Strong diversity

Pichilingi, who was very impressed by the Chinese artists at the Modern Sky and Strawberry Music festivals in Beijing in 2016, says: "The diversity is strong. And I am a big fan of Re: TROS and Big Wave as well as Miserable Faith, which we had at Sound City last year.

"A few months ago we were introduced to Maggie Cheung (the Hong Kong award-winning actress, who signed at Modern Sky in 2015 and performed at the Strawberry Music Festival that year) and I thought she was great to work with. Her music is amazing."

Meanwhile, Re: TROS, will perform at the Sound City Festival in May. And, the post-punk band, whose name stands for Rebuilding The Rights of Statues, is touring over 20 Chinese cities through April, its first national tour in eight years.

Re: TROS, which was founded by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Hua Dong in 2003, signed with Modern Sky in 2005 and released their debut EP, Cut Off!, later that year.

Besides China, the band has toured the United States and Europe.

Speaking of the band's links with Modern Sky and Shen, Hua says:" We have witnessed each other's growth and changes over the years.

"The international expansion of Modern Sky is proof of Shen's ambition of introducing Chinese indie bands to the world. And it is great to see that Shen is making this happen.

"The overseas events are massive opportunities for Chinese bands to link up with the world."