△ Cheng Bi's MV "Homesickness". Video Source | Tencent
You may have an impression of her, or her song, or maybe just her name- Cheng Bi. Of course, what you may not be familiar with is that she is a Japanese musician.
However, this label is far from summing up the whole of Cheng Bi. Her music has a special sense of relaxation, as if it is slowly telling something.
I met Cheng Bi at Kichijoji Temple, a life-filled neighborhood on the outskirts of Tokyo. Towards Christmas, Kichijoji Station is full of festive decorations. We sat down at a café next to the park in the block and chatted about her music, her life, and the inspiration that the city of Tokyo had inspired her.
Future Scenarios × Cheng Bi
Tokyo is another way of living and creating an imagination
△ Cheng Bi
Musician in Japan, songwriter. Compose music on a classical guitar and compose music for poetry. The voice is "beautiful and quiet, clear and new". He has released independent music albums "Cut the Window Together on a Sunny Day", "Poetry Meets Song", and "Walking Non-Stop".
Q: Your new album "Non-Stop" has been released, what are your plans for the near future?
Cheng Bi: For most of this year, I have been working hard to "live", and finally at the end of the year, I have completed a new work, and I will take these songs to meet with everyone in Beijing, Shanghai, shenzhen and at the end of the year. The tour is called "Morning Bell in the Mist," and it's actually an image I've always had in my mind, a beautiful metaphor. It's like walking into the forest in the early morning mist and hearing the bells in the distance, and the confusion of those dark nights will be solved. The bells also represent the beginning of the New Year, so it is a good occasion.
The new album has been released in China and will be released in Japan next year. In March, there will also be a live release of the new album in Tokyo. In addition to music, I also began to focus on the design and lifestyle parts, and there are many unique shops in Tokyo that I would like to visit and discover more next year.
▲ Swipe left to see more pictures
Cheng Bi's new album "Non-stop". Image credit | Cheng Bi
Q: When did you become interested in Japanese music and art?
Cheng Bi: When I was studying Japanese at university, I was exposed to a lot of Japanese movies and music, and I liked the unique "sense of life" in it. I found that the music that attracted me was a similar style—using music to quietly tell the feeling of life, like singer Yugawa Shio tone, group wool とおはな (wool and flowers) are all musicians I like. There is also Fukuhara Yukie, she has a song called "Green Pepper Meat Shredded", which is very life-like.
Combine Wool とおはな (Wool and Flowers) and Fukugen Xiji River. Image credit | NetEase Cloud Music
Q: How did you fall in love with this "soundtrack"?
Cheng Bi: Actually, it was because I liked the musical texture of classical guitar that I became interested in music creation. When I was in college, some of my classmates would play the steel string folk guitar, which wasn't very appealing to me at the time. Later, in the second year of graduate school, I came to Japan for an internship, and once in a while, I heard a friend play a classical guitar with nylon strings at home. Although it was a very old guitar, I immediately fell in love with the sound of the classical guitar, soft and gentle, and the next day I went to the musical instrument street in Tokyo's Ochanomizu neighborhood to buy one, and after going home to think about it, the first chord played.
Q: Is this musical style popular in Japan? What's different from domestic music, especially folk music?
Cheng Bi: Japan's music division has been very refined, different musical styles have completely different audiences, and it seems that the era of popularization has passed. In terms of creative content, many Japanese folk musicians pay more attention to personal emotions and small details in life, while domestic folk songs have more regional feelings or cultural themes, such as the wild children band in Lanzhou in the early days. However, in fact, in recent years, the new generation of domestic music creators have also paid more attention to the expression of personal emotions, and the audience is also expanding.
Cheng Bi's concert. Image credit | The official homepage of Cheng Bi's personal works
Q: How did you first think of coming to Tokyo?
Cheng Bi: In 2010, when I was still in graduate school, I interned briefly in Tokyo. Later, when I graduated and looked for a job, I felt that I still had some thoughts about this place, so I applied for a Japanese company and began to work and live here officially.
The original work had nothing to do with music. Because there were not many options for coming to Japan when I first graduated, I received an offer from a securities company in Beijing, and when I just left school, I also wanted to try more possibilities, so I gladly went there. After working for a while, I found myself gradually becoming numb – although I did not resist, I could not find enough joy in the job. Later, I tried to work at the original design research institute of the Japan Design Center, a design company that I liked, but I still hoped to set up my own studio and find more creative space.
Q: After making music, why did you choose to stay in Tokyo?
Cheng Bi: I think that life here has given me a lot of imagination, not only in music. Because I have studied Japanese for many years, there is no language barrier between me and Tokyo, so I can freely explore the design, literature, daily necessities, and ingredients here, absorb nutrients from fresh things, and feel the inspiration that life brings me. And I feel that no matter how long I live here, I will still feel like I am on the go.
Q: I'm curious what you mean by "on the go", what does that feel like?
Cheng Bi: After all, I am in a foreign country, and every day when I open my eyes, I will think about how to live the most fulfilling day, unlike at home, I just want to be carefree and dazed when I open my eyes. And this impact of maximizing life can also allow me to open all my senses to feel and create.
Journey and life of Cheng Bi. Image credit | The official homepage of Cheng Bi's personal works
Q: People say that Tokyo is a huge city that makes people feel anxious, do you have negative emotions when you live here?
Cheng Bi: It seems that there really isn't, maybe the Tokyo I see now is more of another side of it. Tokyo is truly a super diverse complex. I remember when I first graduated and went to work at Tokyo Securities Company, the apartment arranged by the company was in Tokyo Station (Tokyo's largest transportation hub), surrounded by a CBD of high-rise buildings, crowded with trains every day, and preparing for 7 Japanese securities exams, which made me breathless.
But then I started exploring other neighborhoods, such as Kichijoji Temple, Daikansan, and Shimokitazawa, which are some distance from the city center, like independent towns. I saw another side of the city's seclusion and character. In addition, the whole city is full of green, and every household will plant flowers and plants. I think the most interesting part of Tokyo is that it has both the quick and convenient side of a big city, and at the same time, it is diverse, with another side of life and quiet.
Q: Will living in Japan lose some opportunities to communicate with fans?
Cheng Bi: Actually, no, now the network is so convenient, no matter where you are, you can communicate with everyone at any time.
Q: Is this sense of distance also what you expect?
Cheng Bi: Maybe. In China, often because I am too close to everyone or the media, I have to go to some events, which is very time-consuming. While living in a foreign country, I can always stay awake, be able to create spontaneously and regularly, have a relatively relaxed rhythm of life, and maintain the independence of music. And I think people who really like my music will understand that feeling. Because, the souls connected by music do not feel alienated because of our geographical distance.
△ Cheng Bi 2018 New Year's Concert will be staged in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, this time, she will try to use the full classical band to interpret the past works. Image credit | Cheng Bi
Q: What are the things you enjoy the most in your life?
Cheng Bi: I like to cook, I will go to tinker with ideas, and I often go out to buy a bunch of ingredients, and when I come back, I will make them at home, and I will seriously plate them (laughs).
In addition, a lot of life inspiration actually comes from books, such as Japanese chef Yuko Watanabe's "365 Days." Eternal as new everyday". I often see some of her columns on food and life topics in magazines, conveying her understanding and feelings about life, being concise and concise, and often resonating with me.
Cheng Bi likes to cook and plate by herself. Image credit | Cheng Bi
Q: In the impression, you are a very "fairy" girl, I didn't expect your sense of life to be so strong.
Cheng Bi: Yes, I am a person who has a very strong sense of belonging to home, probably because I was influenced by my parents' life mode since I was a child, so I also like the feeling of living a life. Recently, I was renovating my new home, and the style, layout, and arrangement of each room were conceived and realized by myself, and even the furniture in the house was made according to my ideas by asking the master carpenter to do it according to my ideas.
Q: Besides being at home, do you usually go out to see your favorite shows?
Cheng Bi: Yes. Tokyo actually hides a lot of live houses, big and small, and one of my favorite ones is in Mitaka City, called "Odone Time" (music time). Around 2014, I went to this live house for the first time, and I saw a performance by Fukuhara Yukie, a music creator I've always loved, and there are many of her musical works in the Japanese drama "Late Night Canteen".
△ Cheng Bi likes to go to a live house music barn time (music time). Image credit | 音楽の時間
The live house is a hidden "underground space" that can only accommodate about 20 people. Although the place is small, it is very comfortable, and in the winter, the owner will enthusiastically bring out his own miso soup, and the whole atmosphere is like a family performance. The musical works in this place are also independent and niche, but they are all my favorite acoustic instrument playing styles, for example, sometimes there will be music composers who play the violin while quietly singing their own songs, and in the dim light, he is immersed in the work, and I am still impressed. I think it's rare to see such a performance on a regular stage.
Cheng Bi cooperates with independent clothing stores for coats. Image credit | Cheng Bi
Q: Have you done anything else interesting lately?
Cheng Bi: I recently designed a coat in collaboration with an independent clothing store that I really like. I started by drawing a sketch, but after discussing and adjusting with the tailor, I finally finished it. In fact, when I'm okay, I will do some small designs, because whether it is music or design, I prefer to express a way of life and ideas. There may be many people who like my songs who live with the same ideas as me.
Text: Luo Xiaotian | Visual design: Wang Fanghong | Editor: Zhao Hui