Li Jianhong - While my guitar gently screams

I decide to contact Li Jianhong through his Facebook page. He replies a few days later, saying he's happy to give me an interview. Throughout our long online chat, Li comes across as consistently kind and eager to explain the reasons that, for some years now, have driven him to pick up the guitar, in an attempt to turn his inner world into a magmatic, dazzling stream of sounds and noise…

You've been active (or you used to be) in several projects: D!O!D!O!D!, Second Skin, VagusNerve.

I was involved with Second Skin a long time ago, and I don't think it was a particularly mature project. D!O!D!O!D!, on the other hand, remains one of my favourite bands. Unfortunately, though, after we released our first album ["Ghost Temple", 2005; ed.], the drummer Huang Jin went back to his hometown and joined a local rock band. It's a real shame that he abandoned the style he'd developed during the D!O!D!O!D! experience. That happened precisely because that project no longer exists. VagusNerve, instead, is a cosmic-psychedelic band I put together with VAVABOND. We're both fans of science-fiction films and mysterious things having to do with the universe and ancient aliens. We also love old psychedelic music, like that of Hawkwind, Klaus Schulze and Guru Guru. To channel those passions of ours, we decided to join forces and put together a band. We would have liked it to become more of a rock'n'roll affair, but we couldn't find a bassist and a drummer, so we decided to focus on a synthesis of cosmic music and psychedelia. When we rehearse and when we play live, we always imagine we're aboard a huge spaceship crossing the darkness of the universe. A bit like in certain scenes from the film "Aliens".

Am I wrong, or did you also play in Tomeclub?

Yes. My friends and I founded that band when I was still living in Hangzhou, at the start of the last decade. It was a sort of artistic collective, devoted not only to music but also to poetry, fiction, video art and much more besides. After a couple of shows, the experience gradually petered out.

Not to mention Pisces Iscariots…

Before the "2pi Festival" in 2004, Yao Dajun, Yanjun and I discovered we were all born under the sign of Pisces, so we thought we'd form a band to play at that festival. We never really played regular shows, though. After a performance at the Mini Midi Festival in 2006, we decided to call it a day.

You're the founder of the label 2pi Records. Want to tell us about it?

At first, my idea was to set up 2pi Records so I'd have a way to release my own music and that of my friends. At the start of the new millennium, there were no labels willing to put out our music — and honestly, there still aren't many now. So, to prove that we were producing something different here in China, my friends and I set up this very primitive label, which turned out, during that period, to be very significant both for the scene we belonged to and for our own existence as musicians. Later on, we also ran a festival for five years, inviting both established and up-and-coming musicians, as well as bands playing noise or experimental music.

Record labels have certainly been affected by the various developments in peer-to-peer technology. What's your take on that?

I've always dreamed of having a big label, but it's very hard. These days, few people in China still buy records. Many instead choose to download them or stream them online. There are still small cassette shops around, and producing CDs keeps getting more expensive.

Your records clearly show different approaches to making music: "fractured" improvisations in the Bailey-esque mould (I'm thinking of "Drama Script"), a mix of electroacoustic, drone and musique concrète ("Flowing, Randomized Screen" on "RTV-702" comes to mind), colossal free-psychedelic-noise jams (like some sections of "Sang Sheng Shi" or "1969"), monumental stretches of cosmic drone music (how can one not think of the excellent "Classic Of The Seas"?), and, lastly, the "environment improvisations" of the box set released in 2011 by CFI Records. Is it possible, in any case, to trace a guiding force running through your music?

Yes, what you're saying is true: my music has different facets, though ultimately each one is connected to all the others, especially when it comes to organizing the structure of emotional expression. Every work of mine is marked by a certain degree of "temporality" and is therefore necessarily unrepeatable. The only driving force behind my music is honesty with myself. I only make the music I feel like making. I've acted this way since the very beginning, and I would certainly never lie to myself. I won't keep playing psychedelic guitar music or doing free-improvisation just because the audience likes it or doesn't. Every moment of my life gives me different feelings and interpretations. I'm simply expressing myself and my thinking in different periods, with different skills and forms. This, in a way, is one of the reasons why I rarely listen to my albums once they're out. I always feel they already belong to the "past".

As far as I'm concerned, "Sang Sheng Shi" is definitely your masterpiece. A great fresco able to blend the electric trips of Jimi Hendrix, the visionary imagination of the German "cosmic couriers" (Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream etc.) and the noise-drenched delirium of Japanese legends Les Rallizes Dénudés. What lies behind the genesis of this work?

The musicians you've mentioned are among my all-time favourites. But I certainly wasn't thinking much about them when I recorded the album. At that stage, in fact, everything was pretty bleak. Maybe because I wasn't feeling well in those days. It was a period full of hardship, when I had very little to do. Then I decided that maybe I could try making a long recording. And so I did. It was a very hot summer. I finished the recording without a single break, shut in a small room with no air conditioner or fan. Then I got heatstroke. Later, when I listened back to the recording, I felt truly exhilarated. It was like coming back from death and from several afterlives... That album has a strong sense of narrative, and the whole thing is divided into various scenes. So I called it "San Sheng Shi", because I remembered a traditional Chinese story about life after death. Afterwards, though, I didn't listen to it again for years.

I also really like the more recent "1969", released on Buh Records...

It's a Peruvian label. The label owner contacted me by email, asking if I'd be interested in putting out an album with them. I love Peru, especially because of Machu Picchu and the Inca civilization. "Cool!", I thought. So I said yes. It's not a complete album, though. There was another track that wasn't included, because of the imposed 40-minute limit. At some point, I'd like to reissue it with all three tracks.

Lately, I also had the chance to listen to and review "Classic of the Mountains and Seas", another beautiful record.

Thanks for the review. Yes, I think my psychedelic guitar is truly cosmic. That sound isn't built out of looped beats and melodies meant to lull listeners to sleep, but is based on a solitary journey of the inner self. This introspective bent is always present, both in my solo projects and in the music of VagusNerve. While I was finishing the recordings for "Classic Of The Mountains", I kept imagining being inside a dream, looking down at these dark mountains from above. By the way, I have to tell you one more little anecdote: I handed P.S.F. two tracks without doing any mastering at all, because I figured they were more professional than me. But I forgot to make that clear to them, so all they did was release the tracks exactly as I'd given them. Anyway, it was all very cool!

But how did your relationship with P.S.F. come about?

They got interested in my music after hearing my first solo album ["Talking Freely Before the Beginning", from 2003; ed.]. Later on, they set up a tour for me between Tokyo and Osaka, and they also reissued "Ghost Temple" by D!O!D!O!D!. Finally, they released "Classics Of Mountains And Seas".

You recently worked with Caligine...

I haven't listened to the album yet. It was recorded live while we were improvising in a bar where I was working at the time. As far as I'm concerned, it might not be a particularly successful record...

Zbigniew Karkowski once called you "the best Chinese noise musician"... Do you agree with him?

That was a long time ago. And I think that, in the noise scene here in China, Torturing Nurse and Nojj are better than me...

But when did your journey as a musician begin?

It was roughly in the second half of the Nineties. After the start of the new millennium, I gradually began setting up my own personal projects, both musical ones and those tied to performance.

What has influenced you the most throughout your career?

The greatest influence has definitely been traditional Chinese culture

Can you be more specific?

Certain influences are closely tied to the environment I live in. They are subtle and imperceptible, rather than overt. And they don't only affect the creation of music, but every aspect of my life. I love reading ghost stories, fairy tales and legends about how certain men became the gods of ancient China. It's a passion that's still alive in me. These are stories full of imagination, even if they're sad and dark, and sometimes even quite psychedelic. For a certain period of time, I also felt great nostalgia for the lifestyle of the ancient Chinese hermits. I think certain images are reflected in my music too, as for example in "Sang Sheng Shi", in "Classics Of Mountains And Seas" and also in the "environment improvisations" series. Many years ago, when I started making experimental music, I read some words in a book called "The Book Of Music". It said that music springs from the human heart, and that struck me enormously at the time. In short: all music comes from the deepest interiority of human beings, representing the inner reflection of the outer world. Music is emotion: a concept that gave me a clear direction for judging experimental music and for expressing myself through it. I will never be able to be "technical" with my music. This very tolerant attitude seems very fitting for who I am. "The Book Of Music" is a book about ancient Chinese aesthetics, in which the relationship between music, the human dimension and the environment is defined; it also, of course, addresses the very definition of the concept of "music". Even though I've sometimes been drawn to Western music and to certain new sonic forms, my one and only goal is to express my emotions completely and precisely through the music that flows from my inner self. Naturally, these influences aren't limited to traditional Chinese aesthetics. In fact, Zen, belief in spirits, certain mysterious folk cultures, and the lifestyle and attitudes of my parents have all played their part in shaping my musical ideas. Even though largely set aside by recent developments in Chinese culture, certain traditions still weigh on my reflections and on the relationship I try to maintain with the essence of things.

What kind of guitars, pedals and amplifiers do you use, and why?

The guitars I use now are mostly semi-hollow or hollow-body ones with F-holes, like the Ibanez 2630, the ES-125 and Gibson's ES-330. They manage to meet my expectations on every level. For instance, the ES-135 is relatively light, and its P90 pickup can produce exactly the noise and feedback I need. When recording outdoors or during live performances, I can use the raw sounds without any manipulation. On "Mind Fiber" and in some of my "environment improvisations" I always use the original sounds with no amplifiers.

As for effects pedals, I use all kinds of fuzz and wah-wah. For fuzz pedals, I often use the FuzzFace and the Fulltone '69, while for wah-wah I now always use the Ibanez WH10.

If you had to define your music, would you say that…

My music is a support for my life.

Does your music have a spiritual or philosophical value?

To be honest, I've never really thought about questions like these. So I can't give you a quick and precise answer. I'm not an academic musician. But I am sure of one thing: that I'm always searching for a form that can fully express my mood, clearly and accurately. In the most intimate and clearest way possible. It should be as clear and direct as a mirror under sunlight.

Let's talk a bit about the Chinese music scene, which is still fairly unknown to us in the West. And while you're at it, could you also recommend something for us to listen to?

The new Chinese music scene is going through a fairly normal phase of development, so it's not too exciting, but not too depressing either. There are interesting events, like the Miji Concert curated by Yan Jun (featuring avant-garde and free-improvisation material), NOIShanghai (dedicated to noise), led by Torturing Nurse, Sheng Dong Ji Xi (based on free improvisation, jazz and art that tries to break down all barriers) and RESO (also dedicated to free improvisation), curated by Maimai. There are some new phenomena on the rise, like Zooming nNght and System Error. All these experiences show the inclinations and abilities of musicians with very different outlooks from one another. If you're interested, you can start digging in…

What records have you been listening to most lately?

I'd say:

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia – “An Audience With…”

MEV&AMM – “Apogee”

Nikhil Banerjee – “Rage Sudha Rasa”

ONJT+ －“Lonely Woman”

Silver Convention – “Save Me”

AA.VV.  – “Amplify 2002”

AA.VV. –“Ghayal Masterpieces”

Aoki Takamasa – “RV8”

Burning Tree – “The Lammergyer”

Raoul Björkenheim -“Apocalypso”

Do you know Italian rock?

I don't know it very well. I've only listened to a bit of 1970s progressive rock, like Il Balletto di Bronzo, Le Orme, etc.

I heard you were supposed to tour Italy in October. How did that turn out?

It's a real shame that our visa application was rejected by the German embassy. We were planning to visit some friends of ours, and they'd advised us to apply for a tourist visa. We should learn to lie sometimes. We had plans to visit several cities in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and Italy. Anyway, thanks to all the friends who helped us organize the tour. We'll be back next year.

Before we wrap up, go on, recommend us a few Chinese records!

I've always, and only ever, very warmly recommended the box set "A Collection Of Music Played On The Guqin." It's my all-time favorite. It's the greatest existing recording of Chinese classics. All the solo records by these "guqin" masters (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) included in this box set are also highly recommended.

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