By Sinead

By all standards, it has been a standout year for Taiwanese band Fool and Idiot 傻子與白痴. From releasing their critically-acclaimed debut album to selling out their Taiwan tour in seconds, the five-piece band have come a long way  from their humble high school pop music club beginnings.

Noted for their unique combination of aesthetics and music, the band were propelled into the limelight after lead singer Eric Tsai’s participation in the music programme ‘The Coming One明日之子‘ where he took home the first prize.

Since regrouping and returning to Taipei it has been non-stop for the young band who released their debut album “Till 5:10a.m ” earlier this summer. Including tracks which explore a variety of musical styles, it is no surprise to hear that the members draw inspiration from a wide range of artists. Fei 少菲, who plays keyboard for the band, mentions that their artistic influences range from pop music by the likes of Jay Chou and Michael Jackson, to neofolk artists such as Ma Wei, to the electronica and fusion of western artists like M83, Snarky Puppy and Maxwell.

Their aforementioned debut album reflects a clear evolution in the band’s musical influences, experimenting with a host of different genres including jazz, folk and trance pop. Fei explained to us how their sound had changed since the band was formed. “Our first song ‘You Don’t Love this Life’ was a folk song but also had a rock feel to it. And then later on when me and Yi Bang 邦邦 joined, we started adding more electronic elements into the overall sonic design like in our later tracks ‘5.10’  and ‘hoydeA’ which also use more elements of synth and soul music”.
 
This eclectic mix of songs and styles are woven together through lyrics which repeatedly reinforce the album’s theme of dreaming through discussions on liminality, consciousness (or lack thereof), sobriety and time . Although many of their songs explicitly mention dreaming, drummer Jun 維均 clarifies that what their tracks actually focus on is the absence of dreams. “These days, because of the explosion in access to information and materialism, it’s impossible for us to think about ‘dreams’ in the same way as the previous generation. Young people nowadays talk more about ‘nightmares’ instead.”

But lead singer Eric Tsai 蔡維澤 is keen to stress that rather than “trying to put across a specific idea or viewpoint”, the band’s aim for their music is more to “record the memories of a specific time in our lives …Through music, we hope to make concrete listeners’ impression of  the five of us. And maybe some people will feel a connection with Fool and Idiot’s music, just like we feel a connection with our friends and the people around us in our everyday lives”.

With a new crop of socially-aware millennial bands coming to the fore in Taiwan, some have classed Fool and Idiot alongside these as part of a new generation who are ‘World Weary But Not Giving Up’ (頹而不喪 ). Jun agrees that this is a motif they explore in their music that has much to do with the information age.

“It’s harder than ever to feel satisfied with your everyday life or even with your own successes – so people feel ‘world weary’. But actually, confronting the reality of our lives and trying to learn more about ourselves shows that we are ‘not giving up’. So, although the angle we take on this issue is not necessarily optimistic, at least we are trying to face up to it with an honest, open attitude”.

Reflecting on the success of their current summer tour which has taken them across the greater China region. Jun shared how much the band have enjoyed the experience thus far, “not just being able to share the stage with other artists but also getting to try out the local cuisine [of the cities we visited]”.
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Looking back on memorable moments from the tour, Jun brings up how much they stressed out their manager “because we kept losing things like crazy [laughs]! Now part of our routine involves an in-depth bag-check to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind”.

So with a successful album release and tour under their belt, what’s next for the band? Jun mentions that they have met some of the 88rising collective, and if they had the chance they would love to collaborate with them. But in the meantime they are busy enough embarking on the third leg of their tour and writing new music. “Hopefully we will have some new material very soon” reveals guitarist Yi Bang.

Talking about their hopes and dreams for the band, Jun tells us that “[As a band]…our own ‘dream’ (or maybe just something we want to do)  is pretty simple – find our place in the music industry and find a group of friends who like our music”. Seeing the meteoric rise of the band over the past year, it might soon be time for Fool and Idiot to start dreaming even bigger .

Check out Fool and Idiot’s next performance at the Simple Urban Festival 2019 on the 7th December in Taipei, or find out more about their upcoming tour dates here.

By Jocelle Koh

Making waves on Spotify with their first viral single ‘Best Part Of Us’ featuring Michael
Kaneko in 2017, Japanese DJ Duo AmPm have built their brand on intimate and bespoke
collaborations since the very beginning. A unique act in many ways, the masked creative
unit proffer funky electronic mixes with a touch of Japanese flavour which has garnered
them critical acclaim worldwide and even led to them producing for the likes of Afrojack
and R3HAB.

From chatting to them about how they started the duo to begin with, the telltale signs are
already there that AmPm are not just any ordinary DJ duo.

“In 2017, we made our debut with our 1st single ‘Best Part of Us’ featuring Michael Kaneko
for the vocal. Before the debut, two of us travelled around the world together. During our
trips, we met various artists and came to realize that there were so many great artists we
were not aware of. As we wondered if we could something with them, we faced a big task
to work on. We worked hard to earn money for organizing a music festival in Japan…
However, we thought there should be something better we could do with them. We came
up with an idea that we ourselves become famous as an artist and collaborate with them. In
that way, we thought we could possibly establish better relationship with them from
different directions. That’s how we decided to make a debut.”

By Jocelle Koh

An advocate for self-care and a low-key fan of Mandarin music; we’re learning loads about Singaporean artist Gentle Bones (aka Joel Tan) who is making his latest re-entrance into the music scene count with his latest single ‘Smile For Me’.  With a serene dynamic sound and effortlessly heartfelt lyrics; the 25 year-old singer-songwriter has built his brand on creating music that comforts in the best way possible.

We chatted with the soft-spoken artist about his recent musical direction, and how his personal philosophy has informed the new single.

1. It’s been a while since you last released music! What have you been up to lately?

Gentle Bones(GB): Yes! I’ve been giving myself some time-off releasing music the past year and really wanted to find the next best sound and direction to move towards!

2. For your comeback single you’ve released the heart-warming and chill track ‘Smile For Me’. Can you tell me a little about the inspiration behind this song?

GB: I write this song for everyone in my life and for myself. I feel that in this day, we are taught as a society to be unfulfilled, to have the latest iPhone, to strive for a highly respected career, to have a balanced lifestyle with way too many good things to do. Looking externally for answers will only result in a lack of belief in the self and this song hopes to encourage everyone to start finding out about what self-love is to them. 

3. ‘Smile For Me’ is an anthem for self-care. Why do you think it’s important to be kind to yourself? Do you have any self-care tips to share?

GB: Letting yourself change your mind is a good way to start. We are too quick to define ourselves through Instagram or a reality television based personality these days and truth is, life is going to throw a lot of things your way and it is best to always be ready for change and embrace uncertainty and doubt, that’s how the best version of yourself shines through. The negative connotation put on loneliness is misleading and I feel people should really see it as an opportunity to love and really be with  themselves, you are all you have in this life and when you accept that, you love others with a lot more passion.

4.​ You’ve worked again with MYRNE on this track, with whom you released a full collaborative project ‘B4NGER PROJECT’ in 2018. How did you guys start working together, and do you see this as a long-term collaborative partnership?

GB: We always hang out and write even when we don’t intend to release something, there’s a constant back and forth of ideas and musical energy flowing between us at all times. We are simply great friends and our favourite thing to do is to make music. We got to know each other when he approached me to remix my first song Until We Die. We’ve been buddies ever since.

By Jocelle Koh

With a mesmerizing voice set against an electronic backdrop of colourful and dreamily textured synths, Hong-Kong Australian artist, DJ and producer Rainbow Chan stands out in a crowd; be it with audiences at home or abroad.

But what does ‘home’ mean to this diasporic artist? This is just the topic that Chan decided to explore in her last LP, as an extension of her recent observations regarding her heritage and belonging.

“This record was written over the course of three years, throughout which I had been working on other projects, studying, working and travelling. I see it as an extension of all of those experiences being between places and languages.”

​Although Chan has never shied from discussions of her East Asian heritage; this second record sees the topic placed front and centre.

“‘Spacings’ was a break up album through and through and for that reason, the themes of the songs revolve around romantic love and heartbreak. While ‘Pillar’ has moments of love and desire throughout it, I think the themes of the new record are more expansive and part of a larger dialogue about belonging, migration and family.”

A record that explores her Weitou heritage and the intermingling of her experiences with the Cantonese, Mandarin and English languages, Chan manages to succinctly unpack her diverse backgrounds in ways that disrupt predominantly western conversations in the spaces which she occupies.
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“The mainstream media in Australia is predominantly white and English-speaking. But this doesn’t reflect the reality of our society—we’re made up of beautiful, diverse communities. Part of my goal with writing songs in languages other than English was to decentre the conversation around music and meaning. As a person of the diaspora, I wanted to make a body of work which represented the hybrid and linguistically-vibrant nature of my upbringing.”

For the eloquent artist, coming to terms with her heritage is an ongoing conversation that started with a time capsule of cassettes brought with her when she migrated from Hong Kong to Australia when she was six. Rainbow acknowledges these challenges yet pushes herself to continue fostering dialogue through tracks such as “Lull” and “Gaosuwo”.

“(Gaosuwo) It’s the first time I’ve written a pop song in Mandarin. The record also sees me sing in Cantonese and Weitou, a Cantonese dialect spoken by the first settlers of Hong Kong who were villagers. I have Weitou ancestry through my mum. Like many diaspora kids, I wanted to fit in with Western culture throughout my childhood and teenage years. It’s taken me a long time to embrace my roots, and also to not feel like an imposter. So making music in Chinese was one way to express these feelings.”

“It’s been super warm! Hearing younger female artists, especially girls of Asian descent, tell me that I’ve inspired them makes the hard work I’ve put in over the last ten years worth it. I didn’t realise visibility is so important until now...I like contributing, in whatever small ways I can, to push these emerging voices to the fore e.g. including new acts in DJ mixes, choosing diverse support slots, running production workshops.”

Using quiet, careful words to describe her music and her experiences, Chan is certainly someone whose actions speak volumes. Inspiring for the confidence she has in the value of what she has to say, and impressive for the multitude of ways she continues experimentations in expressing it, Rainbow is a pillar of diversity for a world that at times lacks it; shining so brightly and vividly that one can’t help but stop and notice.

Rainbow Chan's album 'Pillar' is out on all streaming platforms now. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram for more updates.

By Jocelle Koh

Inspired by a joke amongst friends, Singaporean rappers Masia One, Supa Mojo and General Ling have teamed up with German-Chinese producer team C.O.W to create a track that is larger than life. Bringing together the oft-opposing elements of positive, feminist messages and trap-heavy beats, the tracks combines the best parts of the many worlds this band of creatives have been exposed to across their lifetimes. We spoke in particular to German-Chinese production team C.O.W and Far East Empress Masia One to get their unique takes on their East-meets-West philosophies, and how this latest collaboration fits into it.
 
1.Tell us a little more about your new single ‘General Ling’! What’s the concept behind this bilingual, avant-garde production?
 
Masia One: I have met many people in my journeys that are passionate but tend to lose their way from lack of bravery to pursue their dreams. I imagined for this song “What if we all had a Dajie (older sister) that gave us the right advice that we trusted, and could steer us in the right direction?” Then I realized, we must all be our own Dajie, and take care of ourselves.
 
C.O.W: Since C.O.W. 牛 is a project, which redefines itself through each production, it was a thrilling experiment for us to work together with the amazing Singaporean artists Masia One, Supa Mojo and General Ling. Our concept was just to have fun producing things we haven't done before.           ​

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​By Jocelle Koh

Malaysian-Australian artist Yeo is probably one of the most underrated acts to come out of the Australian music scene. A producer, singer-songwriter, DJ, music director, bassist and keytarist rolled into one, the jack of all trades has never been one to stay still musically, experimenting with everything from full-on country albums to electronic music, before settling into his current more R&B facing direction.

Over chicken rice and ice-cream (how all great conversations begin), we chatted about everything from our shared philosophies, growing up as a member of the Asian diaspora, and of course the veteran muso's recent musical exploits. In particular, the introspective artist spoke at length about his latest R&B single ‘By Myself’, featuring Singaporean artist and long-time collaborator Charlie Lim.
 
From the first listen, I could tell that this collaboration between Yeo and Charlie went much deeper than just a vocal feature. Long-time collaborators with the purest kind of respect for each others' craft, Yeo went deep sharing about Lim's participation on the track and how it all came together.

​ “I kind of went through a little bit of a crisis and that was at the end of a long struggle with a back injury…so my physical health became good, then I had to deal with mental stuff. At that point in time, all my closest friends came through and was like, Hey, we're still here for you. We’re not going anything…Also yeah, I made some pretty big mistakes and hurt a lot of people around me, and the people I hurt made a decision to support me through all the bullshit...Me and Charlie we live in different countries, we don’t connect as often as we’d like to. But eventually I came and saw him...and he was also really supportive as a friend. I guess I wrote the song about coming through that and reaching out to people, and I wrote his verse as well, the lyrics…and so I guess that’s how that song comes about.”

Special Thanks to: Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
Album Descriptions: Matt Taylor
Foreword: Jocelle Koh
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In our streaming-driven world, the value of physical albums often elude the best of us. Yet although the CD as a medium seems to somewhat have lost the functionality it used to champion, the Mandarin music scene has truly taken album design to the next level, embedding it deep in any hardcore fan’s music appreciation process.

The efficacy of printing in Taiwan combined with the free-flowing creativity on the scene has spawned new takes on album design that mash together concepts of progressive design and form promulgated by Western album art, whilst retaining the care and luxurious quality of these treasured pieces of merchandise as seen in Eastern music scenes.

Come with us as we delve into the stories behind the designs of some of contemporary Mandopop’s most well-loved and iconic albums; namely milestone works by Hebe Tien, A-Mei, DJ Didilong, Easy Shen and Fleshjuicer.

Album Designer: Aaron Nieh 聶永真

Although being a singer is perceived to us as a life of glitz and glamour; to those who know better, sometimes they instead desire for one of pure simplicity. Hebe Tien (田馥甄) - one third of Taiwan’s most famous girl group S.H.E – understands this feeling more than most, and decided to explore this concept on her fourth solo studio album. To enjoy and savour the most trivial things in life is to understand that nothing is permanent, and even the small tasks and feelings should be treasured.

The packaging pays homage to the concept by taking care with even the smallest of details. A combination of bright and simple colours and minimalist design, the album brings together elements of engraving, hand-stitching and a variety of textures and symbols to create something extraordinary from the ordinary.

Image Credit: Di Wei​
​By Jocelle Koh

Chinese-American rapper Bohan Phoenix is someone who inspires me deeply. In the lead-up to our interview (and even earlier prior), I would read write-ups on his experiences as he seemingly effortlessly fused Eastern and Western elements in his music to bridge cultural gaps, and often a million questions would come to mind. Especially in own quest for finding ways to bridge cultural divides and navigate the complicated landscape of the contemporary music industry, it was nice to chance upon someone who too was thinking deeply about the same issues.
 
Armed with empathy in spades, a moderated perspective, and a steadfast passion that burns deeper than the average human being; Bohan is a great example of someone who I think could bring real, meaningful change to the Eastern and Western music scenes.
 
But unlike the other articles I’ve read which tout him as ‘China’s most uncompromising rapper’, or the answer to bridging cultural divides, I wanted to unpack his identity and his mission outside the confines of his skin colour, political context or the topic of his musical content. For music to make meaning, it has to come from the heart.

By Jocelle Koh
Graphics by Allison Sun

When we caught up with Taiwanese band The Chairs hot off the heels of their win at the 30th Golden Melody Awards, the guys seemed as down to earth and chill as ever. Often referring to their music as a dreamlike journey, we requested for a tour through their musical wonderland, diving deep into their musical inspirations, backgrounds and what they hope to achieve through their music.
 
1.Firstly, congratulations on winning ‘Best Vocal Group’ at the 30th Golden Melody Awards! When you first knew about being nominated, did you have any hopes for winning at the awards?
 
Of course we are so thankful for the judges’ affirmations, this is our first Golden Melody Awards experience, everyone was very much looking forward to it. However we didn’t have too much expectations towards winning, we felt that being nominated was already a big achievement and affirmation in itself!
 
2.Overseas audiences are perhaps not as familiar with your works. Could you share with us a little about each of your band members, and why you started this band to begin with?
 
Our members are Yong Jing (Lead Vocals, Guitarist), Zhong Ying (Lead Vocals, Guitarist), and Ban Sen/Bo Yuan (Bassist). We started playing together since we were in Guitar club in high school, and this year is our tenth year as a band. In university we named ourselves Chair Band and started releasing works under that name until we released our first album in 2015. This was a big musical milestone for us.

By Jocelle Koh
Graphic Design by Allison Sun

We fell in love with Taiwanese R&B outfit Sugarcat back in 2017, back when they were just a two-person unit composed of A-lan (lead vocalist, guitarist) and Gao Zhen (lead vocalist, drummer). Releasing songs in a familiarly cheerful vein of R&B but with a new twist, the guys were a hit with me, and continued to be as they toyed with different iterations of East-meets-West fusions within their amiable sound across a myriad of singles.
 
So when their debut self-titled album ‘Sugarcat’ came out earlier this year, seeing the boys debuting this time with a full band, I had to get in on the action and pick their brains. I was particularly curious about what it was which led them to experiment with East-meets-West R&B that felt very much like a revamp of the early works of Jay Chou, David Tao and Khalil Fong; and it seems that our guesses at their musical influences weren’t far off the mark at all.
 
“We didn’t consciously try to emphasise East-meets-West in our music, especially since this style has been done before (Khalil Fong, David Tao, Jay Chou…), of course we have been deeply influenced by them. I think you could say that since we grew up nurtured by Mandarin music while exploring overseas classics as we grow; through listening discovery and practicing our instruments, this has slowly had a big influence on our musical logic.”