I only became aware of Dennis earlier this year when Leo from MoonJune sent me some of his albums to review, two of which were with the band Moraine and one was a solo piece titled ‘Views From Chiceng Precipice’. I really enjoyed all that I heard, but was especially taken with his solo album which to me was an incredible piece of work which to my Western untrained ear seemed extremely authentic. It was only later that I discovered that he had spent some considerable time in China, and in fact had written a book about his experiences. I mentioned to Dennis that I was intrigued by this and he kindly offered to send me a copy. So, I sat down not really sure what I was going to read and by the end I was still at a loss, but this time it was how on earth was I going to be able to convince others that this is an essential purchase and that anyone interested in China, travel or music, should read this?
I am a bit of a musical omnivore when it comes to reading, and so while I tend to buy books that concern progressive rock or metal, I will in fact read anything about musicians, especially if it has been written by the musicians themselves. But, in many ways this isn’t about a musical journey, although that is the very theme that allowed the experiences to take place, but rather it is about travelling both physically and emotionally in a country that in many ways no longer exists.
At the beginning of 1989 Dennis and his fiancee Anne went to China to teach English at Chengdu University. Dennis describes himself as at the time being “an idiosyncratic guitarist with a modest niche in the tiny Seattle experimental music scene”, so of course he took his guitar with him (although a taxi driver nearly smashed the instrument to pieces as he was dropped off). The book then tells the story of day to day life of Westerners in China, restrictions on their travel, the way that music was viewed etc. He and Anne are some of the few non-journalist Westerners who were in China at the time of Tiananmen Square, and he talks about the impact of those events and what it meant to the local students etc. In 1989 I was living in a flat in Exeter, and like many I felt affected by the events taking place, and so I purchased the poster of that photograph, and put it up in my front room and spent many hours looking at it. Now, here I am reading the words of someone who was in China at the time, living not in a sterile hotel but among the people and understanding the impact from a far closer perspective. It really made me think back to those days and understand the horror a little better.
But, the book is much more than being about just one event, as Dennis is encouraged to share his music and ends up playing with local pop royalty, and creating bands and arranging tours. It is an immensely powerful book, and one that really grabbed me from beginning to end. Even now, I have heard just three albums by Dennis, and we have never met (these days he is back in Seattle and I am in New Zealand), yet I found this book absolutely enthralling and highly recommend it to anyone interested in modern history, culture, travel or music. Absolutely essential.
