The Spin Kicks. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Competition

Gaymer says that in Britain competition among bands is fierce because many are trying to make a living from their music. In China it has generally been a lot easier to find venues at which to play, he says, even if in smaller cities audiences can unadventurous and are generally unschooled in the differences between different genres.

Feola says that in the US, bands play a specific style of music and there are a lot of fans of specific styles, such as hard-core punk.

"Bands can go to any city and there will be hard-core punk fans. But I haven't experienced that in China. It's more like if you make interesting music, it doesn't matter about the genre. You just find music fans.

"I found that really interesting. For me personally, it is more exciting to play in a band in China than in the US. There is more openness and more spontaneity."

Nevin Domer also brims with enthusiasm about the city that now plays venue to his music.

"For me it's enjoyable living in Beijing. The music community is different to that of other countries. ... In one way it is better because it's easier to play a show, and in one way it's not so good because the community is not developed. But in the end, it's still very interesting to do music here."