Listening from Afar
by Brian Hioe
My latest thing to listen to while working has been online Chinese underground electronic music streaming programs. I’ve always liked streaming programs, in which you can see the DJ playing live and sometimes a live crowd in the background. The most famous of them, I believe, is Boiler Room, now canceled by much of the underground electronic community after it was acquired by a company with links to Israeli arms manufacturers. That’s a very high-profile example, but there are all manner of smaller platforms, such as various local community radio stations—some of which broadcast live, while others are more focused on radio programs.
It’s somewhat voyeuristic, but what I’ve always liked is the ability to have a glimpse into another scene, somewhere I’ve never been and perhaps may never go. On YouTube these days there’s a rash of channels of people just walking around cityscapes without any commentary. Or travel YouTubers who mostly just document content for their viewers with little or no commentary, such as coffee shops or even airlines.
Much of it is quite mundane. But I’ve always been sort of in love with the spontaneity of music events—the thought that this unique combination of people has never gathered in a room before, and never will again. Or the way underground music events bring out a diverse array of people who would normally never come together in their daytime lives.
Still, there’s something special about watching programs from China or Hong Kong—namely, that I can’t go there. For a political journalist and activist, there’s too much risk; I am connected with people in jail on political charges in both places. Most likely I would be forbidden to enter in the first place, but obviously what I don’t want is to enter, be taken into custody by Chinese authorities, and then not be able to get out again, an unfortunate fate that has befallen people I know.
Keep us breathing fire!
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