Smells like punk spirit

Photo provided to Shanghai Star

"Banana Monkey helped me become the musician I am today. They have given me some great opportunities and experiences, and taught me what rock 'n' roll really is," she says of the local four-piece known for their monster-themed shows.

"But now I want to make my own sound."

"You know punk spirit is like, we don't (freaking) care, right? Smoking Area already have a song called that. But we're not self-destructive. We don't smash our guitars," she says. "We can't afford to."

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Awu comes across as deep, hyperkinetic and full of raging punk spirit. At 24, she has already found her way past some of the more nefarious rock-star fantasies.

"When I started playing with Banana Monkey, I thought I was a huge rock star and I told everyone 'I'm going to die at 27 like Janis Joplin'," she says. "But now I see how ridiculous that was."

A few days after we meet, Banana Monkey were due to play their final gig at MIDI Festival in Pudong before taking another sabbatical. The previous one lasted two years.

In 2012 they became the first Chinese band to hop over the Great Wall and perform at the start of the Mongolian national holiday of Naadam.

Brian Offenther, the promoter who took them to Ulan Bator, likened their "tight and fun garage rock tunes" to those of the Arctic Monkeys.

Nothing if not untypical for a Shanghai girl – Awu professes not to care about boys, cars, real estate or designer clothes – she recently returned from Summer Sonic, the annual Tokyo rockfest, where Banana Monkey attracted huge crowds.

"I was influenced a lot by Japan," she says. "I saw a local reggae band wearing Chinese traditional clothes and singing Peking Opera on stage one day and it totally blew me away."