The Story of Spittunes: Four Years of Poetry and Music

A complete timeline of Spittoon’s Spittunes format from its first event at Dusk Dawn Club in February 2017 through to 2021, documenting every collaboration between musicians and poets across four years of one of Beijing’s most distinctive live performance events.

What is Spittunes?

Born from the Spittoon Arts Collective, Spittunes is a project that pairs a band or musician with a poet to collaborate on a special piece inspired by the poet’s work. First pitched to the staff at Dusk Dawn Club at the beginning of 2017, the format grew into one of Spittoon’s most celebrated events — a night that brought Beijing’s music and literary scenes together in a genuinely unique way. What follows is the full timeline.

2017

February 23rd, 2017 — Dusk Dawn Club

The first ever Spittunes. Pairings: Eric (Peppercorns) with Anna Sowley, Macondo with Simon Shieh, Sardines with Steve Chen, Anxt with Matias Ruiz-Tagle Tapia.

August 4th, 2017

Pairings: The Harridans with Artur Witkowski, A. Borealis with J. Penn, Wen Liang with Lethokuhle Msimang, Jukka Ahonen with Jady.

2018

January 5th, 2018

Pairings: Li Er Yang with Poornima Weerasekara, Ko with Ben Thompson, Hugh Reed with Chris Carpenter, DFA 1989 with Ben Zarov, Ember Swift with Jumi Bello.

DFA1989 x Ben Zarov x James Sswewadda (live painting)

March 24th, 2018

Pairings: Noise Arcade with David Huntington, Jukka Ahonen with Li Wan, Nathan Borofka with Matthew Byrne, Li Er Yang.

April 19th, 2018 — Shanghai

Musicians: Fiao, Pourquoi Pas, Slushat Diru, Jukka Ahonen. Poets: Matthew Byrne, Alexandra Holub, Robbie Yan, Elena Sichrovsky. The first Spittunes event outside Beijing.

June 27th, 2018

Pairings: Dawei and Social Poets with Dawei, Liane Halton with Anthony Tao, Djang San and band with Xiao Shui, Macondo with Kassy Lee.

August 28th, 2018

Pairings: Macondo with Li Wan, Wen Liang with Lethokuhle Msimang, Liane Halton with Anthony Tao.

2019

January 25th, 2019

Pairings: Bond and Byrne with Jaime Santirso, Liane Halton with Anthony Tao, The Great Buffalo Blues with Zuo Fei, Rainbow Machine with Oliver Torres.

March 23rd, 2019 — Bookworm Literary Festival

Pairings: Bond and Byrne with Jaime Santirso, Liane Halton with Anthony Tao, Wen Liang with Lethokuhle Msimang, Solent with Jady Liu.

May 12th, 2019

Pairings: Korey Livy with Zuo Fei, Nancy Jenkinson Brown with Deva Eveland, Mark Elshout with Simon Shieh, Eric Allen and James Thomason with Sara F. Costa and Nina Dillenz.

Eric Allen, James Thomason x Sara F. Costa

August 31st, 2019

Pairings: Paths with Matthew Byrne, Eric Allen and James Thomason with Sara F. Costa, Anxt with Sammy Boy, Stan with Julian.

2020

April 26th, 2020

Pairings: Haite with David Bond, Huang Lu with Ophélie Baudoin, Dong Qing with Mads Vesterager Nielsen, Liane Halton with Anthony Tao.

October 22nd, 2020

Performers: Poetry x Music Band, The Slow Blade with Michael Burton, James Holt.

December 23rd, 2020

Performers: Poetry x Music Band, The Slow Blade with NotAnotherPoet, James Holt.

2021: Spittunes at Modernista

April 1st, 2021 marked Spittunes’ first ever event at Modernista. The lineup featured Poetry x Music Band with live visuals by Nina Dillenz, Ember Swift with Ana Padilla Fornieles, and Great Buffalo Duo with Zuo Fei.

Originally published March 2021 on the Spittoon WeChat channel.

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