Biography
Demerit is one of punk musics best-known ambassadors in Beijing. In classic “street punk” form, before becoming popular in Beijing, honed their craft and earned their fanbase through extensive touring, including such prominent venues as the Qingdao beach music festival. Straight up energy and aggression the band has changed little since its inception, choosing instead to stick to its timeless punk-rock roots and values. Can I get an Oi?
In summer 2004, for the love of street punk life style, Li Yang (vocals/guitar), Xue Yang (bass) and Zhang Wei (drums) decided to form a band in their hometown Qingdao, Shandong Province. Later Zhang Ning joined the band to play guitar while Zhu Shuang Sheng replaced Zhang Wei on the drums. Li Yang got tired of the guitar and became a vocalist only. The band played its first show as a four piece a month later on the 1st Qingdao Beach Music Festival. Then they moved to Beijing for good and the drummer quit the band for personal reasons. Many drummers played with the band until they met the American Zack.
Demerit became a truly atombomb. In this period, the band kept on rehearsing and continued to play shows. Soon they got fame for their constant struggle in the Beijing underground punk scene. On December 24, 2005, they performed at 13 Club, where they recorded the live compilation Forming. Their debut album Never Say Die was finished in April 2006. When Zack went back to the States, their fellow Zhen Song took on the drumkits.
The band was also booming by this time. They shared stages with bands like NOFX (USA), Insurgent Kid (Sweden) and 4Sivits (Germany). They were also invited to play the Midi Music Festival 2006. The Washington Post interviewed the band two months later. Demerit had been seeking a second guitarist for helping to promote their sound. In September 2006, Huihui was added to the lineup. After that, they were on tour with the best-korean-punkband-ever Suckstuff under the name of Rebel Spirits. In April 2007, the band appeared on INTER's advertise.
For their album Bastards Of The Nation they changed the lineup again to Zhang Ning on guitar, Liu Liu on bass/vocals, Li Yang on vocals, Li Hui Peng on guitar/vocals and Du Shuai on drums.
January 16th 2009, they performed during the JUE MUSIC ART Festival 2009 at the Dream Factory. According to Andy Best: Demerit, on the other hand, have reached the next level and fully deserved their reputation. They were worthy headliners with a great set of hardcore punk/metal songs. They were so good, in fact, that despite the hall not being that full they got everyone up front and moving. Their riffing was sublime and they know how to rock a show.
In May 2009, Spike is voted the no. 10 coolest rock star in Beijing by Timeout Beijing Magazine. Spike is a tattooed little package of punk rock energy, usually seen sporting a bandana, a cheeky grin and an outstretched middle finger. It was while watching Spike charge around during one of Demerit’s gloriously un-reconstructed live shows that we had the idea to do a cool list in the first place
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