meet Chinese Football, excellent Chinese Indie band with Emo refinements

By David Bote

Chinese Football is a Chinese Indie Rock band from the city of Wuhan. Despite calling themselves an Indie band, there are several elements from Shoegaze to Math/Midwest Emo that make up their music, and these influences are present in the speech of Xu Bovocalist and guitarist of the band.

According to the frontman, the lyrics address everyday life and portray, from his point of view, themes such as a mediocre, emotionally confused and frustrated life, but also processes of coping and learning in the face of adversity.

The band released, on 12/31/2022, their most recent work entitled Win&Loseto complete the “Game Trilogy”, a trilogy composed of the two previous albums Here Comes a New Challenger! (2017) e Continue? (2019). However, the band’s most successful album is the eponymous Chinese Football (2015), which certainly put them in the Asian Indie/Emo/Math mainstream.

For some years now, the band has been performing in China and countries, mainly in East Asia, but Xu Bo does not hide his interest in touring in other continents. However, the COVID-19 pandemic (which began in same city of Wuhan) delayed the band’s plans, which, with this latest release, will seek to occupy more spaces in the indie scene.

An interview – much more an exchange of ideas – was conducted in August 2018 with vocalist and guitarist Xu Bo (Xu Bo), also known for his solo work A Hidden Trace. Check it out in its entirety below to help you get to know the project!

Entrevista Chinese Football

TMDQA!: What is the name of each of you and what do you play?

Xu Bo: Eu (Xu Bo) I play guitar and sing, Wang Bo (Wang Bo) plays guitar, Li Lixin (Li Lixin) toca baixo e Zheng Zili (Zheng Zili) plays drums.

TMDQA!: How long have you known each other?

Xu Bo: Wang Bo and I started this band in 2011. We didn’t know each other before that, but Li Lixin and I have known each other since 2006, although we don’t speak to each other anymore. We were playing in different bands back then.

TMDQA!: Not everyone understands the insight behind the name “Chinese Football”. Can you tell us more about the name and why you chose it?

Xu Bo: Fhi funny, when we started the band i didn’t think that [a banda American Football] would meet. I wouldn’t use that name if I knew they were going to reunite. I think at that time not many people knew about them, especially in China. Even my band members didn’t know about them. It’s interesting that when people abroad watch Chinese Football, they ask me ‘do you like American Football?’, but in China they ask me ‘do you play football?’.

continues after photo

TMDQA!: How did Chinese Football form as a band? Tell us a little about your story.

Xu Bo: Around 2011 I met Wang Bo on a BBS (Bulletin Board System) on the internet and we talked to each other, we seemed to like the same kind of music, and both of us, at that time, had broken up with our ex-bands, so I said ‘let’s try’.

TMDQA!: What are your musical influences? Tell us at least one album that, if you had to go to a desert island, you would definitely take.

Xu Bo: We like different types of music, but I think bands like Envy, Toe, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, The Sea and Cake, Yo La Tengo influenced me a lot. I think I’ll pick up a Mandarin album called 我去两千年 (I Went to 2000) by Chinese pop singer Pu Shu. It’s one of my favorite albums since I was a high school student.

TMDQA!: How is this math/indie/emo rock movement in Asia, especially in China? Can you tell us a little about your tours and shows?

Xu Bo: I think there are many [ótimas bandas de] math/indie/emo rock in Asia, but in China it’s far from a ‘movement’. When we tour China, we’re just treated like an ‘indie rock band’. If you hear our [álbum] Come Togetheryou will find that in China we play with many types of bands (shoegaze/post-rock/indie-pop/math rock/punk).

There are few emo bands in China, but Chinese fans are very enthusiastic. Tours are great. When we toured Japan it was totally different, it seems like we got into the indie/punk/emo underground. We share the stage with many great bands of the style. They are amazing.

[Observação do tradutor: A respeito deste tópico, a banda chegou a produzir um mini documentário intitulado Chinese Football 2019 Japan Tour Documentary, de 2019]

TMDQA!: Chinese Football has fans all over the world and there is no doubt about that. Do you consider touring somewhere other than Asia? [se vocês vierem ao Brasil, com certeza levarei uma galera comigo!].

Xu Bo: We really, really look forward to touring overseas! We only need one
chance, I guess.

TMDQA!: You have great EPs: some are exclusively from Chinese Football, others are compilations and musical partnerships. How do you interact with these other bands?

Xu Bo: One of the reasons we enjoy touring is that we got to meet a lot of great bands that we didn’t know before, so we made compilations or shared albums to record our memories. ‘We play together and we like each other, so why shouldn’t we do something together?’

TMDQA!: Although the internet is one of the most democratic media in the world, there are many artists who are strict about sharing music online, free of charge, copyrights, etc. What is the relevance of the internet and social networks for you? Do you all help maintain the sites?

Xu Bo: All the sites I maintain on my own, sometimes it’s a little tiring, but it’s really fun to communicate directly with the fans; their reaction also encourages me. Sometimes I get tired of the Internet, but without it you would not listen to our music and send me this message.

TMDQA!: Can you comment a little bit about the lyrics, inspirations and main themes? What are the elements of Chinese culture as a whole that you always try to bring into your songs?

Xu Bo: The lyrics are all about my personal perceptions. confusion, contradiction,
frustration… As a small, more or less incompetent person, I don’t deliberately bring Chinese culture into the song, I just write my true feelings in Chinese. It’s my native language so I can express myself better.

TMDQA!: As a good Brazilian, I am addicted to football and follow the sport around the world. And you Chinese Football members: do you also like football?

Xu Bo: I don’t watch sports much for now, but everyone watched the World Cup. Our bassist is addicted to the NBA, and our guitarist still watches football and plays FIFA.

TMDQA!: Outside the stages and studios, what do you do in your free time?

Xu Bo: We are all homebody people. I collect LPs and CDs, so when I go out I always go to record stores. Wang Bo watches Japanese comics and tinkers with garage kits, he is absolutely an otaku. Li Lixin skates, but he’s the homeliest of us; even when we are on tour he likes to stay at the hotel.

TMDQA!: Quick game. Open your phone or music app and put it on shuffle. Post the first three songs here!

Xu Bo: “Kanaz”, from Nabowa; “One More Robot / Sympathy” by The Flaming Lips; “You Should All Be Murdered” by Another Sunny Day. I always listen to CDs or LPs so I listed 3 songs that were just played.

TMDQA!: Quick Game #2. Submit two songs that you really like about China: the first one has to be like Chinese Football, and the other one is free to choose. I’ll send mine from Brazil:

“When It Goes Wrong”, da Sound Bullet.

Xu Bo: Excellent! It looks like an emo version of Two Door Cinema Club!

“From Mud to Chaos”, by Chico Science & Nação Zumbi.

Xu Bo: This is according to my imagination of Brazil! I’ll list mine: “Forever” by Touming Magazine. A band from Taiwan. My favorite ever. “TARDY” by The White Tulips. A band we played together in China and released a split.

TMDQA!: What else do you consume culturally? Recommend something to us.

Xu Bo: There are so many things. As for the movies, I’m a huge fan of Wes Anderson. I
I recommend Rushmore e Isle of Dogs, which is also interesting. As for the
games, recommend Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I bought a Nintendo Switch to play it and it’s worth it! As for anime, I recommend it Samurai Champloo!