Josh Edbrooke (left), Niall Dunne (center) and Jes Edbrooke hope their efforts will help Chinese songs gain more recognition in the West. Provided to China Daily

British musicians bring Mandarin to life for non-Chinese ears

When a group of British music-loving teenage boys got together in 1997 dreaming of becoming rock stars, they could scarcely have envisaged how far their fame would eventually spread.

Not only have they made a name for themselves far beyond their homeland, but in the process have become a bridge between China and the world.

The boys, who have since grown into charismatic young men, have formed their own band, Transition, and helped it to become the first British band to write, perform and publish Chinese songs.

Transition's first song, Sorry my Chinese Isn't So Good, has become teaching material for Chinese-language teachers around the world, and the band has just released a new album with 11 Chinese songs.

The album, Crossing Over (known as Kua Yue in Chinese), also features eight English songs, most of which document the young musicians' journey of playing music and living in Taiwan.

Although the band has now moved back to the UK, Chinese music has become a central part of its identity, as it has fans across Asia, including in China, Japan, and South Korea.

Despite the band's strong Chinese identity, Jes Edbrooke says its journey in China started almost by accident.

"Originally when we started we were very young. We were in school together, there was a talent competition in school, and we thought, 'Why not let's be rock stars?', So we formed the band."

The band consisted of Jes and his younger brother Josh, and brothers Niall and Steve Dunne. After playing together for 10 years, Steve left the band in 2007. In 2013 Niall also left, in search of a more stable life.

They started by using the Edbrooke brothers' home as a venue to practice, and Jes says he remembers the neighbors complaining they could not hear their television because the music was too loud.

Eventually their hobby turned into a profession, and in 2005 the band launched its first album, Openhanded And Undetected.

But the band's China connection initially came from Josh, who had got to know a girl from Taiwan who stayed with the Edbrookes when she studied in the UK, and through her he became fascinated with Asian culture.

"Her English was pretty bad, and she was scared to be living away from home. So our family encouraged us to be kind, to be friendly, and to make this new guest in our house feel welcome," Josh says.

"Sometimes I'd help her with homework, and she introduced me to her friends from Taiwan, and they helped me learn Chinese."

Gradually Josh's understanding of Chinese turned into fascination with Chinese culture. He often invited his Chinese friends to hear Transition's concerts, and they suggested it would be a good idea for the band to perform in China one day.

Josh liked the idea, although in the early years neither he nor other members of the band really thought it would happen.

But in 2005, when the band had finished its first album, it decided to go to Taiwan.

"We have just fulfilled our dream almost by making our first album, and we were feeling like nothing is impossible at the time," Josh says.

So the band went to Taiwan and played at a festival called Spring Scream. It was on that trip that the band fell in love with the local culture.

Josh recalls that he had expected everything to be "incredible" and "amazing", and found that pretty much to be the case, especially the food.

"The environment was a little crowded and dirty, but also very energetic and vibrant, so even the bad things have a good side to it," he says.

But the most eye-opening aspect of the experience was to discover how open and welcoming local people were.

"That struck us because in the UK it's not like that."

Jes agrees. "Taiwan is very different. In Taiwan, I loved the energy of people. We were taken out to dinner by a lot of friends, and we went to karaoke, and drank pearl milk tea, and went to night markets."

For Jes, the Taiwan experience has also helped him learn more about Chinese traditional instruments and incorporate the sounds of the erhu and the guzhen into his pop music style.

The erhu has a very emotional, sad and longing sound, like the sound of memory and of history, he says. In contrast, the guzhen has a slightly happier but also ancient sound. He learnt the basics of guzhen from a friend's mother in Taiwan and brought one home with him to practice.

After the team's initial visit to Taiwan, they made regular trips to perform there. In 2009, Josh, Jes and Niall moved to Taiwan so they could tour extensively and master their Chinese language skills.

It was then that the three decided to sing in Chinese, initially just adding Chinese phrases into existing songs, but later translating English songs into Chinese or writing Chinese songs from scratch.

Singing in Chinese has suddenly helped the band connect much more with the local audience, Josh says. Looking back, he reckons he was naive in thinking Chinese audiences wanted to hear English songs.

"We thought English music is accepted everywhere, but gradually we thought the local audience may want to hear music in their own language."

The lyrics of Sorry My Chinese Isn't So Good, written in 2009, tell of the emotions of the three musicians as they long to connect with a new culture despite their poor grasp of Chinese.

The group also made a video of the song showing them walking through a night market in Taiwan among streets of pop-up shops and people, singing and trying to establish contact.

The song gained instant popularity among audiences in Taiwan, and many non-Chinese who were learning Mandarin told the musicians the song conveyed exactly how they felt when learning the language.

"We've had messages from people all over the world, including Spain, the UK, the Middle East and Australia," Josh says. "There was even someone in Venezuela who sang it at a competition and won a trip to China."

Josh and Jes recount the time Jes was performing a guitar solo on the sixth floor of a building in Taiwan when an earthquake struck. The audience screamed, but Jes was too focused on playing to realize what was happening and thought the screams were in appreciation for the music.

When he finished, lights in the room were still swinging, but as the danger seemed to be over, the concert continued.

In Taiwan the three musicians appeared in the music video of a song by the well-known Chinese musician Jay Chou called Sailor Afraid of Water.

The band was introduced to Chou by a mutual friend, and when Jay invited them to be part of his music video, they thought Chou was joking. But after two weeks they received a call asking if they were available the next day.

They appear briefly in the video, acting like sailors with singing, dancing and playing cards as part of the intro for the song.

Putting all the fond memories of Taiwan behind and returning to the UK last year, the band worked hard towards the launch of their new album, Crossing Over. But just as the new album was about to be released, Niall left the group.

Jes and Josh say their love for music will help them in their efforts to keep the band going. Jes says Niall's leaving has made him evaluate his lifestyle, as he too has a family and sometimes finds the drifting lifestyle of a musician difficult. But he says he wants to achieve something truly great with the band. "If not, I don't want to do it."

Josh says the band will continue to sing Chinese songs as it has become such a focal point of the band's identity over the years, and he hopes their efforts will help Chinese songs gain more recognition in the West.

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

 

(China Daily European Weekly 01/03/2014 page28)