Sonnet
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Amp Die (v ), Live@NOIShanghai XXIII 2009.02.21 (v ), Live@d22 beijing 2007.05.03 (v ), Schizophrenia (v ), Untitled (v ), |
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Contents |
History
Introduction
The band's ultimate task is to seek and make smart rock music -- this is why they exist.
Their sound is characterized by hard guitar riffs and a true rock'n'roll smoky voice.
The beginnings
The early line-up of The Sonnet were formed in 2002 after guitarist Johnny had downloaded a bunch of brit-pop guitar music mp3s. The band split up after several live gigs when the members graduated from college. In the year 2003, Drummer Ringo came back to Shanghai from Beijing and met Johnny, who turned to some weird indie guitar stuff, for talking about reforming the band. Guitarist zib from the band Cold Water joined them as their new vocalist. They began to write what they called a kinda guitar-centered smart indie poppish stuff and rehearse in a small basement. The Sonnet got reborn.
The year 2004 was a busy year for the band, they prepared stuff for their debut album and played series of live gigs. On April 11th, they rocked The Ark in Shanghai's Xin Tian Di for the Nirvana 10 Years Concert. September 28th they performed in the Ark again. October 5th, they travelled to Beijing rocking in the New Get Lucky Bar. They joined the Give Live a Chance concert on December 4th and contribute a song to the compilation record by YuYinTang Music with in December 2004. On December 10th, they performed as support band to Beijing's The Verse in Harley's Bar.
2005
Pizi left the band at the beginning of 2005 when Yohei, a shy Japanese lad, who later would add some orthodox funky flavor into the band's music, replaced him as the band's next bassist. By then the idea of making a nice DIY record had long hovered in their mind. On January 10th, they performed in The Ark. On February 14th, they performed in the No. 31 Bar in Hangzhou. On March 19th, they performed during the Spring (春) Rock Festival in Hangzhou's No. 31 Bar. On March 26th, they performed in the SUS2 Music Bar. On April 17th, they rocked The Ark in Xin Tian Di. On April 19th, they performed in the Fillmore Bar. On May 7th, they rocked the Harley's Bar. Further in May they went into studio for recording their debut album From The Last Century, by the end of September they had finished the mixing and mastering work. After completing the production work, Yohei was replaced by AFu (Yang Fu), a young experienced guitarist. He plays bass in an odd guitarist way, but the sound is just nice, and this is what we want, according to the rest members of the band. June 11th, they performed in the SUS2 Music bar. June 12th they supported Muma during their National Tour Shanghai stopover in the Harley's Bar. In July their song Bless is included in the So Rock! Magazine (no. 42). In September Yang Fu joins on the bass. Later that month their record From The Last Century is released. On September 26th they supported foreign rock band The Frame in Shanghai's The Ark. On November 7th, they performed in the 上海対外貿易学院信息楼507. December 10th, they rocked the Live Bar as support act to Re-TROS. On December 18th, they performed at the East China Normal University in Shanghai.
2009
On January 24th, they performed in the Yuyintang. In March, their song Stupid Baby is included in the So Rock! Magazine (no. 84). On March 6th, they acted as support band to British band Young Knives in the ZhiJiang Dream Factory. On March 12th, their EP S-File is released in Shanghai with 500 copies only. In April, their song A Nice Song is included in the X-Music Magazine no. 387. On May 2nd, they performed as support act to Canadian bands Socalled and Jets Overhead in the Yuyintang. On May 16th, they opened up for Beijing band Bigger Bang in the Zhijiang Dream Factory. On May 28th, they rocked the Yuyintang. On July 18th, they performed in the eno shop. In August, they made their 《非正常人类研究科档案》 S-File EP available for free download and are due to record new songs in September of 2009.[1] August 28th 2009, they performed at the Michael Jackson Tribute Night at the Yu Yin Tang, Shanghai. According to Jake Newby: They were joined by their old guitarist Sun Ye for a couple of MJ tracks but the crowd were really into their own stuff and, particularly during Rejection, Zhu Baixi milked it for all it was worth sending the crowd into rapture.[2] September 19th, they performed as support act to Bigger Bang in the Yuyintang. According to Jake Newby: Unfortunately, Saturday night wasn't one of their best gigs. I'm not really sure why to be honest. They weren't bad, but it was hard for them to reach the heights of their recent shows - especially as they were the support act. They played a decent set, the highlight of which was probably Zhu Baixi switching the gender roles for Rejection, meaning that the guy got to reject the girl for once, whilst singing largely to (or maybe as) the picture of Bruce Lee on a Zhen Gong Fu cup.[3] September 26th they performed during the opening party of the M.A.O. Shanghai. [4] On December 18th, they performed in the Yuyintang.
2010
On January 2nd, 2010, they performed in the Mao Live House Shanghai. On March 5th, they performed during the Big Qiang Diao event in the Yuyitang. According to Andy Best: Sonnet play "post-pop" and pride themselves on being playful and clever. However, they have just lost their bass player and replaced him with samples tonight. With Yang Fu tied up with multiple duties they lost some of the movement and verve of the usual live show.[5] On March 12th, they performed during the Local King 3 in the MAO Live House Shanghai. According to Andy Best: They had complex video intros to their songs and all kinds of bridges and gimmicks. They presented themselves like super stars and even did their latest single We all have a sorry yesterday acapella with all the members up front. They had the bassist back in the line up, which was good and to be fair, the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves.[6]
Discography
Major releases
S-file - 2009, March
From The Last Century - 2005, September
Compilations
We Are Shanghai - 2012, January
Indie Top One (VA) - 2008, December
Shanghai Rock: Volume 1 (VA) - 2006, October
Give Live a Chance (VA) - 2004
Appearances in Podcasts
Rock in China Radio Show 8 - 2006
Festival Appearances
1234 Beach Rock 2006, Shanghai, Sep 2006
Further Information
Official pages
Other pages
References
- ↑ Jake Newby (2009-07-31). "Sonnet release S-File for free". Retrieved on 2009-08-02.
- ↑ Jake Newby (2009-08-29). "Michael Jackson tribute night, Yuyintang". Retrieved on 2009-08-29.
- ↑ Jake Newby (2009-09-21). "Sonnet support Bigger Bang!, Yuyintang". Retrieved on 2009-09-21.
- ↑ Andy Best (2009-09-28). "Mao Shanghai opening night". Retrieved on 2009-10-04.
- ↑ Andy Best (2010-03-06). "Big Qiang Diao @ Yuyintang". Retrieved on 2010-03-14.
- ↑ Andy Best (2010-03-13). "Local King 3 "Genohmang" @ Mao Livehouse". Retrieved on 2010-03-14.
