Beloved Aussie rockers Frenzal Rhomb have reportedly been blacklisted by the Chinese Government, and they think they know why.
As Quartz points out, Taiwan’s Apple Daily first broke news of the list in December, with the Chinese Culture Ministry swiftly denying the list’s legitimacy.
Now, Frenzal Rhomb’s Jason Whalley has explained to Music Feeds why he thinks the band have supposedly been blacklisted.
“In 2003 we played a Taiwanese independence festival alongside a bunch of Taiwanese punk bands that were setting fire to and wiping their arses with the Chinese flag. Something to do with having 2000 missiles pointed at them from the mainland apparently,” Whalley says.
“We got up and we’re like, ‘Have you guys heard of Russell Crowe?’
“I feel like this blacklist is more directed at Russell than us.”
Responding to reports of the blacklisting on Twitter, Frenzal Rhomb’s Lindsay McDougall jokingly said the reports were “weird”, because Frenzal Rhomb are “as communist as they come”.
In total, 55 celebrities, entertainers and musical acts from around the world were reportedly blacklisted in the Chinese Government’s latest round of bans, and there are reports of some artists’ music disappearing from streaming services in the country because of it.
Many acts on the alleged blacklist have shown support for pro-democracy movements in the past. The list also includes the likes of US thrash band Suicidal Tendencies and Czech rock band The Plastic People of the Universe.
Watch: Frenzal Rhomb – ‘Never Had So Much Fun’
