News to make that Hangzhou joint appearance by the Shin Band and Mayday all the more interesting…
The Shin Band is playing its first set of real concerts on the mainland. They were delighted to discover that they have fans there – they had been worried no one would know them, even wondered if the record company paid people to come out and cheer them on. Their Shanghai performance went well, and this article reports on their arrival in Chongqing.
Because Shin Band lead singer Ashin has made a variety of statements about Mayday in the past, including his opinion that their music is not “rock” music, they want to avoid trouble by not talking about Mayday at their Chongqing press conference. According to the article, Mayday’s manager also called the Shin Band manager and asked that they keep the trash talk to a minimum, as it doesn’t do anyone any good.
At the same time, the Shin Band’s Ashin has been the subject of a great variety of rumors and bad press, including talk of his mistresses, drinking, an illegitimate daughter and, my personal favorite, an incident a few months ago when he got drunk and got into a fight in a bar, which ended up with smashed bottles and Ashin needing stitches. Mayday fans will remember this incident, as someone went online pretending to be Mayday’s Ashin and wrote about reading about the incident in an article showing his (Mayday Ashin’s) picture by mistake and being uncertain as to whether he got very drunk actually did do all those things. The Shin Band’s Ashin heard about the online “confession” and mocked Mayday’s Ashin mercilessly for this, until it came out that Mayday’s Ashin knew nothing of any of it, and publically diavowed all knowledge of the online statement.
Anyway, the Shin Band’s manager had the unenviable task of calling all the Chongqing media representatives before the press conference and asking them not to bring up either Mayday or any of the rumors about the lead singer’s personal life. Instead, they should talk music and the Shin Band’s albums.
As a result, the story concludes, there was very little to say, and the press conference lasted all of ten minutes. (Hah!)
The comments by the SHIN band claiming Mayday is not a rock band is ridiculous. I believe when a person makes a statement like that, they have to have some sort of how should I say it “street cred” to say something like that. SHIN will never be nor achieve Mayday’s status.
I also believe that SHIN may be making statements to start controversy. In America, unfortuantely controversey sells records. For example, in the rap industry there are always rappers arguing with other rappers. Usually the rappers make public statements and the consumer buys into it. Such examples would be 50 cent, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, etc.
shin band is derivative, but its ashin is a fantastic singer.
mayday is bubblegum, & its ashin can’t really sing.
And here’s me thinking this debate ended when Shin abandoned the Shin Band. It lives on!