ARTICLE
[InC-terview] Bravo Taiwan at Music Matters Live 2014 - 13 Band, Quaterback & MC Hotdog!
By InCinemas / 26 May 2014 (Monday)
InCinemas sat down with Taiwanese musicians 13 Band, Quaterback and MC Hotdog who brought the house down at Music Matters Live 2014, the 2nd-year running music festival held at Clarke Quay!
13 Band
13 Band, made up of members vocalist Bow, guitarist Liam, bassist Jun Ping and drummer Wei Tan dressed in colourful hand-drawn T-shirts as they sat down for a short interview with InCinemas.
Thirteen’s music is inspired by the Britpop scene in the 90s, and therefore shows refreshing sounds of catchy, guitar-based melodies and fantasy-painted lyrics. The messages in their songs are about love, hope and positive energy.
When asked about their dream collaborations with other artistes, vocalist Bow mentioned bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Taiwanese rock star, Lin Qiang. “He’s one of the pioneers of Taiwan’s music industry and I believe he has gone through what we are going through now. His music in his albums grow, expressing different stages of his life, which I admire a lot,” said Bassist Ping.
Brothers Xiao Bao and Xiao Yu graduated from visual design majors before venturing into music professionally. From their music videos such as ‘Lucky 13’, you can spot a quirky designed-like theme to their video, mainly inspired by the talented brothers. Apart from that, the duo also compose their own songs for the band, citing inspirations through ‘everyday lives’. Lead singer Xiao Bao said, “Sometimes it’s also through our own emotions or what we have seen from the people around us.”
“In this album, every song feels like a representation of a person, the character and emotions of someone that we know or have experienced ourselves.”
With the various animals seen in their music video, we asked the band if there was an animal they felt best represented their music. Ping was quick to choose the ‘peacock’.
“We are not limited to just one kind of music style and for this album, we took a fresh take on our music composition. Their (brothers Xiao Bao and Xiao Yu) design styles are very rich and colourful, which is rather similar to a peacock.”
During the Music Matters Live 2014 performance at Clarke Quay, the band pulled off a short magic performance for the audience, something that was new to the band. It was said that it took three days for the group to prepare the ‘special performance’, apart from the goodies they threw at random audience members during their act.
Quarterback
Another one of Taiwan’s well-loved band is Quarterback, comprising of vocalist Ah Shan, guitarist Hu Shen, bassist Ao Di and drummer Wei Wei. Friends since young, the group have been around for nearly 10 years, a long way journey to where they are today.
Like many bands, Quarterback played cover songs at the beginning, but through the years, they grew to perform original materials and form their unique style of music.
Though guitarist Hu Shen will be celebrating his birthday soon, he didn’t seem to think much about it when we asked about his plans for his special day. “I guessed I looked forward to birthday celebrations when I was younger, but now that I’m older, I don’t wish to see that day,” he joked.
“We are very interested to check out indie bands and rock bands from different countries,” said vocalist Ah Shan. “We see a different side of the country’s music industry, and a very unique side of them.”
Being together for nearly a decade, Ah Shen admitted to frequent fights and quarrels, but resolve problems as a band. “We are just like a family and hang out with one another. Even after band rehearsals, we get to know each other better and it improves our camaraderie among members.”
MC Hot Dog
MC Hotdog is Taiwan's famed hip-hop artist and rapper, best known for popular songs like "我爱台妹" (I love Taiwanese Girls), "我的生活" (My Life) and "韓流來襲" (The Korean Invasion).
Most of MC Hotdog's songs are self-composed which he shared he prefers to take his time to compose a number as the songs are ‘based on emotions’.
“When I write my music, it’s based on how much the song appeals to me. It’s usually based on my feelings about it.” He cited ‘everyday live’ as his source of inspiration. “Most of my songs reflect the
culture of our society; it can be stories that I’ve heard or I’ve
experience before. This is also a reason why I enjoy listening to
friends sharing with me their life stories.”
“The time duration from one album to another differs. I hope to be more hardworking so that I can produce more songs for everyone to enjoy without waiting for too long for it.”
Known for his explicit words in his song, MC Hotdog agrees that his songs these days are not as explicit as the ones he composed when he was younger. “We go through different stages in our lives, and now I'm at a stage where I view and perceive things differently, so my music will also be a little different from my past compositions."