The China adventure

An English retelling from Kjell Moberg's manuscript.

In 2006, Kang Mao and I started October Party Records in Beijing, and JEF set off on our first China tour. What began with a guitar, a suitcase and a lot of questions became the last chapter of JEF and the beginning of a much longer connection with China.

We had finished He Knows He Hears in 2005. Kang Mao, the singer in SUBS, agreed to start the Beijing label with me, even though neither of us knew how far we would get. The EP came out in China for the April tour, while the Bergen Rock City compilations carried music from home into Chinese rock magazines. We were trying to build something that could last beyond one visit.

I flew over before Pez and Katy, carrying instructions Kang Mao had written in Chinese to get me from the airport to the hotel. I had spent the flight worrying about getting into the country. At passport control I was welcomed in. That gap between what I expected and what I found stayed with me throughout the trip.

The clubs, the musicians and the people who helped us on the road made the adventure possible. We ended the tour at Yugongyishan in Beijing with SUBS. It was also the last JEF concert. Looking back, I was grateful for six years with Pez and Katy: we had taken a chance together, and China had given us a final chapter none of us could have planned.

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