"We grew up together. It's not just about the music. It's about our lives," says bassist Zhang Jing, who met Gao while both studied at Midi Music School, a contemporary music-training institution from the early 1990s. Today, the band's other members are drummer Da Wei and guitarists Tian Ran and Song Jie.

Film director Wang Weijie and his team toured with the band to have enough footage to make the documentary. A die-hard fan of the band, Wang, who first watched Miserable Faith's live show in 2010, says that the experience enabled him to get closer to the band and their music. He hopes that the audiences who watch the film feel a connection, too.

Wang says that the band members like ordinary people come under different pressures, but are "sincere to their faith－rock music".

The documentary comes on the heels of Miserable Faith's humiliation on the popular reality TV show, China Star, which has been aired by Dragon TV each Saturday since November.

The show features influential singers as contestants and high-profile judges, including veteran Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam, singer-songwriter Liu Huan and rock star Cui Jian. It will pick a winner to participate in Grammy Salute to China, an event to be held in Los Angeles on the sidelines of the Grammy Awards in February.

On an episode of China Star, Cui had recommended Miserable Faith for the Grammy event and described the band as "the main force of China's rock music", but Gao and his men were eliminated from the TV show after only two rounds of competition.

Later, the band tried to assuage fan anger through a message on Chinese micro blog Sina Weibo.

"It's an intuition. I might do jazz or go back to noisy music next. But it doesn't matter what kind of music I do as long as I have a heart for rock," Gao says at the end of the documentary.