closure.
The band, however, doesn’t mind much, and views the cover
gigs as a means to their end. Their main prerogative,
along with cranking out plenty of new material, is to find a
record company that will understand and facilitate their
creative vision. They are also looking for an American or
British producer to work on their album.
You can catch Shuijingdie performing at most of Shanghai’s
sporadic rock parties. In addition to the bootleg
copies, their latest demo CD is sometimes available for sale
(30 RMB) at bars where they perform, or you can wait half a
year until their album is ready. The chances are good that
this butterfly, like its namesake, will manage to flutter nice
and high.
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