Long Shen Dao

Dragon. Spirit. Tao.

The innovative Eastern-style reggae band Long Shen Dao was founded in 2007 and is considered by audiences and media alike to be ‘China‘s first authentic reggae band’. It consists of members who have absorbed the essence of their traditional culture and applied these Eastern philosophies into a synthesis of modern music.

Established in their native tongue of Mandarin Chinese, their music is well-paired with the inclusion of traditional Chinese instrumentation that is then fused into the basis of reggae and later peppered with rock, electro, Drum’n Bass, Ska and Dub. The result is a completely unique creation that can only be described as ‘Chinese reggae.’

In recent years, the band has been invited to perform at every major music festival and artistic event across China and have won several awards. They have also represented China on tours to
New Zealand (2012), Korea (2013) and Canada (2013) and performed at various cultural and musical events. As creators of a modern merge between Eastern and Western music, Long Shen Dao’s source of energy and creativity is the firm believe in a unchangeable universal power of both love and nature.

Long Shen Dao can be translated as three separate words: Dragon. Spirit. Tao. Also interpreted as “The Way of the Dragon Spirit,” Long Shen Dao is made up of six uncomplicated, down-to-earth young people who appreciate the free, lighthearted and borderless spirit of reggae music.

Musically, while the central style is reggae, Long Shen Dao’s music is also inspired by rock, dub, hip-hop, world music, ska and electronic music. They also regularly invite a guest player to perform live on a traditional Chinese instrument called the guzheng (zither).

Flashback

In the 1990’s, each member of the group made a name for himself within the Chinese rock music community and recorded at least one studio record with various bands. After experimenting with many types of music, each member felt that reggae music was the best form of expression for them, especially given the current global world in which diverse definitions of value and spirituality exist.

In 2007, the members of Long Shen Dao all fell in love with the reggae style. Their first Beijing performance in January of 2008 was sold out. They are considered the first official Chinese reggae band and this has garnered them a lot of attention in their home country and abroad.

After having released their first album ‘Tai Chi Reggae’ in January of 2012, their subsequent rise to fame has been swift. Performances all across China at dozens of major music festivals as well as tours to New Zealand (2012), Korea (2013), Canada (2013, 2014) have all been extremely successful. Plans are in the works to return to New Zealand (2015) and enter Europe for the first time (2015).

In 2014, they signed a deal with the biggest record company in China, ‘Modern Sky Music.’ As a result, 2015 will also see a new album released by the band, their second full-length CD.

Lead singer, Guo Jian, explains that while he and most of his band mates sport dreadlocks, the group members are not Rastafarians. He goes on to express that reggae music, like a warm breeze, is
accessible to people no matter where in the world they come from. Lyrics contain references to the understanding of love and spiritual freedom and include aspects of Taoism.

“Our music may be ‘reggae with Chinese characteristics’ but we feel that the guzheng is in no way different from the guitar,” says Guo Jian. “The emphasis is not on where an instrument comes from, but that all music belongs to a globally shared culture.”