The Red Pirates on stage at VA bar last week Photos: Wang Zi

By Matthew Jukes

It's an electric night at a small Beijing venue. The air seems to crackle, the guitarists are going haywire and the lead singer is a powerhouse of sound. The audience is going absolutely mental, cheering, waving flags and swaying with the music. And that's just sound check.

The band is Red Pirates, whose mantra is to sail the seven seas of rock'n'roll and pillage Beijing venues twice a week.

"I just want to find real music, so I need to go to the stage, to find out what real rock is," says guitarist Li "Banx" Xuan, face darkening. "It's like finding 'the way', just as you would find the way to heaven or hell."

Each of the members knew each other by six degrees of separation before starting a band in 2009. It was when their ex-lead singer took a job in Japan that they met British vocalist Dave Cooper, who they recruited after a chance meeting at a local practice space.

"Many Chinese guys just don't have a voice that can get the audience really crazy. They have voices like little lambs," says Li, "But Dave's vocals are very important to us. For for pure rock-n-roll, you need English."

Belting out a bizarre blend of AC DC, the Clash and Led Zeppelin covers, alongside their own custom power rock ballads, Cooper knows how to get a crowd moving, which further feeds the chaos with chanting the band's name and cries for encores. 

"For me it's simple. There's no feeling like being on stage and hearing an audience that's really reacting to what you're doing. It's such a happy feeling," says Cooper.

Each band member has their personal hero; Cooper admits to being influenced by Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden; soft-spoken guitarist, Ni "Little D" Shuo, digs Eric Clapton and the Stones.

And the band's rare flower, Liu "YaoYao" Luyao on drums, said she spent years listening to Metallica's black album on repeat. And upon hearing "Death or Glory" by The Clash, she spent the rest of the day smiling; a smile which remains today, especially while thrashing the drums to within an inch of their life.

"I can practice for eight or nine hours" Liu said sweetly. "I don't know why I smile, it's just how I feel." But her drumming and smile have made her a scene celebrity.

The band's novelty doesn't stop with just a female drummer, Li Xuan also decided to rip it up old school by cannibalizing a traditional Chinese instrument, the Zhongruan, and an electric guitar to create an instrument that is quite possibly one of a kind.

"The guitar is very loud, but the Zhongruan has power and it gives out a strong noise," he said. "I took the parts from our bassist's guitar," he added with a grin.

"Yeah, he didn't tell me about that. It was totally broken," says bassist Zhang "Johnny" Yangbing, idly twiddling a cigarette between his fingers, waiting for the conversation to be over so he can have a pre-practice smoke.

The cheerful rivalry and digs in two different languages if anything seem to strengthen the group. But at the end of the day, they all know why they'll head over to the venue with instruments in hand.

"I think this is something very simple and very natural, to do something every week which we want to do," says Zhang, "When I can see that people are happy listening to our music, that's why I play."

Red Pirates will play the Midi Festival on May 1. For more info check out site.douban.com/redpirates.