Biography
Formed in 2005, like many of Beijing’s best bands, Mafeisan is an
anarchist collective who have made themselves the undisputed kings of
the Beijing noise scene. Their name refers to a mythical anesthetic
discovered by ancient pharmacist Hua Tuo nearly 2,000 years ago,
probably to dispel the pain of some war wound or other, and there are
times when audiences at a Mafeisan show would no doubt consume vast
quantities of the anesthetic if they could find it.
Fronted by a maniacal clown from Shandong province who favors
brightly colored tros, shirts and vests and often plays with a bag
over his head, the core of the band consists of leader Gang Yang on
drums, vocals, guitar, saxophone and various noisemakers, backed up by
a rotating cast of stoic and impenetrable colleagues on bass and
guitar.
Mafeisan is usually, and given its style and esthetic approach
perhaps necessarily, a hit or miss affair. The band is brilliant when
they settle into a furious riff behind a frenzied Gang Yang
performance, but when their front man’s interest in a particular sound
or riff flags, he is too indifferent to the niceties of performance to
hide his lack of interest, and the band can flounder as he pushes
around searching for some new idea to seize his attention. He is
nonetheless a riveting performer who offstage sports a dazed, eager
smile that is transformed onstage into mockery. “Look, anyone can do
this” he seems to insist to the audience as he laughs gleefully at the
sounds he creates, but of course no one can do it as imaginatively and
with nearly this level of intensity.
anarchist collective who have made themselves the undisputed kings of
the Beijing noise scene. Their name refers to a mythical anesthetic
discovered by ancient pharmacist Hua Tuo nearly 2,000 years ago,
probably to dispel the pain of some war wound or other, and there are
times when audiences at a Mafeisan show would no doubt consume vast
quantities of the anesthetic if they could find it.
Fronted by a maniacal clown from Shandong province who favors
brightly colored tros, shirts and vests and often plays with a bag
over his head, the core of the band consists of leader Gang Yang on
drums, vocals, guitar, saxophone and various noisemakers, backed up by
a rotating cast of stoic and impenetrable colleagues on bass and
guitar.
Mafeisan is usually, and given its style and esthetic approach
perhaps necessarily, a hit or miss affair. The band is brilliant when
they settle into a furious riff behind a frenzied Gang Yang
performance, but when their front man’s interest in a particular sound
or riff flags, he is too indifferent to the niceties of performance to
hide his lack of interest, and the band can flounder as he pushes
around searching for some new idea to seize his attention. He is
nonetheless a riveting performer who offstage sports a dazed, eager
smile that is transformed onstage into mockery. “Look, anyone can do
this” he seems to insist to the audience as he laughs gleefully at the
sounds he creates, but of course no one can do it as imaginatively and
with nearly this level of intensity.
