The Midi Battle of the Bands is a nationwide competition that has given young rockers the opportunity to compete onstage and gain feedback from both their peers and professional judges. These groups, usually consisting of a guitarist, bassist, and percussionist, have the freedom to display their artistic creativity, musical expressiveness, and let all those complex beats and musical arrangements emerging in their heads run wild into complete compositions. Contestants then participate in a preliminary round, quarter-finals, and national finals, where they are judged on many of their skills, including basic exam scores, mastery of playing skills, and even style and popularity.

We invited three bands in the Midi Battle of the Bands to talk about their inspirations, special moments onstage, bonding experiences with their bandmates, as well as their common passion for music. We hope this gives you a little glimpse of life as teenagers trying to break their way into China’s rapidly developing music scene.

Buddy 00 Generation is a pop band formed by kids from different schools and different grades, but their common love for music and unwavering perseverance brought them together on this journey. Through their music, they’ve demonstrated to China the unique characteristics of the rising youth – creativity, candor, and confidence.

Tell us about your band. When and how was the band formed and how are the roles of the band members distributed?
We are BUDDY 00 Generation. We (guitarist Shuotong Wanglin and bass guitarist Yuetong Su) have been learning guitar in a training institute, and our teacher organized us to practice as an ensemble. We felt great playing as a group, and we also watched some performances of other bands on television before this. Then, with the help of our teacher, we found keyboardist Zihe Wang and percussionist Runsen Wang to form a band. We routinely practice every week with everyone almost always being able to attend, and we have improved together since.

What is the name of your band, and where did it come from?
The oldest member of our band was born in 2003, and the youngest 2006. All of us belong to the “00 Generation” (those born after year 2000), so we just call ourselves “00 Generation” when we first started. The members of our band are all from different grades and different schools, but music is what making us true friends and bandmates through communication and the work we did together. In the beginning of 2016, we officially changed our name to “BUDDY 00 Generation.”

How would you describe the overall style of your music?
The main style of our band is pop rock. We do not have much experience with learning music or encountering different styles. We add to the frame of pop music little by little with the knowledge we have learned along the way (like blues and funk).

How did you first get involved with music?
We first started learning in the institute, where we would have a lot of fun while practicing!

Since Midi is a nationwide platform, what do you look forward to or want to gain most out of this experience?
We hope that more professionals and teachers can listen to our work and provide us with constructive feedback. We also hope that we can let more people can hear the voices of the new generation of musicians.
Regarding the piece that you recorded and submitted to the battle, can you describe your songwriting process? Were there challenges you encountered during the experience?

The music we handed in this time was a song called “I Am the 00 Generation,” which is based on our band’s name. This composition was also a project our teacher had assigned to us. Each one of us wrote lyrics that described characteristics of our generation, and the process of assembling those lyrics was pretty smooth.

What is the composition of your piece like, and what does the music and lyrics express? Is there anything special about the song that you would like to share with us?
People say that the time of the 00 Generation takes place in a multi-cultural society. We added elements of pop, blues, funk, rap, and more to embody the diversity of our generation. The lyrics also describe our lives – such as the lines “Little shoulders, big backpacks/Math, English, and calligraphy/My parents think I am Superman/But I do not possess superpowers like Nezha” – as you can see we are also under a lot of pressure.

What was the experience of participating in the Midi Battle like? What was the most memorable moment or story?
Without competition, there would be no comparison. Without comparison, we would not be able to improve. The most memorable part of this experience would probably be how much we learned from the other bands in this battle.

What are your plans for the future of this band? Do you plan on creating more music together?
We hope that more people can listen to our songs, and accept and appreciate the voices of our youth generation.

Finally, is there anything you want to say to your bandmates?
Let’s work hard together!

Open is a heavy metal band that consists of five band members. Though they are young of age, they have had plenty of onstage experiences, a contagious stage presence, and impressive potential all the while engaging in interactions with the audience. They have also been on multiple tours and invited to music festivals and battles as performing guests.

How would you describe your sound to an alien, who has never heard your type of music before?
Probably passionate, free, and full of energy.

Do you all have an artist in particular that you find inspiring, or that has influenced your sound?
The teacher who opened the door to music for us is Liang Huang, the founder of the Haiyun Contemporary Music Center, which we have been learning at. Metallica has also influenced our style.

What are you all listening to right now, would you say that you primarily listen to Chinese or Western groups?
We listen to heavy metal music, often from Western groups.

Who in the band writes the songs, or is it a group effort? Are there ever any disagreements over song ideas?
We have had disagreements over different opinions, but as a group, we try to conquer these problems and complete the compositions together.

What do other kids think about you being in a band? Do you ever get a chance to play in front of your classmates?
Our classmates really admire how we already have a band on our own! We have performed for them several times, and they are a great source of encouragement and support.

What has been the most exciting moment in your young musical careers thus far?
We were very honored to have performed in and won the Midi Battle Nationals.

Is music something that you will continue to pursue, and if so what are some of your goals for the future as a band?
Of course we will continue pursuing our dreams. We are anticipating stepping onto the Zhanguo Rock Music Festival stage right now, and our ultimate goal is to perform on a nationwide or even global platform.

If you could make a music video for any one of your songs, which would it be and what would the music video be about?
We would probably make a music video for our original song “Onward,” and it would be about our journey step by step toward the horizon of success. The video would be filled with passion and faith, just like the song.

What has been the most challenging part of participating in the Midi Battle of the Bands, and how has the experience helped you to develop and grow closer as a band?
The pressure of competing amongst so many talented groups from all over China had been a challenge. But through all the accommodating and working with the group members during gigs and rehearsals, we have really came to know each other a lot better.

How are you judged in the Midi Battle of the Bands competition? Have you been very impressed by the other bands participating?
We were very honored to have been given the high praise “they might become the next ‘Motorhead’” from the professionals judging the battle. We were also very impressed by Soil, another band that participated.

What advice would you give to other teens wanting to start a band and start gigging around Beijing?
Just keep your ears open! Listen to feedback from your teachers, and listen to many different styles of music.

Junior Journey is a band with a distinct style that incorporates both pop and metal elements into their rock music. Like their band name entails, their music is also filled with energy and passionate sentiment, providing the perfect soundtrack to your road of discovery.

How would you describe your sound?
I would describe our style as rock, pop, and metal.

What other musicians do you find inspiring?
Some artists that we really enjoy are Jason Zhang, NZBZ, Beyond, and Open (another band that participated in Midi).

What are you all listening to right now?
We usually listen to rock songs, but also genres of pop and classical styles. We are open to both Chinese and Western music.

Who in the band writes the songs? Are there ever any disagreements over song ideas?
Our band members usually brainstorm a lot of the ideas together. Though we often have different ideas, we try to be inclusive and mix and merge them together, so it is a group effort.

What is the composition of your piece like, and what does the music and lyrics express? Is there anything special about the song that you would like to share with us?
We try our best to make our music as perfect as possible. The music as well as the lyrics contain a lot of emotions and passion, which, in our opinion, really fits our style and concept.

What do other kids think about you being in a band? Do you ever get a chance to play in front of your classmates?
We have played in front of our peers before, and they admire our special experience and skills.

What was the experience of participating in the Midi Battle like? What was the most memorable moment or story?
We had a blast! The whole experience had helped us gain more experience with performance and grow as a band. The enthusiasm from the crowd in the whole stadium had been indelible moments.

Have you been very impressed by the other bands participating?
We were impressed by the song “So Great” and “Onward” by Open.

What are your plans for the future of this band? Do you plan on creating more music together?
We plan to continue improving and creating better music in the future. We also hope that each member will keep developing their individual skills so that our music as well as our group will be remembered by people in the future.

Finally, is there anything you want to say to your bandmates?
Let’s cherish every rehearsal and every opportunity to perform onstage that we are given, and learn more from it each time to better ourselves even more. Friends,let us fight and strive toward our dream!

Photos: Courtesy of Kitty and Yan Min

What is both a telephone and a wallet? A way to order taxis, movie tickets, and even meals? An app where you can video-call with your most intimate friends, and a platform to share aesthetic photos to the world? To most people in China, their answer would be WeChat. As the most important social network in China that an average Chinese checks about 10 times a day, it has expanded into one of the largest messaging apps in the world over the course of 6 years. Its primary feature being messaging, WeChat has also developed plenty of popular features as well – including money transfer and payment, official accounts, Moments (a social feed for friends’ posts), and many more. As for international students studying and living in China, WeChat can be a helpful tool by both shortening the distance between each other and assisting us in our academic lives. It achieves so with special features that might otherwise be overlooked, and will be introduced below.

Animated Stickers
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A GIF? Probably worth a thousand texts. In WeChat, users can add stickers to their “gallery,” an assemblage of both downloaded collections and customized animated stickers that can be sent in private messages. You can access them in the emoji’s and stickers tab when on the direct and group chats’ interface, as they are automatically sorted into categories of “Favorites” and separate collections.

When finding the sticker tab for the first time, surely most of us spent hours poring over all the choices and sending them out to watch the animation. To access default stickers and themed sticker collections, you can find “downloads” in the gallery selection. Hundreds of compilations, ranging from adorable cartoon characters to clever memes, are available to your personal gallery with one tap. Every several months, the sticker store also updates debuts of new collections, sometimes to jump in on current trends and celebrities. In fact, some sticker collections that brought publicity to WeChat when it first started are worldwide characters now – including Tuzki, Frog and Horse, and Rumi.

In the “Favorites” tab of the gallery, there is the choice of adding custom images and GIFs to your stickers. Users can convert a photo (and even remove the background of some), and send the meme of a friend’s face in a chat. Moreover, you can create animated stickers of your own by saving and importing GIFs from your mobile phone album, which automatically generates a sticker of it. To acquire hilarious GIFs, there are online sources where many animated video clip files can be found. For example, Giphy is a massive database of categorized GIFs where users can also upload and edit their own clips. Therefore, next time when a friend sends you a sarcastic text, throw them a perfect comeback with an Anderson Cooper eye roll.

Restaurant Official Accounts
One of the perks of being in such a well-connected community – buzzing with liveliness and rapid changes – is that China has perhaps one of the most convenient food delivery services. Despite the quick and easy ways to deliver food already with specialized apps, WeChat is now developing the same food delivery options all in one app. For example, restaurants like Wagas and Haidilao already offer meal reservations and orders via subscription accounts.

When entering the official accounts of certain restaurants, there is often a “delivery” or “reservations” tab where you can choose your orders from the full menus accessible in those accounts. Users are also able to use WeChat wallet payment after filling in the addresses to submit the order.
Have you ever waited in a crowded line for hours, standing and blandly scrolling through your phone, just to get a spot in a restaurant? If waiting in line in restaurants, or even other stores such as hair salons, you can spend your time grabbing a drink or wander around the surrounding shopping mall now without worrying about losing your spot. By following the official accounts and leaving your phone number down, reminder WeChat messages would be sent when you are called to dine. WeChat now also offers reservations in the app without having to make calls or visiting the restaurant in person, as users can simply select the dining times and number of people to submit their reservations.

New services emerging at our fingertips increase the convenience and pleasure of our dining experiences. Honestly, who would resist the thought of both food delivery and texting in a single app?

Community Services
Perhaps many would use WeChat pay for enabling purchases – when shopping, sending transactions, buying food, and even gifting hongbaos, but how many have used it to support a good cause? Tencent Charity is a WeChat feature that users can access from their wallet screen, where you can donate to nonprofit organizations including Wardrobe of Love, Ofund, etc. In the main Tencent Charity interface, you can find lists of causes sorted into categories (including medical assistance, environmental issues, poverty alleviation, etc.) of both ongoing campaigns and urgent causes. In each campaign program, the number of people who have made donations to it or shared awareness of the cause as well as the total amount of money collected are specified. Although these online charity platforms are only in Chinese, it has still created a successful upsurge in people making charitable donations.

As for students looking for community service opportunities, there is also volunteer work that can be accessed from the “Public Services” tab under the wallet section. Similarly, the volunteer work is also categorized into the causes of choice, and there are services specific to the season, the neighborhood, and different groups of people in need of assistance. For instance, dressing up as Santa Claus to bring presents to a local orphanage on Christmas is an example of those citizen-led campaigns. Users can check the time, location, and number of people involved in the service, and accumulate points for each hour they devote to volunteer work. Combined with the Tencent Charity feature, WeChat users can contribute a little to the society around them – acting both globally and locally to serve as they see fit.

Special Messaging Features
As WeChat’s primary function, messaging features can be especially useful when having to discuss with groupmates and teachers about school work, as well as contacting dear friends when they are away. WeChat incorporates many features that can be found in other messaging apps, but includes them all in one app – such as the voice call and video call functions like that of Facebook Messenger, press-and-release video clips like Snapchat, voice messages, etc.

The group chats in WeChat are especially helpful when organizing group projects and activities. By including all members of the group to share files, links, videos, pictures, and much more, all members are able to discuss, learn, and complete assignments anytime and anywhere after school. The tagging function in texts is also convenient for allowing you to alert or remind group members or teachers for direct questions. When working on a long-term project or one with specific guidelines, the “Group Notice” is also a useful feature in these chats. It can be found in the chat setting screen, and a schedule, plan, or rubric of the project can be posted there to ensure that it does not become lost among numerous exchanges of text messages. Finally, when preparing for a presentation, a performance, etc., the video call function can be useful in rehearsing for the actual project by visualizing and polishing the roles that each member performs to effectively get the message across to the audience.

As technology connects us further and further, distance becomes more insignificant when it comes to contacting friends overseas. You and your friends can create a group chat to make group voice calls and video calls at any desired time, and the picture and video clip features allow you to take snaps to share with all the group members. The voice message function can also help you “speak” to a friend and hear their voice responses despite time zone differences. WeChat is known for its ability to connect users, as the convenience of chat features all promote a smoother and more efficient mode for comunication than we ever thought possible.