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In a quiet shared studio in Brooklyn, RADII sat down with Hang Him to the Scales, a local shoegaze band composed entirely of Chinese musicians. Their music draws from Chinese cultural influences, but it doesn’t define them. Or as the band puts it, “Our music is like Chinese American food… we are neither fish nor fowl.”
I’m always on the lookout for local NYC musicians from the Asian diaspora, especially those who weave Chinese cultural influences into their work. There aren’t that many, but a few names come to mind: THE EITHER, who has since relocated to Shanghai, and P.H.0., whom RADII has previously featured. Many of these bands are formed by international students or first-gen immigrants, who typically either move back home after their studies or pivot to more financially secure careers. Hang Him to the Scales, however, decided to stay.
Like many other NYC underground bands, HHTTS was born during the pandemic in the summer of 2021. “We were all quarantined at home and our mental states weren’t that great,” Loto, the vocalist and lyricist, remembered, adding, “So I wrote demos at home. I needed some kind of outlet, and I thought, hey, why not form a band?”
Over the years, the band gradually grew to seven members: Francis as the second vocalist, Xinran on pipa, Shangguan on keyboards, Will on drums, Yena on bass, and Lezhang, the guitarist and a visual designer who oversees the band’s artistic direction. The members connected through local shows, WeChat musician groups, and mutual friends.
Even the name of the band came about serendipitously. Just after finishing undergrad, Loto returned to China and attended a cultural showcase in Shenzhen. “I watched a shadow play, and when I was ready to leave, I snapped a random picture of it,” he recalled. Later, when the band was struggling to find a name, Loto flipped through his photo album and found that photograph. The subtitle inspired what would become Hang Him to the Scales.
Loto said, “People see us as a full Asian lineup, and that makes us more recognizable.” But that’s not what sets HHTTS apart. Their magic lies in the soft and hazy shoegaze sound, distorted in just the right places. Each track unfolds like a fever dream, transporting you to early 20th-century China, where a woman in qipao lounges in a dimly lit room, smoking a long pipe as Hang Him to the Scales plays on the phonograph.
RADII: What kinds of music do you guys listen to?
Xinran: Nothing too specific, mostly Chinese pop music.
Shangguan: Before I came to NYC, I was in California playing post-rock, so I still listen to a lot of post-rock. I have to fit into the band, so I try to stop myself from straying too far into post-rock territory when making music.
Loto: I used to listen to a lot of Britpop and American rock, then got into shoegaze and dream pop around COVID, and that’s when my creative direction started to shift. Before, my music leaned more toward outward expression, but since then, I’ve been exploring a more introspective sound that doesn’t make too much noise on the outside.
Will: I listened to a lot of pop with rock influence during high school and college. But ever since I started working, I haven’t been listening to other music much. I’ve been more focused on making it instead.
Loto added, “Ever since we started making music, it feels like we’ve been listening to less of it. People often ask who our influences are, and I thought that if I didn’t listen to too much music, we could avoid being shaped by other artists and develop our own sound. But honestly, I don’t think that’s the best approach.”
Blending Pipa Strings with Reverb: A Debut Album That Defies Borders
The band released their self-titled debut album earlier this year. Loto described it as “the final completed puzzle piece in everything we’ve been building over the past three years. The songs are a record of our musical journey from the beginning.”
The new album features three songs in Chinese. Loto wrote “You May (Not) Ask (求不得)”; Francis wrote “Tulips (图利普斯)”; and “Wild Train (野车)” was written by Lucy, a poet friend.
“Writing lyrics in Chinese is so much harder,” Loto explained. “It’s a struggle to create an emotional atmosphere that isn’t too overwhelming. I still prefer writing in English.” Shangguan added, “From a practical standpoint, you can drag out the English syllables over several notes. In Chinese, it has to pause and stop.”
“You May (Not) Ask (求不得)” was the very first Chinese song Loto wrote. It began as a folk tune, composed while montages of love and loss played through his mind. The phrase 求不得 (qiú bù dé) is repeated in the chorus, which directly translates to “unattainable desire.” Loto described it as: “A song about the tapestry of human experiences.”
What inspired the band to incorporate the pipa into the new album?
Loto: Adding the pipa started as an experiment. A friend once mentioned offhand that there are so many dream pop and shoegaze bands, how are we going to stand out? So we thought of incorporating a pipa. Our first attempt was a cover of Teresa Deng’s “The Moon Represents My Heart (月亮代表我的心).” After that, we began experimenting with other traditional instruments and realized that this style blends surprisingly well with our music.
The pipa, for those unfamiliar, is a traditional Chinese lute instrument with four strings, shaped like an elongated pear and played upright. While it’s a fresh addition to their sound, it doesn’t dominate the album. As Loto said, “We’re not using the pipa because it’s a traditional instrument, we’re using it because it’s an instrument that works.”
Your early singles sound quite different from your full-length album. What brought about that change?
Loto: Back in 2019, it was mostly me writing on my own. Now we are all writing together, and that has brought more elements into our music than before.
Can you share the inspiration behind the concept for your album cover?
Lezhang: The idea for the album cover came from the classic Chinese takeout box—an object invented in the U.S. but globally associated with Chinese culture. You’d never actually see one in China, and that disconnect felt like the perfect metaphor for the band’s identity. As the designer, I wanted the visuals to reflect the layered cultural space we navigate. The band includes first-generation immigrants, and I’m an international student, so there’s a constant blending of perspectives. Our music combines indie rock with the pipa, and I wanted the cover to mirror that. The takeout box isn’t just a nod to something familiar; it’s a way to comment on how culture gets misread and repackaged. Through design, I aimed to challenge the usual “East-meets-West” narrative and offer something more nuanced and personal.
The indigo-based palette, inspired by Chinese dyeing techniques, channels melancholy and depth through varying shades of blue. Our favicon and typography draw from the symmetry and flow of seal script and traditional Chinese stamps, modernized into a contemporary system that balances heritage and edge.
Is the band going to stick with shoegaze and dream pop in the future?
Loto: We will keep shoegaze and dream pop at the core of our style. But, at the same time, we’ll also have additional elements for some of our songs, like post-punk. But I feel like, in today’s music scene, genres are less concrete anyways. Going back to the idea of Chinese American food, we’re making music that reflects our own tastes, but it’s still Chinese food.
Were there any particularly remarkable shows?
Loto: The biggest stage we’ve played was at Terminal 5, with over a thousand people in the audience. It was an invitation from NYU for one of their events. It was a very memorable night. Even though the process was pretty grueling, we had very little time for sound checks.
In 2023, HHTTS also collaborated with Schoolgirl Byebye, a lo-fi shoegaze band from China. They were visiting the U.S. on vacation and set up an impromptu DIY show with HHTTS. For HHTTS, it was their first time organizing everything themselves, from handling the venue, ticketing, and promotion. It was chaotic, but no doubt a valuable learning experience.
Your goal for 2023 was to play at Baby’s All Right (a popular venue in Brooklyn), and it looks like you’ve already checked that off. What’s next on your list?
Loto: South by Southwest (SXSW)! We’ve made it onto their waitlist before, but that’s as far as we’ve gotten.
Listen to Hang Him to the Scales’ debut album, HHTTS, on Spotify. You can also find them on Instagram and RedNote. If you’re in the tri-state area, don’t miss your chance to catch them live this summer—and hopefully at SXSW in the near future!
Images courtesy of Hang Him to the Scales.
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