Indie music flourish in the capital

Marie-Claude Lebel arrived in Beijing in 2002 and founded her band, Mademoiselle et son Orchestre, in 2004. Photo by Tashi Dorjee / For China Daily

When singer-songwriter Marie-Claude Lebel arrived in Beijing in 2002, she was heartbroken.

She had decided to move to the city to follow a man she fell in love with in Montreal, but two weeks before they were due to depart, he left her.

Lebel, who had already left her job and quit her master's program in linguistics, decided to take off anyway.

She was 24 and couldn't speak a word of Mandarin. But she quickly discovered a small but vibrant indie music scene in Beijing and started to carve out a life for herself in the city.

For Lebel, who is from Quebec, Canada, where the indie music scene is quite mature, Beijing was exciting because such musicians were still considered "outsiders". With her accordion, she soon found herself immersed in the capital's underground music scene. She started hanging out at River Bar in Sanlitun, one of the earliest bars in Beijing promoting indie music.

Lebel started meeting people at jam sessions and in 2004 she founded her band Mademoiselle et son Orchestre, along with six musicians from France, the US, Australia and China. They play a unique repertoire of French songs in China's live-house venues and at outdoor music festivals.

From April 10 to 12, Mademoiselle et son Orchestre will perform at Beijing World Music Week, which will see six bands from Cuba, Malaysia, Mongolia and China perform.

"Beijing is a perfect place to have an indie music scene. I'm glad that a man made me move here. I have met great people in Beijing, who have forged the history of China's indie music industry, we have great musical and cultural conversations," Lebel says.