Band on the run remains hometown boys

The city of Lanzhou is known for many things. For example, the galloping Yellow River passes through the city. In the 1980s and '90s, rock music captivated the city. One of the best-known bands is Wild Children, which is known for its fusion of local folk songs played on Western instruments such as the guitar, accordion and harmonica.

For Low Wormwood, one of their biggest hits is titled Lanzhou, Lanzhou, an ode to their hometown was released in their second album in 2011.

Lanzhou, the endless Yellow River runs to the east. Lanzhou, the end of the east is the entrance into the sea, as the song goes.

With simple, poetic lyrics and guitar-driven melodies, which, as Liu says, reflect the characteristics of Lanzhou people－straightforward and honest, the band has gained a large fan base across the country.

For Liu, one of the best parts of being in the band is that the original band members never changed. They also have new members, including guitarist Guo Yang and keyboardist Guo Ge, who also plays bandoneon－a small Latin American accordion.

In early 2020, after the pandemic hit, the band moved back to Lanzhou from their studio in Beijing. Like many musicians, they stopped performing live for about seven months due to the pandemic.

"We had to postpone our plans, such as touring and new album. For the first time, we tried to perform online at home, which, unexpectedly, gained us a larger fan base," says Liu.

The productive singer-songwriter is self-disciplined. He writes songs every day and exchanges ideas with his band members. Three new songs were released during the pandemic, including a romantic ballet, I Love You.

In late 2020, when bands were able to resume their live shows, Liu invited more musicians to join his band, rearranging their classic songs with more sounds, such as percussions, trumpet, piano and electronic music. They toured around the country by visiting cities, such as Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Guangzhou, Guangdong province and Beijing, where they met new and old fans.