(This is the second of two articles about independent Taiwan bands on tour in Canada.)
In Vancouver’s Red Room nightclub, a singer in a Lone Ranger mask dances barefoot to Indian drumbeats and electro-rock guitars. Raising his hands skyward, Sissey Chao appears almost like a religious figure, and those in the audience who saw him perform at the Taipei World Trade Center in 1995 are reminded of how he sang about sex and rocked on the stage as no Taiwanese performer ever had before.
Soon after Chao’s concept album “Pull Myself Out” was released in 1989, the Government Information Office banned it because of its explicit sexual lyrics. Now, ironically, he and his band Double X were part of the 2010 Indie Taiwan Tour, selected by the GIO.
Double X started out in 1980. With five albums released over the 30-year course of his career, Chao can hardly be considered prolific. “It’s fair to say my career has been marked by all kinds of barriers,” he noted. First his album was banned. Then he rejected the contract offered by a major company, signing instead with an independent label. “They had few resources and poor networks. Worst of all, they ripped me off, refusing to pay royalties.”
Jumping down from the stage, twirling and dancing like a playful child, Chao passionately shakes hands with every guest sitting around the sunken dance floor in front of the stage. He makes a skillful transition to his next song, with its refrain, “Want to speak love to you,” from his latest album, “Tripping 19,” which takes love and peace as its themes.
Asked how his music has evolved from punk rock to something much quieter and more personal, with a religious tinge, Chao attributed the transformation to politics.
“My childhood was always haunted by the shadow of war—the war to reunify Taiwan with China. And after martial law was lifted, when the KMT stepped down, some politicians were always running anti-China campaigns, intending to make people resent each other for their different political leanings. Politicians just try to manipulate people’s feelings,“ Chao said.
“There’s no reason for this hatred since we are all seeds from God. God means to have us flourish and love each other on earth. So my music is all about love.” Today, Chao’s music blends soft rock, punk and electro, and is spiced with improvised lyrics and jamming.
Chao’s turbulent career vividly mirrors the development of Taiwan’s indie music. He has made rock history in Taiwan, and now headlines in Canada, as he and Double X appeared on the front page of The Georgia Straight.
If Chao has paid a heavy price for broaching taboo subjects, a younger band on the tour, Go Chic, is enjoying freedom of speech Chao would have envied two decades ago.
Founded in 2007, Go Chic is not your usual Asian girlie band. They perform in bright-colored tights and glittery thongs. Employing a torrent of swear words, they openly relish the topic of sex.
Lead singer Ariel Chang writes their lyrics, all in English. Sonia Lai programs musical backgrounds on her KORG sequencer, Sarah Wen plays bass, and the only male, Winston Li, plays the drums.
In an e-mail interview, Chang talked about what music is to the band. “Can we quote [the Brazilian band] Cansei de Ser Sexy? ‘Music is my boyfriend, music is my king-sized bed.’
“Music takes everyone in. It’s something that reminds you why you’re working so hard; it’s something that tells you that you should relax; it’s also something that might explain why we are different from other creatures in the world.”
Though their all-English lyrics may facilitate their connecting with the overseas audience, they are fully aware that building a fan base concerns a lot more than just music. “You need management, promotion, connection and a load of time and money. And even after that, you still can’t predict if the audience will like you,” Chang observed.
At Red Room, the band starts off with “This is Go Chic,” and the small crowd begins to loosen up. As the band shifts into their second track, “Culture Supervisor,” people begin to dance and it is clear that the audience does like Go Chic.
“We live in a Western/male dominant world, so it seems pretty beat being an Asian girl band, but it’s not. It gives us a privilege to bring a different perspective to the world. It makes us cool and edgy,” Chang said.
From their provocative slogan (“F--- sad songs and slow jams; here is Go Chic”) on their official English website to their eye-popping stage presence, they are a powerful, driving band. They also know how to engage the audience with warm banter during intermissions.
The Georgia Straight described Go Chic as equivalent to the Canadian dance-punk band You Say Party “after taking a syringe of horny adrenaline straight to the heart.”
Go Chic appeared at the huge South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March, and has played at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, as well as in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
“The next step is to get our bands into the Halifax Pop Explosion Music Festival, which has 135 bands playing in 18 venues,” said Charlie Wu, organizer of the 2010 Indie Taiwan Tour. “We also hope they’ll be able to appear at the Pop Montreal International Music Festival and Canadian Music Week in Toronto.”
As more people hear the music of bands like Aphasia, Matzka, Double X and Go Chic, perceptions of Taiwan’s place in the international order are changing. The stage is set for the diverse voices of the island nation to be heard around the world. (THN)
Wang Fei-yun is a freelance writer based in Vancouver, Canada. Copyright © 2010 by Wang Fei-yun
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