Biography

P.K.14 occupies a singular place in the canon of modern Chinese music. Over their two decades of existence, they’ve held a position of influence comparable to that of Talking Heads or Television in the New York of the 1970s. P.K.14 is unanimously cited as one of the most influential rock bands in China’s alternative rock scene, touching emerging artists across the spectrum of genres. Originally from Nanjing — P.K.14 formed in 1997 and got their first break after opening for Sweden’s The (International) Noise Conspiracy in Shanghai two years later. In 2001 the band released their debut album Upstairs, Turn Left on seminal label Subjam, cementing their early status. That same year they moved to Beijing, where they released their consequential second album Whoever, Whoever & Whoever, followed by the eagerly-awaited White Paper in 2005. P.K.14’s next two albums, 2008’s City Weather Sailing, and the widely lauded 2013 album 1984, were released on Beijing’s Maybe Mars label. P.K.14 has consistently broken new ground throughout their career. In 2015, the band released Music For an Exhibition, an experimental interlude: a largely improvised live recording of a performance at Beijing’s foremost contemporary art institution, UCCA. After collecting their energies for another few years, the band recorded in Berlin's Hansa Studios and is now ready to convey their latest carefully considered and elegiac album, What We Talk About When We Talk About His Name.