{"id":302339,"date":"2026-02-17T10:09:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302339\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:09:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:09:06","slug":"its-a-nice-surprise-to-be-treated-like-kings-why-are-mid-level-british-indie-bands-massive-in-china-indie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302339\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a nice surprise to be treated like kings!\u2019 Why are mid-level British indie bands massive in China? | Indie"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I joined the band Swim Deep 13 years ago, my dreams were much like those of any young musician: to play Glastonbury, to tour America and to hear our music on the radio \u2013 all of which we\u2019ve managed to achieve. But what I hadn\u2019t counted on was finding a fanbase in China<\/a>. Despite us never having knowingly released our music there, Swim Deep recently returned triumphant from our fourth run of shows on Chinese soil in barely 10 years, and we\u2019re not the only British indie band benefiting from this unexpected opportunity.<\/p>\n

Way beyond \u2026 Craig Dyer of the Underground Youth, on tour in China. Photograph: Courtesy: The Underground Youth<\/p>\n

China has had an enthusiasm for British and Irish pop acts for years, long before its \u00a5500bn (\u00a3531m) music industry overtook France to become the world\u2019s fifth largest<\/a> in 2023. Jessie J became a phenomenon after winning the country\u2019s premier singing competition in 2018, while Westlife have spent decades playing to thousands in Chinese arenas and stadiums. But less heralded is a growing interest in grassroots UK indie bands, for whom the unexpected demand \u2013 and promise of excellent pre-gig catering \u2013 presents a financial and spiritual lifeline as returns increasingly diminish on home soil.<\/p>\n

The Underground Youth<\/a>, formed in Blackpool in 2008, have spent more than 15 years \u201cslogging night after night through small clubs in the UK and Europe\u201d, says frontman Craig Dyer. Twelve albums in, Dyer says that touring at home is no longer financially viable, with accommodation and catering costs often outstripping performance fees.<\/p>\n

In China, the experience is quite different. Tours are often pitched to artists as all-inclusive offers, with promoters taking on a financial risk by booking large venues and covering internal travel, hotels and hot meals on top of a multishow fee \u2013 a risk they\u2019re happy to take, because of the passion for British artists among Chinese fans. \u201cIt\u2019s some of the best treatment we\u2019ve had,\u201d says Dyer, citing the 14 gigs they\u2019ve played there since 2019. \u201cWe\u2019re in nice hotels, being taken out for meals, and having small cares taken care of without thinking. And the professional level of the venues goes above and beyond what we\u2019re used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gone shopping \u2026 Nicholas Wood (left) and Kat Day (right) of the KVB, in China. Photograph: Courtesy: The KVB<\/p>\n

For Kat Day of Manchester-based darkwave duo the KVB<\/a>, the second point is particularly encouraging: \u201cWe\u2019re an audiovisual band, and the venues in China are often equipped with beautiful LED screens. I wish we had the funding to make our venues this good.\u201d It\u2019s not just the technical capabilities that are impressive, either. \u201cVenues are often in shopping centres, which is quite genius,\u201d she continues. In the UK, she says, \u201call of our venues are getting shut down \u2013 Moth Club [in Hackney] is fighting tooth and nail to keep open. But who\u2019s going to complain about noise in a shopping centre?\u201d<\/p>\n

Swim Deep\u2019s first gig in China, in 2014, was bizarre: we had arrived in Hong Kong to discover that the venue was an Italian restaurant with all the tables and chairs pushed to the side. But on the mainland, we\u2019ve mostly encountered ultra-modern spaces like those Dyer and Day enthuse about. And like them, we find our audience numbers in China often far surpass what we\u2019d expect to find at home. In September 2019, our biggest UK festival show took place at 110 Above in Leicestershire, in front of a crowd of 500. A few months later, we played to 10,000 people at sunset on the main stage at Strawberry music festival in Guangzhou; we were the only UK act on the bill.<\/p>\n

Sea Power, who formed as British Sea Power in Reading in the mid-90s, have had similar success. Their first visit to Beijing was a \u201ccatastrophe\u201d, says frontman Jan Scott Wilkinson \u2013 the band had arrived to find the festival they had been booked for was mysteriously cancelled, so they instead went to the Great Wall to play acoustically to some \u201cvery bemused local families\u201d. But in May 2025, four new headline shows turned to six after tickets sold out within hours. \u201cWe were playing up to 3,000 capacity venues,\u201d Wilkinson says. \u201cIt was like playing in London every night.\u201d The band have two separate trips planned in 2026 \u2013 a festival in May, and a dozen further shows later on. \u201cWe\u2019re old. We\u2019re no longer desperately trying to break or grow,\u201d Wilkinson says. \u201cSo it\u2019s a nice surprise to do something like this and be treated like kings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sea Power on tour in China, 2025. Photograph: Yu<\/p>\n

Their popularity is easily explained: in 2019 Sea Power scored video game Disco Elysium, which \u201cdeals with communism, capitalism and all kinds of philosophies and political thoughts\u201d, says Wilkinson, and was an unexpected hit in China<\/a>. But for other bands, the source of their Chinese fandom isn\u2019t well known, especially as western platforms such as Spotify and Instagram are blocked in the country. \u201cWe were told that fans liked us because we looked like a couple from one of these Chinese soap operas,\u201d says Day of the KVB. Galway\u2019s NewDad, meanwhile, went viral on Rednote in 2024, with the Chinese social media platform flooded with makeup tutorials recreating the look of the porcelain doll on their Madra album cover.<\/p>\n

Levek Lee has travelled thousands of miles from her native Guangdong to huge cities, to see British bands such as Wolf Alice and Ride \u2013 and her personal experience offers some insight into Chinese fans\u2019 engagement with western music. Having discovered acts like Jake Bugg and Swim Deep via the algorithm of now defunct Chinese streaming platform Xiami Music in the 2010s, she began importing records from UK stores such as Banquet Records in Kingston upon Thames, often waiting for a month or more for purchases to arrive. Studying in Sheffield for her postgraduate degree cemented her affinity with the \u201cspirit of rebellion\u201d embedded in British music and fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed Chinese music but it tended to be more mainstream and pop-oriented,\u201d she says. \u201cBut British indie music felt like a closer expression of my authentic self. I think Chinese music fans are also constantly searching for that kind of distinctiveness.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cI think [the success] also has something to do with the British music industry: there are loads and loads of bands out there, so there is something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swim Deep in Guangzhou, 2019. Photograph: Hasong<\/p>\n

Zipping through China via ultra-efficient bullet train is an eye-opening experience for UK artists; stories of Wuhan jam sessions with mohawk-wearing Chinese punks, meet-cutes with Chinese indie legends Carsick Cars, panda spotting in Chengdu and trips to subterranean Shanghai clubs that feel \u201clike The Matrix\u201d are among the highlights these bands share with me. After-show encounters with queues of excited fans bearing armfuls of merch and handmade gifts are no less cherished. But not every aspect of touring in China is liberating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Nanjing, our tour manager came backstage with two police officers who wanted to run through the setlist and our understanding of the law,\u201d says Dyer. \u201cI had to sign documents saying that I wouldn\u2019t swear, get naked, endanger anyone in the crowd or say anything negative about the regime.\u201d All lyrics must be submitted for approval before an artist\u2019s arrival in China, to ensure compliance with local censorship laws. The process can result in well-known songs being denied without explanation. \u201cAll well and good,\u201d says Dyer. \u201cBut it\u2019s a bit of a mood killer 15 minutes before you go on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bureaucracy aside, UK artists are broadly enthusiastic about their Chinese touring experiences, with the avid work of independent promoters including So Ready Presents<\/a>, Mentha Project,<\/a> Haze Sounds<\/a> and Blank Joy central to those experiences. With British acts including Shame, Matt Maltese and Caroline all playing China this year, the bookings show no sign of abating; and with the promise of visa-free travel for UK citizens, artists may soon find themselves with company on their outbound flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel absolutely blessed that we can go to these places and meet these people who are so passionate and so kind,\u201d says Day. \u201cIt\u2019s special. There\u2019s a lot of animosity towards China, but I think people need to go and see it for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swim Deep\u2019s fifth album, Hum<\/a>, is released on 19 June on Submarine Cat Records.<\/p>\n