hi! I love your posts. :) I'm an indie folk musician looking to travel to China and make music there. I studied Chinese in college and went to Shanghai and loved it there. I'd like to get a good feel for what indie music is like over there, any recommendations on where to start?
Hi there!
I'm not that familiar with the mainland scene, but hopefully I can give you some starting points; I'll make this a public post, and perhaps one or more of the ex-pat musician/tumblr bloggers can chime in with some better info or specifics.
Since you spent time in Shanghai, you probably know about this site: http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/Music.html
Beijing has a similar site: http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/Music.html
Both of those list the major events, and list the bigger live houses, and you can get an idea of the type of acts that get booked.
As in Taiwan, festivals are where bands seem to pick up a lot of gigs, spring/summer/fall. Midi fest, Strawberry fest - Those are both big multi stage events that go from city to city to city.
I know I'm forgetting obvious things, but definitely check out livebeijingmusic.com and http://jingweir.tumblr.com/
I hope that is at least a little helpful! =D