No Name

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No Name in February 2008, photo by Azchael
No Name in February 2008, photo by Azchael

Background Information
Name (English) No Name
Origin Xi'an / Beijing
Genre Punk
Years active 2001 - present
Members
Yao Rui: Vocals

Mars (Ma Duo): Guitar

Zhang Hui: Bass

Niu Hong: Drums

Former members
Guitar/Vocals: Hu Kai / Frank

Bass/Vocals: Zhu Tao / Plute

Drums: Xie Jing / Ler

Guitar: Yang Fan

Drums: Qu Chen

Preview


Contents

History

sometimes called "The No Name" or "No Name Band"

Formed in the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi province in December 2001, No Name is one of the big names amongst the Chinese punk Old Skull bands. NONAME's line up has changed numerous times over its existence, with singer/songwriter Yao Rui being the nucleus of western China's oldest punk band

Like many of China's old school punks, Yao Rui was a heavy metal fan whose life was changed when he discovered a “da kuo” (discarded, chopped up factory reject cassettes and cds from the west) copy of the SEX PISTOLS' legendary “Nevermind The Bullocks” album from a street vendor in his hometown of Xi'an. As with his peers in Beijing and Wuhan, such musical discoveries opened up doors of musical awareness that their heavy metal roots were not. Invigorated and inspired, Rui started writing songs and performing with his friends. His first project was entitled “Evil Heart,” and that eventually morphed itself into a punk rock unit that really didn't have a name, so they simply billed themselves as, “No Name Band.” At the time did not occur to them that there were several other bands outside of China with similar attitudes, so the anglicized run-on of NONAME (versus NO NAME) was born.

Rui started his punk music experiments playing guitar but put the instrument down and picked up the microphone in his signature, left-handed style, belting out his ideas through an old school, British punk inspired veneer

NONAME soldiered on and built up their repertoire of songs about the same time as Xi'an's nascent live house scene started to expand. This provided the band plenty of opportunities to connect with like-minded locals and develop their fiercely loyal fanbase. As their body of work diversified their fanbase grew, and numerous personnel changes started to happen as band members moved abroad for studies, relocated to other cities, or simply lost their musical aspirations. Most of these departures were amicable and many former NONAME members still collaborate with Rui on his various personal projects. In some respects, NONAME is as much a family as it is a band and it is not uncommon to see members leave the band only to return later on, participating in one of the band's numerous international tours, appearing in one of their music videos, or working on one of NONAME's movie projects.

Timeline

At the end of 2003, the music-recording company TimeString Records incorporated the band's anthem “No Name” onto an underground compilation, which in turn, surprised everyone.

In 2004, they released their demo CD, “We Don't Need That Shit!!” It consisted of songs they had written between 2001 to 2004. They made their first music video for “TVS” at this time. Despite being shot on a webcam attached to a simple notebook computer, the music video remains a wonderful time capsule reflecting the band at that time, while embodying the D. I. Y. spirit of punk rock. Later that year drummer Qu Chen left the band and Hu Kai and Xie Jing joined the band.

In 2005 a pair of of their songs were released on a South Korean punk compilation. It was around this time that the band took a more professional approach to their music and touring. Their song writing started to reflect this mature approach. Yang Fan (aka “Frank”) is recruited from Sichuan to join the band on guitar. Bassist Zhang Hui joins the band, and drummer Zhang Le also joins the band. NO NAME continues to tour throughout China, including playing a large festival in Chengdu.

2006

No Name in 2006, photo (c) Timestring Records / Lvzhou.net

On March 18th 2006, NONAME released their “Get Free EP” during a gig in the YOYO bar. In May their song Get Free was included in the magazin 団結! Vol.2 (Tuan Jie Vol.2). On May 9th, they performed in the 2008-98 bar as support act to French SKARFACE. On June 24th, they rocked the 2008-98 bar as support act to Joyside. On July 1st, they performed together with Demerit at the YOYO bar. On September 5th, they rocked the 蛋殻 bar. On September 9th, they performed in Chengdu during the 2006 西部力量戸外揺滾 music festival. The band's popularity beyond Xi'an started to blossom and they started to play in Beijing with greater regularity, e.g. during the October 2nd Beijing beer and rock festival 2006 in the International Sculpture Park. Furthermore, on October 3rd, they performed at Beijing's D-22. On November 17th, they performed at the 亮鑰匙 bar for the release of the compilation record Various Artists of Xi'an Rock'n'Roll Music Vol. 2 (VA) by Timestring Records and the fifth anniversary of Lvzhou.net. Also in November they signed with German label Razorblade Music. On December 5th, they performed as support act to Norway band HAGGIS in the YOYO bar. On December 10th, they rocked the YOYO bar along with New Pants.

2007

No Name in 2007, photo (c) No Name

2007 was the culmination of a lot of hard work. Legendary Beijing-based punk label SCREAM records expressed interest in working with NONAME, as did the mainland's largest independent music company, Modern Sky Records. Yao Rui made the difficult decision to leave his friends and family behind and brought NONAME with him to Beijing. It was at this time that bassist Zhang Hui, guitarist Yang Fan (aka “Frank,”) and drummer Zhang Le left the band. Yang Fan, who had moved to Xi'an from his native Sichuan jut to play with NONAME, went onto revive his own band, SUCKER, with Zhang Hui joining him. Zhang Le went on to play drums for pop balladeers and PEPSI/SMG Battle of the Bands finalists SWEET TRAVELER.

Once NONAME relocated to Beijing, they made the difficult decision to sign with Modern Sky Records over Scream Records. Their time as Modern Sky artists was tumultuous and included artistic disagreements between the band and the label, as evidenced by the fuck-awful, bizarre choice of album artwork for their lone Modern Sky release, “Sick and Tired.” A comparison between the German, Razorblade Music release's artwork and the mainland, Modern Sky release's artwork is a startling example of how off-the-mark the PR people in Modern Sky were in promoting a punk band at that time. The promotions people just didn't get “it.” Ray does not look upon NONAME's brief run with Modern Sky as a terribly negative experience and he would later take what he had learned about the music business while being under contract with them and apply it to the formation of his own music label and booking company: Kids-Union (based out of Xi'an), in 2009.

During their time in Beijing, NONAME produced their second music video for the fan favorite, “Get Free.” Fellow Xi'an native and former RWF front man/Beijing survivor Guantou has a cameo in the video

2008

In February of 2008 their song, “Chaos Changan,” (“Chang An” being the ancient name for the kingdom that existed where the city currently named “Xi'an” stands) was included in X-Music Magazine no. 359. On February 23rd, they performed int he Mao Livehouse. On May 29th they performed as support act to Brainfailure in the Mao Livehouse. In March NONAME were making an extensive tour of Europe. Their first tour of Europe was warmly received and strengthened their presence as facilitated by their Germany-based record label Razorblade Music. In detail they rocked Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland. From April onwards they also toured mainland China, including April 11th, Beijing's Yugong Yishan, April 12th Shijiazhuang's 地下絲絨 bar, April 25th Chongqing's 堅果倶楽部, May 9th Mianyang's LOWBAR, May 10th Chengdu's Little Bar, June 7th Guangzhou's 191SPACE, June 9th Hongkong's University ABC活動中心, June 21st, the Starlive, June 28th Xi'ans TIGER bar and July 18th Zhengzhou's 麒麟演義 during the 躁個夏天 music festival. On December 28th, they performed in the Mao Livehouse. On December 31st, they split record Split EP with The Scarred was released in Europe and China.

After the split of R. W. F., guitarist and fellow Xi'an native Mars (Ma Duo) and drummer Hong (Niu Hong) joined NONAME in 2008.

2009

Photoshoot of the two bands 'No Name' and 'Gumbleed' in Beijing, China for the Tailored by England Umbro campaign for the launch of the England kit 2009., photo (c) umbrofootball

In early 2009 NONAME appear with their friends GUM BLEED in an international promotional photo shoot for athletic clothing giant Umbro.

On April 11th, they performed at Xi'ans 日落之前 bar. On April 17th, they performed in Zhengzhou's 7 LIVE HOUSE. Furthermore in April their record Who Will Survive is released. On April 25th, they held a release party at the 微薄之塩 bar. On may 8th, they performed in Zhengzhou's 7 LIVE HOUSE along with British band SHAM69. On May 10th, they performed at Chengdu's 九拍倶楽部 along with SHAM69. On May 13th, they rocked Changsha's 肆陸 bar with SHAM69. On May 17th, they performed at Shanghai's Yuyintang along with SHAM69. On May 18th, they rocked Hangzhou's 復興大院LOFT WHOMHOUSE. On May 19th, they performed at Nanjing's 古堡 bar. On May 20th, they performed in Hefei's 革命者 bar. On May 21st, they performed in Nanchang's 黒鉄 bar. On May 24th, they performed in Guiyang's LUCK bar. On May 26th, they performed in Chongqing's 堅果倶 bar. On May 28th, 2009, NONAME made a triumphant return to their hometown of Xi'an, performing to a capacity crowd on the first evening of the two day ZhangGuanLi Dai Festival. On June 26th, they performed at D-22. On July 31st, they rocked the Mao livehouse during the Seventh Beijing Punk Music Festival (六届北京朋克音楽節). On August 21st, they performed at the 奥体中心北門足球場 during the 夏日領航2009大型音楽季 event. August 29th, they performed at the Beijing Haidian park during the 海淀公園音楽季 - 音楽街 event. October 23rd and 24th they performed at Shanghai's 2009上海朱家角水郷音楽節. In November, Yao Rui and Mars would move back to their native Xi'an, bringing Tianshui, Gansu Province native Niu Hong with them. Yao Rui and a pair of associates started Kids-Union Records to promote NONAME and distribute music for internationally recognized punk legends SHAM69, The Vibrators, The Casualties, the Nazi Dogs, and Ashers, and to help book foreign bands wanting to tour China (including a pair of successful tours for SHAM69, a national tour for the NAZI DOGS, and a tour for THE VIBRATORS).

2010

No Name 2010 UK Tour Poster
May 2010
No Name at their UK Tour 2010, photo (c) No Name MySpace

In early 2010 NONAME started recording songs with Black Head singer Wang DaZhi producing.

On May 1st, 2010, they performed at the Midi Music Festival 2010. An official music video for “Smash Everything” was released three days later. On May 2nd, they performed at the 壹空間. From May 14th until May 22nd, No Name toured again in Europe with various gigs in the UK.[1]

In October of 2010 the band released their third music video: a retrospective of their career up until that point, commemorating their 10th anniversary, debuting a new song entitled, “My Attitude.”

In November of 2010 they collaborated with American filmmaker Darryl Pestilence to produce the mainland's first punk rock, post-apocalyptic musical called DRAGON CITY. True to their D. I. Y. roots, DRAGON CITY functions as a vehicle to promote four of their new songs: “Dragon Spirit,” “Next To You,” Real Punk Noise,” and “Kids Union,” while expressing some of the band's core values in an entertaining manner. True to the idea that NONAME are as much a punk rock family as they are a band, former band members Ah Bao, Zheng Le, and Qu Chen appear In the film. Chongqing band The Wheels and SWEET TRAVELER singer Meng Meng also have cameos in the movie.

At the end of December 2010, NONAME debut their new CD, “That Is What We Believe,” with a release party at Xi'an's Back Nook bar.

2011

In August of 2011 guitarist Mars left the band and former guitarist Xie Hongquan rejoined the band and former drummer Xie Jing filled in for Niu Hong on a couple of Xi'an-based shows.

In October of 2011 DRAGON CITY had its world premier at the D-2 club in Xi'an on September 29th. It had its North American premier at the Cinema Wasteland Cult Film Expo in Strongsville, Ohio on October 1st, and was the only Chinese film included in the IT CAME FROM SCHENECTADY 24 hour movie marathon on October 16th.

On October 15th, NONAME headlined the second annual Wuhan Prison Punkfest @ the VOX live house in Hubei, playing alongside Changsha's THE LAST CHOICE, Nanjing's ANGRY JERKS and local bands CMKY, BLURRY and THE SHARP PILLS.

Lineup Changes

The lineup of No Name changed a couple of times throughot their band history:

2001-Present: Yao Rui: vocals

2001: Deng Hua - guitar | Zhu Tao - bass | Qu Chen - drums

2002: Ran Xin - guitar

2004: Yang Fan (Frank) - guitar

2005: Xie Hongquan - guitar | Xie Jing - drums

2006: Yang Fan (Frank) - guitar | Zhang Hui - bass | Zheng Le - drums

2007: Ah-Bao - bass

2008: Li Chang - guitar | Li Xiangyang - bass | Xiao Long - drums

2009: Ma Duo (Mars) - guitar | Jiang Wei - bass | Niu Hong - drums

Fall 2009: Zhang Hui - bass

2011: Xie Hongquan - guitar

Participated Festivals

Midi Music Festival 2010, May 1st-4th 2010

Modern Sky Festival 2007 - 2007, October

Beijing beer and rock festival 2006 - October 2006

Photos

No Name in January 2006, photo by lvzhou.net


Discography

Major releases

Who Will Survive - 2009, April

Sick & Tired - 2007, December (Chinese Version)

Sick and Tired - 2007, June

Get Free (EP) - 2006, March

We Don't Need That Shit!! - 2004, July

Compilations

Split EP (VA) - 2008, December 31st

Next Generation (Korean compilation) - 2005, January

Various Artist of Xi'an Rock'n'Roll Music (VA) - 2004, March

Appearances in Podcasts

Rock in China Radio Show 9 - 2007, January

Further Information

Official pages

Interviews

Other pages

Photos

Videos

References

  1. ↑ FFRUKIT! (2010-05-13). "Punk Rocks From China to Europe! No Name on TOUR NOW !!!". Retrieved on 2011-08-25.
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