Free the Birds 自游

Biography

Free the Birds, formerly known as ZIYO, started in 2004 and after quickly churning out a mix of songs in every genre, their hook laden sound caught the attention of many in the Beijing music scene as well as the international film community. One of the first performances was witnesses by Peter Chan, who later made their rehearsal studio a set for his award winning film Perhaps Love. Later their song “Like Yesterday” would become the title song for the underground film Young & Clueless. Lead singer Helen would also lend her voice to the theme song for the blockbuster film The Mummy 3.

Quickly rising to the attention of several record companies, ZIYO signed with Warner Music in 2006, releasing their first EP “The Return” on Warner in 2008. But their musical ambitions started to outstrip the conservative environment of Warner China and just weeks after the release, ZIYO left Warner’s roster and pop music to venture into new territories. Helen’s many roles as the lead singer of Pet Conspiracy, the host and creator of The Rock Show on Hit FM, and a host on CCTV took time away from the band. With a heavy European and China touring schedule with Pet Conspiracy, Helen became less active with ZIYO in the beginning of 2010. That year she earned several awards including Best Female Rock Singer at the Midi Music Awards, and Best Electronica Album with Pet Conspiracy at the Chinese Music Awards. The original drummer Mao Mao left during that time for new projects including The Amazing Insurance Salesmen, leaving the fate of the band in doubt.

In the summer of 2010, after a bad stage accident, a shortly bed-ridden Helen Feng left Pet Conspiracy to focus on ZIYO. The band brought onboard Wubuli, one of the most talented hand percussionists in China, to reform as Free the Birds. Their new music is ambitious and grand. It encompasses their pop aesthetic, while stretching beyond it into cinematic and experimental realms. More mature and diverse than before, odd meter dance beats influenced by Wubuli’s Xinjiang background combine with Helen Feng’s strong sense of melody, layered with large sonic spaces of distortion created by two dramatically different guitarists in Wang Zong Can chant like riffs and Cui Shi Ming virtuosity. Combined with a strangely spacey funk bass from Zhang Jie that sounds almost watery, the new sound reaches sonic territories both diverse and original. Like Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, and the Fleet Foxes, all dancing to the sound of Beijing highway construction. Free the Birds’ first full length album is scheduled for release fall of 2011.

Discography

2008 The Return