STOLEN (秘密行动) is a five-piece Chinese electronic rock band, formed in 2010 in Chengdu.
The group was formed by vocalist Liang Yi, guitarist Fangde (Lin Hongyang), bassist Jun, drummer Yufeng, and keyboardist Duan Xuan while studying at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. In 2012 Formol (Thomas Hervé), a French video jockey (and art school graduate), joined the band. Bassist 'Jun' aka Wu Junyang (Xiao Wu) left Stolen for personal reasons before the recordings of their 2022 album "Eroded Creation".
STOLEN has been together since they were 14. All of them come from working-class origins. Their parents managed to gather enough money to enroll them in music school, where they all met. They learned that they enjoyed the same types of music and decided to form a band. On they way to practicing, they used to hear good music coming from a small French bistro next to their rehearsal studio. One day, after a repetition, they went inside and bonded with a young French barman nicknamed "Formol" who introduced them to a whole new world of music, including New Order, Joy Division, Portishead, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Aphex Twin, LCD Soundsystem, and Kraftwerk. They had no idea such music existed and decided that was what they were going to play (by adding electronic instruments to their sound), with the aim of changing China's musical image. Formol ultimately left his position to become their VJ.
STOLEN's music combines a traditional rock formation with the addition of electronic instruments played live, all with integrated techno, industrial, dark-wave, and post-punk influences, resulting in a music that remains danceable (the group describe themselves as "a hyper-synchronized dance engine" & refer to their music as "Sinomatic technorock").
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