S.A.M.E – bridging the gap between China and Australia

Beijing has seen an influx of French and Canadian indie acts touring over the last year or so, now it’s the time for bands from downunder to get a chance to bring their music to China!

S.A.M.E. (Sino Australian Music Exchange) made up of tenzenmen records and Chalk Horse Gallery both from Sydney have teamed up with Beijing based This Town Touring in an initiative to bridge the divide between these two very different musical scenes and give bands from both countries a chance to tour and experience each other’s music. Die! Die! Die! from New Zealand who played D22 just over a week ago, was the most recent act organized by S.A.M.E. who also brought The Vasco Era, one of my favourite Melbourne bands, East Brunswick All Girls Choir, who I caught at Jianghu last year and a few others as well.

Check out this article by Dan Shapiro in CNNgo on what S.A.M.E. is up to.

I think this is a great idea and can’t wait to see more Australian/Kiwi acts touring here! I’m also looking forward to letting my Aussie friends know when they can see some of our Chinese bands there. Since tenzenmen already have agreements with Maybe Mars to distribute their catalogue in Australia, I’m guessing most of the shows will be out at D22, so I may be heading out there a lot more this year.

Your can find out more about S.A.M.E. and the people involved here:

S.A.M.E. – http://s-a-m-e.tumblr.com/
tenzenmen records – http://www.tenzenmen.com/
This Town Touring – http://www.thistowntouring.com/