MOREN MAO

STORIES FROM THE YAOGUN COMMUNITY


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ISSUE 1MARCH 2024
From the 90s’ most prominent punk star to the best indie rock band of the 21st century, this newsletter explores the impact of censorship and authoritarian control on the yaogun community. Composed of translated excerpts from interviews, album booklets, and internet comments, accompanied by lyrical analysis and curated playlists. 


New Little Bar music venue located in the Yulin Subdistrict of Chengdu. The original Little Bar location was the birthplace of underground music in Chengdu, China. Photographed by 蔡鸣 (Cai Min), 2009.

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
While filming the music video for the title track “Garbage Dump.” Photographed by 高原 *(Gao Yuan), 1994.
01

GENERATION DEFINED BY A LONGING FOR FREEDOM



何勇 (HE YONG)

ISSUE 1
MARCH 2024



Omnipotent Youth Society at their recording studio. Photographed by 邓郁 (Deng Yu), 2020.
02

IN PURSUIT OF A “CORRECT” POLITICAL ORIENTATION



万能青年旅店 (OMNIPOTENT YOUTH SOCIETY)

ISSUE 1
MARCH 2024




Guitarist of PunkGod, 段信军 (Duan Xinjun) performing on the Streets of Paris. In 2009, PunkGod, with activists 王龙蒙 (Wang Longmeng) and 张健 (Zhang Jian) toured across Europe to commemorate the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Wang and Zhang are both student activists exiled in 1989. Image from https://m.jiemian.com/article/707243.html
03

ONLINE CENSORSHIP AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

 

盘古乐队 (PUNKGOD)

ISSUE 1
MARCH 2024





2012, SMZB performing at the Vox Livehouse music venue. Vox is located in Wuhan, and founded by SMZB’s former drummer 朱宁 (Zhu Ning). The slogan for Vox is “Voice of youth, voice of freedom.” Image from the Vox Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/voxlivehouse/photos_by
04

REGULATING LIVE PERFORMANCES



生命之饼 (SMZB)

ISSUE 1
MARCH 2024



WORKS CITEDISSUE 1
MARCH 2024



FURTHER READINGS