Sing from the city, sound of the valley

2015-07-22      Source: chinadaily.com.cn

Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley attending a press conference held on July 20 at Carving Time cafe, Haidian district in Beijing.

When my friend invited me to interview Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley, I hesitated, wondering, "Who are they?" And the next moment, I went online to find out.

And here's the first line on their Baidu Encyclopedia page, "Sing from the city, sound of the valley."

To be honest, I think the sentence cures.

For most people living in big cities, the valley is somewhat like a dreamland, where birds are twittering, streams gurgling. You can take as many deep breaths as you wish – something you absolutely dare not try in cities like Beijing.

I read on, and found what music critics say about the band: "You can smell the most intrinsic aroma of life" - quite intriguing a comment to me so that I began to wonder: how do they sing, and what are their voices like?

I went to Xiami.com, and tuned in to their broadcast. A warm, magnetic, and soothing man's voice flowed into my ears, murmuring poetic lines from the song Zaishuiyifang (In the water side).

"Grey is the grass, blurred is the fog; along the water side, lives my dream belle. Upstream I would go, only if, I could lie by her side," the man sings.

For the next hour, I was in a state of tranquil rapture, sitting still in my office chair, thrilled to have reclaimed something I had long lost to city life: inner peace and total relaxation.

I decided this is a band that I shouldn't miss. So I texted my friend back, "I'll go."

 Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley.

I listened on, and I was amazed to find the leading vocalist, Xiao Juan, has quite a different voice. It is rather ethereal and touching. And the drum beats and sounds of the harmonica that blend in so naturally in the song "I only care about you" just captured my heart. I was led into a world of fantasy, in which I may leave the mortal world behind without losing my connection with it.

I looked for more of their information on Baidu, and I was amazed to find that they have actually formed their band in early 1998. It was amazing that it took me more than a decade to finally notice this band.

"I never really chased success or stardom. I just do what I like every day, that is, singing, and it brings me great happiness and contentment," Xiao Juan said in an interview. This is what she believes in, and what she has practiced through the years.

In fact, Xiao Juan has been performing in Beijing since 1993. Later she met two young people that shared the same passion for music – including her soul mate and husband Li Qiang – and named their band Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley. They began to have their performances in bars, then as special guests in other people's concerts, and six years from now, they began to hold their own concerts.

This year, 2015, is the sixth year that they have had a theme concert. Entitled About Love, the concert will be held on Chinese Valentine's Day. The members will sing on the five statuses of love, and love of different generations.

In our exclusive interview with Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley - Li Qiang, Arai Soichiro and Liu Xiaoguang, they talked about their music, and shared their very own understanding on love and their life stories. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Xiao Juan and Residents from the Valley at backstage of the 2010 Beijing Pop Music Festival held on October 17, 2011.

This is the sixth year that you hold a theme concert. Compared with the past concerts, what is so special about this one?

Arai Soichiro: This time we have introduced more string instruments in the performance. We had cello playing in our performance before, but not other instruments. Since Xiaoguang can now compose music that can be played by string instruments, we decided to find another guitarist to join our performance. The performance will be enriched by the combination of more instruments, and will be more expressive.

The theme for this year's concert is "About Love", and you will be presenting the five statuses of love, what are they?

Xiao Juan:　Actually, there are more than five statuses of love. But we try to show the various sides of love through our songs. Love In 1980, for example, describes the simplicity, purity and tacit nature of love, which is usually found in people of that age. It's kind of an oriental love. But in Love Is like a Song, you can feel a young girl's longing for love, which is very interesting. Because of Love has then showed the many details of love, you have to really listen, and feel it. And River Without a Bridge, is a song that describes the kind of love that doesn’t really have a happy ending, one that ends with no results actually coming. We just want to share the different tastes of love.

Have you experienced all the kinds of forms of love in your songs? If not, how can you express them as they are?

Arai Soichiro：Yes, I have. Maybe what we have experienced are different from one another, Xiao Qiang might not really have gone through the kind of sadness in love(laughing). But we could share the experiences with each other.

Xiao Juan: The feelings that we express through songs are not only felt through romances. The bitter feelings that I feel and express, for example, may not come from love, but the pain that I felt as I grew. I think music is the liberation of the feelings that brewed in me through the years. Making music is like brewing a beer.

Xiaoguang: I think you have to fling yourself into a relationship, and then you won't miss a single taste of love. Love is a voluntary act, not passive.

Most of your fans are die-hard fans, and they praise your songs highly. But there are also people who say that the songs lacked soul, since you do many cover songs. What's your take on that?

Xiao Juan: I don't think it has to be original songs to deliver our soul, our thinking. Sometimes, people's understanding of themselves is rather limited, even though it might be them in the most natural state. We cover other people's songs because I feel that I resonate with those songs. Also, I think we need to learn from others, as accomplishment in music is obtained gradually, it's not an inherent ability for most people. What's more, it's actually not easy to cover a song well, especially in your own way, with your own feelings. We cover songs that once touched us, or that we love; we write songs to present the world that we see and feel.

Xiao Juan performing at the 2012 Shanghai Jazz Music Festival.

Do you still write songs? Where do you get your inspiration?

Xiao Juan: Yes, I have kept writing since my first original piece come out. Recently I wrote Love In 1980, for the upcoming movie Love of the 1980s. Usually, when I'm reading a poem, I would think to myself, what would it be like if I sang it out, and then I will try to compose a melody. I will also try to depict through music what I have felt in a movie or something.

How did you get the name for your band?

Xiao Juan: It comes from a song I wrote. We were about to sign with a music company, and then we use this name as our band's name. And we grew fond of the name, because we think it’s very much our style. Our music is rather introverted, and we want to share with people the feelings we feel deep down. So the "valley" here refers to our inner world, which is beautiful and well-protected. We live in buildings, like most people. But we feel very peaceful. You have to have a peaceful heart to feel all these, otherwise, even though you are in a beautiful land like a valley, you can't feel that.

It's seems easy to say "you should have a peaceful heart". The question for many more might be, how?

Arai Soichiro: I'm pretty busy and I will get very tired sometimes. I travel more by plane than by taxi. But I never feel upset, nor do I frown. Because I'm doing what I like to do, and I think I'm very lucky I'm also get paid doing that. Also, my wife is excellent, and we love each other. So I don't have rules for people to follow. If any, I think we have to be tolerant and optimistic. And in love, I think we have to be willing to give, to sacrifice. I think I get more than what I have given.

Xiaoguang: I think my life is assimilated into the band, and I have been deeply influenced by Xiao Qiang and Xiao Juan in the past seven years. I think it is the same for people who know them, including their fans. They are the kind of people who can buckle down and do their own music. Their music is their life, they are intertwined, which seems very natural for me.

You four have all been married, I wonder, what is the most romantic thing that you did for your partner?

Xiao Juan: I would say most of the romantic things are done by Xiao Qiang. Like, every year, he will buy me 99 roses. It has become a habit that he kept all these years, that if I didn't see the roses when I woke up on my birthday, I will probably get angry (laughing).

Xiao Qiang: I felt happy that she once cooked a bowl of noodles for me.

Arai Soichiro: I'm not the romantic type. Well, in fact, I tried to give my wife birthday surprises, and she will be like, "Oh, thanks. I'm very happy." And when we get back home, she will be like, "Not again!"

Xiaoguang: I'm also not the romantic type because I feel obliged and responsible to do things for my wife.