Breaking the sound barriers

Chinese rockers are increasingly breaking the sound barriers of the country's cultural geography. Rock 'n' roll has been a particularly location-centric genre. The chillier northern half of the country warmly welcomes rock shows, which often get a cold shoulder in the hotter southern regions. Indie band Miserable Faith is a case in point. The hardcore pioneers' heavy beats and furious lyrics are today well received nationwide. But in the early days following their 1999 formation, they were shrugged at throughout the southern leg of their national tour, which was inspired by the band's adoration of Jack Kerouac's novel, On the Road.

The crowds sizzled for them in Beijing, Tianjin and Shaanxi's provincial capital Xi'an. But audiences were cool toward them in Shanghai, Guangdong province's capital Guangzhou and Fujian province, the band recalls.

Sometimes, they even had to cancel shows because of tepid turnouts in the South.

"It's so sad to have just a few people there when you stand on the stage, especially for rock 'n' roll," the band's vocalist and songwriter Gao Hu says.

"The audience's emotion is very important for us to unleash ourselves. We usually write songs when we are on the road, turning our feelings about different cities into lyrics. We expected the audiences to have the same emotions toward us, but we were wrong."

When they released their second album, Don't Stop My Music, in 2009 and toured the South again, they were surprised to find the song On the Road was the best received at their shows. They even named their tour after their namesake song, Heading to the South Later.

"Heading to the South, heading to the South, and my dream is in front of me; the light of dawn comes," Gao sings.

The song is softer and more poetic than their others.

"In our earlier music, we preferred to express our attitude sharply and directly," Gao says.

"With the second album, we came to see the world with an open and forgiving attitude. The album is warm but still powerful. We didn't do that intentionally but felt it was right. I think the change helped us feel closer to audiences in the South, who like expressing themselves in a gentler way."