Independent Recrod Label Defies Odds to Create History

When you're dealing with music, sometimes the business model has to go out of the window.

Five years ago, English-language teacher Charles Saliba and university finance professor Michael Pettis launched an indie music record label to give exposure to bands performing at their Beijing club, D-22.

To date, they have released 45 albums for 40 Chinese bands, each costing up to 300,000 yuan ($47,000, 37,000 euros) to produce - and lost about 98 percent of their investment.

But Saliba and Pettis have never been in it for the money - only the music.

"We think this is a long-term thing. I'm pretty sure those are some of the best albums made in China during this period. They are recognized, the quality of the music. The money will come someday, eventually," Saliba says.

The labor of love began early in 2006 when indie music aficionados Saliba and Pettis were hanging out at bars, listening to China's experimental bands. They decided to open their own club to offer a better venue for underground musicians. Pettis had run a club in New York when he was an investment banker.

In May that year, they opened the D-22 club in Beijing's Wudaokou district, prime student territory that includes China's top Peking and Tsinghua universities.

The bar attracted many students by presenting new good bands and charging low prices for tickets and drinks. "You cannot move with 200 people present at the bar, which made going to toilet extremely difficult," says Saliba, who describes himself as half British, half Spanish.

However, Pettis and Saliba's goal was not so much to provide a good night out for students in the local bar, but more to let the world hear "this amazing music being made in China".

"Most people abroad don't expect or connect rock'n' roll or indie music with China. They know China is a factory for the world and there's a lot of production, but they don't really look to China for creativity. It's changing now," Sailba says.

"China is a very interesting place, especially Beijing, where because of the Internet, people have been able to listen to music from all the years before and be inspired by it. I see music being made in Beijing or China these days that is actually more interesting, more original than music from other cities in the world."

And it was with the rest of the world in mind that Saliba and Pettis decided in 2007 to record the sounds being created in D-22 on Maybe Mars Records.

Some records, such as those by bands Carsick Cars and Snapline, are sold in the US and many digital albums can be bought on Amazon.

The label's best-selling album to date is Carsick Cars, which has sold about 45,000 copies on Amazon and 25,000 in China.

But Saliba and Pettis go even further to promote their raw acts. The label also takes bands to music festivals and competitions around the world.

In the 2009-10 Global Battles of the Bands, the group Rustic swept the boards at all regional competitions, held in China and Asia, and reached the finals in London.

It was a time when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted and almost all flights to and from Britain were canceled.

"We spent so much money just buying a ticket to go to the competition," says Saliba. "We're glad we did because they went and they won."

The prize included free use of London's top RAK studios for a week, a British tour of gigs and $10,000 (8,000 euros) cash. They worked with renowned music producer Mads Hauge and recorded the song Wild Woman.

Maybe Mars also sent its bands to music festivals, such as All Tomorrow's Parties in UK, Primavera Sound in Spain and South by Southwest in the US, or SXSW, the largest of its kind in the world.

For the past three years, Saliba has been responsible for organizing China Night at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

"For about 20 years, there has been a Japan Night, where people can go to a venue and see Japanese bands there. I've been organizing China Night. We need to," he says.

In March, there were seven Maybe Mars bands, including Rustic, Carsick Cars and Snapline, at SXSW 2012. Afterwards, they held four performances in New York, Pettis' former stomping ground.

"Almost all the tickets were sold out," Saliba says. "But in smaller cities, people don't know us that much, so we don't have much of an audience there."

Maybe Mars is also working with other studios and producers around the world, including NT studio in Berlin, producers Manny Nieto from Los Angeles, and Wharton Tiers from New York.

While Saliba was working at D-22 and Maybe Mars, he finished his master's degree in international development at Tsinghua University. Before coming to China, he studied finance in New York. and needs all his learning and skills to keep the label going. Needless to say, it's been tough.

"There are so many ways to spend money and so few to make it," Saliba says.

The costs for making a record range from 20,000 to 300,000 yuan. Most of the investment comes from Pettis, who, as a well-known financial expert, is in demand as a financial consultant and speaker at conferences.

But only about 2 percent of the investment can be regained from records. The company spends about $150,000 a year, of which about 80 percent comes from Pettis and his friends, Saliba says.

Earlier this year, Pettis and Saliba closed their D-22 club. Besides having problems with the landlord, they wanted to find a better venue for experimental bands. The new bar, XP, is located in Di'anmen, near Houhai Lake, an area known for its bars.

"It's more central, a better location. We can support the experimental bands that we think need support," he says.

Maybe Mars aims to release 12 new albums in 2012 - a dozen reasons why indie music will continue to thrive for some time yet.

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