Sennu goddess and Shandong dayan; designer and folk singer; artist and CEO... Singer Cheng Bi's two-sidedness is rarely fully glimpsed. In the hearts of more fans, she is a fairy goddess who composes poems into songs, and behind her "luck" and "success" is a typical example of the transformation from interest to career in this era of social networks
Cheng Bi. Photo/Courtesy of respondents. Photo Editor/ Dong Jiexu
Double-sided Cheng Bi: Sen nu line Shandong girl
Contributing Writer of China News Weekly / Zhao Zhuo
After the song "I want to waste time with you" circulated among literary and artistic youth, singer Cheng Bi took out a pink balloon. A male fan took to the stage and proposed to his girlfriend on the spot, telling his wish to spend a lifetime with her, and the scene became very warm. This day is May 20, which is perhaps the most romantic way of confessing in many people's hearts.
Cheng Bi on the stage was wearing a plain dress, plain face, and dark hair was braided behind his head. Some fans said on Weibo that her first impression was "fairy", and when they heard "peace in poetry" and "warm healing in song" at the scene, they felt that "life is very satisfied".
But in private chats, Cheng Bi will reveal the arrogance of Shandong girls, and sometimes, the speed of speech is too fast to keep up. At the end of the interview, Cheng Bi rushed to the hospital for a physical examination, and recently she insisted on running for an hour a day to ensure that her physical condition was one of the preparations for the tour. At this moment, she is not the fairy in the music who does not eat human fireworks, but looks like a professional musician.
"It's very delicate in art, and it's not too pretentious in life, it's just right." Cheng Bi defines himself on and offstage in this way.
Goddesses and big chicks
On May 20th, Cheng Bi × Lychee FM "I want to waste time with you" national tour guangzhou station opened. Despite the heavy rain, the venue was packed. There are young men who have come from xiamen to fly, and some who have come early to lie down at the ticket window and say that they like to listen to the girls' rehearsal sounds. The day before, Cheng Bi shared a meeting in the courtyard of Sun Yat-sen University, and more than 700 people poured into the 500-person hall, and there was no way to stand.
The national theater tour arranged five stops in Guangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, Shanghai and Beijing, and there were also six courtyard sharing sessions during the period, spanning two months. His friend Qin Heren obviously felt that Cheng Bi's pressure was increasing. "She's been getting busier lately. She is like playing chicken blood, handling all kinds of interviews, rehearsals, and publicity by herself. Compared with last year, she has become more mature and understands the circle better. ”
Cheng Bi knows that she is in the process of becoming popular, and also enjoys the excitement of the gradual expansion of the performance venue. "Now I have a high-quality musician who has been working with for a long time, have a certain experience in organizing performances, and I have a feeling of eagerness to try out theater tours!" Cheng Bi told China News Weekly. The success of the guangzhou leg of the tour proves that her eagerness to try is not unfounded.
This hot scene is not surprising. On November 9 last year, the "Poetry Meets Song" Cheng Bi's new album tour beijing talking concert was held at the West District Theater, and 300 fans witnessed Cheng Bi's first small theater performance. At that time, her songs had been widely disseminated on the Internet, but she had not yet become a "goddess" and a spokesperson for "Mori Girl".
On November 28, Hunan Satellite TV 'Everyday Upwards' broadcast a folk song special session, with Cheng Bi and Shao Yibei, Hao Yun, and Li Ronghao singing folk songs in mix and match. After the show ended, "Mori Girl Retro Folk Singer" became a hot word in the search. This unsmiling, plainly dressed, ethereal singing girl, like a fairy, began to be paid more attention to.
"I try to be very amiable. I am the character of a Shandong person, nervous on TV, unable to let go, privately one-on-one relaxation. Actually, I laugh a lot. My personality has two sides, I take into account each other's feelings when chatting, and I behave very talkatively, but usually I still like to be alone, and when I create, I am a different look. Cheng Bi told China News Weekly.
"In a short period of time, Cheng Bi has put on hunan satellite TV, CCTV and other major media, and the labels of sennu, xiaoxin, and literary and artistic goddess have been posted one by one." Qin Heren briefly assisted Cheng Bi as a performance agent for several months, and when "Poetry Meets Song" was popular, many performances took the initiative to come to the door.
In qin heren's view, Cheng Bi became popular and caught up with the favorable time and place. Online music platforms such as Shrimp Mi and Douban recommended her on the homepage, and the praise of poets such as Nishikawa and Kitajima made Cheng Bi quickly gain high-end recognition in the literary and artistic circles.
"Her melody is relatively ordinary, not very clever in music professionally, but also because it is not so high-end, it is easy to accept." She is approachable and acceptable even to middle-aged people. Qin Heren told China News Weekly. He wrote his first music review about Cheng Bi on the Internet, "Cheng Bi's music, the biggest feature, is delicate and silent warmth. ”
Unlike her predecessors, Cheng Bi knows how to use social media. At the beginning of making music, Cheng Bi began to share her creations on websites such as Douban and Renren Xiaozhan, and later entered the Weibo era, she was also a "plus V" large number, and now the mature WeChat public account, although not deliberately packaged, but also carefully operated. Every bit of the mood on the creative road is recorded and shared on social media, which allows Cheng Bi to accumulate a large number of "die-hard" fans.
"She has been a contracted anchor on Lychee FM, regularly updating the Internet radio, maintaining a goddess atmosphere, and communicating with everyone. In the show, she doesn't talk about life, but about art and poetry. A little understanding in life will also be described as very literary. She started by shaping a holistic image, perfecting herself on every platform. Qin He ren said.
Mo Xizishi, a singer who works with Cheng Bi on "I Want to Waste Time with You", can also feel this contrast: "She is usually a very cheerful and grinning Shandong girl, and the song is a very quiet and beautiful feeling." ”
Cheng Bi is gradually adapting to the contrast of his own image. "I don't think it's contradictory myself. In the face of the public and their own lives, it is still two pieces. She told China News Weekly, "On stage I will pay attention to my music." In life, I occasionally wear casual clothing such as T-shirts, but I like to look comfortable, just like I wear, I instinctively like cotton and linen, not fashionable style. I didn't deliberately wear it according to the positioning of the forest system, but I wanted to wear it comfortably, and everyone knew that it was Cheng Bi when they looked at it. ”
Well-behaved women and literary women
Since childhood, Cheng Bi has two faces in life: on the one hand, she is a well-behaved girl with excellent results, and on the other hand, she is a low-key and quiet literary and artistic youth.
Cheng Bi was born in Shandong, and his name was given by his grandmother. Her father was a lawyer and seemed to have nothing to do with literature and art. "When I was young, I looked at legal contracts, and my dad asked me if I wanted to study law in college, and I felt like it wasn't in my own world at all." She recalls China Newsweek.
Under the strict family education, from an early age, Cheng Bi worked hard, obeyed, and achieved excellent results. She went to a key high school, then was sent to the Japanese Department of Shandong University, and then went to Peking University for graduate school, becoming the best in exam-oriented education.
Fortunately, she also has a super literary grandmother, so that her literary feelings will not be buried. Grandma was a lady in the Republic of China period, proficient in literature and painting, and she taught four-year-old Cheng Bi to write brushes and memorize Tang poems. The childhood memories of living with my grandmother in the courtyard of the courtyard are the original inspiration for Cheng Bi's creations in the future. "My grandmother asked me to pay attention to the beauty of plants, taught me to cut window flowers, and my first perception of beauty was brought to me by her."
As a teenager, she wrote poems describing the courtyard she had lived in as a child. "The front of the court is full of flowers and trees, and the path outside the courtyard is fragrant. The four often go to each other, and cut the window together on sunny days. ”
"I've loved singing since I was a kid, but I didn't get very deep into an instrument, and I didn't go away after playing a few lessons on the keyboard. On the contrary, I have always liked painting and am very interested in visual things. "Until I came to Peking University, I began to write poetry again, and I also fell in love with film photography, but I didn't focus on something.
In her second year of research, she went to Japan as an exchange student, and this encounter completely changed Cheng Bi. At a friend's house in Japan, Cheng Bi heard the sound of a classical guitar for the first time and was immediately moved. "This friend is an employee of Canon, who is very good at photography and can play classical guitars so beautifully. I suddenly felt that I had loved literature and art for so many years, and I was ashamed that I did not have the same skills that I could use. The next day, Cheng Bi bought a guitar and studied simple chords.
After returning to China, she joined the Peking University Guitar Association and began to compose her own songs. The small poem written when he was a teenager was expanded into a song "Cutting the Window together on a sunny day", which was Cheng Bi's first original work. She became one of the "Top Ten Singers on Peking University Campus" with her original works. Two Tsinghua students just happened to do an Internet music company with a recording studio, and they asked Cheng Bi if he wanted to record the song, so they had their first album "Cutting the Window on a Sunny Day".
In the summer of graduation, she gave her first concert at the "69 Music Cafe" in Nanluoguxiang, Beijing, and released her debut album. It is her remembrance of university music and life.
"This little work will be left first, but I still want to work in a normal company and experience the life of the working class." Cheng Bi recalls. Like her classmates, she also has to face the choice of work. Graduate students are in the Department of Oriental Languages, her direction is Oriental aesthetics, students have studied religion, there is a history of research, but after graduation, most of them choose to go to finance, securities companies, or into state organs. Cheng Bi also chose to work at a securities company in Tokyo, "seven months, working mechanically, without feelings." She told China News Weekly.
Before graduating, the exhibition of "Design in Design" was held in Beijing, during which he arranged a lecture at Peking University. "The architecture students told me that your idol came, so they introduced me. I told him I wanted to work at your firm, but he didn't know me at the time, so he just said to think about it and gave me a business card. Cheng Bi gave him the first album "Clear Day And Cut the Window", and then there was no follow-up.
Unexpectedly, after joining the securities company for a while, Cheng Bi suddenly received an email from Yuan Yanya, asking if she still wanted to work. "I feel like I'm desperate to go." Cheng Bi recalls.
Design staff and folk singer
"When I was in college, when I read Kenya Hara's book, I just thought about it day and night, thinking that the designer could do so atmospheric, it was so shocking, I must get close to him and learn from him how to do things so well." 」 Cheng Bi said. In Hara's office, Hara said to Cheng Bi, "I'm already a fan of yours, your voice surprised me, and I've listened to your music many times." This made Cheng Bi excited.
At that time, Cheng Bi was still very confused about his future planning. "I studied the traditional aesthetics of the East in Japanese culture, and I grew up loving all kinds of genres in culture, music, design, writing, all kinds of literary and artistic things. But I think I always have to be proficient in one aspect, go far, and then drive the others, but I haven't figured out which direction to work in. "Exercising in Kenya Hara's studio may enlighten the future of art."
A Xinhua reporter came to the studio to interview Yuan Yanya, and became good friends with Cheng Bi. Cheng Bi also met the Japanese poet Tahara through the reporter. At this time, Cheng Bi already had the idea of composing music for poetry. Tahara said: "Simply introduce Kitajima to you, communicate directly, and see if he agrees with you to sing." ”
During an exchange lecture at a university in Tokyo, Cheng Bi met Kitajima for the first time and trembled and sang "Everything" to him on the spot. Like Kenya Hara, Kitajima didn't have the following after listening, and it took a long time before he contacted Cheng Bi: "Are there any other works?" ”
In the original Kenya studio, Cheng Bi can only do some basic work. She gradually felt that liking the master and working around the master were two completely different states. "Everyone is a member of his studio, and we realize his ideas, and it is difficult to express their own ideas." All employees work with a sense of awe for Hara, and the pressure is great. Maybe the designer changed a manuscript day and night, and Hara took a look at it and killed it in one sentence. Cheng Bi found that he did not want to be a screw, but wanted to be a creator. She put more energy into writing songs.
"When I listen to music, I can't find music that matches my aesthetic in China. So I listened to a lot of Tokyo's indie music, like Yukawa Shio, Wool and Flowers, including the Irish folk songs Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigen. Their kind of aesthetic is what I want to express, they also have a good audience, why is there no such musician in China? Cheng Bi said. Working during the day and going to live house at night to perform and communicate, Cheng Bi also slowly developed the idea of running an independent art studio.
In Japan, Cheng Bi slowly completed the demo of "Poetry Meets Song". A year later, she decided to focus on making the album. It took three months to record, and she couldn't concentrate on her work anymore, so she quit her job at Kenya Hara's studio and registered her art studio in Tokyo.
Kitajima, who had been paying attention to Cheng Bi, suddenly called and asked, "Is the album name fixed?" Cheng Bi said that he was still thinking about it, and wanted to combine poetry and song. A week later, Kitajima suddenly called and said, "How about poetry meets song?" The poet Tahara later said to Cheng Bi: "He can think of the album name so carefully, which shows that your voice has touched him." ”
Accidentally began to learn guitar, accidentally recorded the first record, in confusion received an offer email from Kenya Hara, just embarked on the road of music creation met Kitajima guidance, Cheng Bi's artistic resume does not seem to be generally lucky. "I've also talked to friends about why I'm so lucky. Friends say it's the power of your beliefs, and you want to get close to those people, to those things, and they'll lean toward you. ”
After resigning, Cheng Bi constantly traveled back and forth between Tokyo and Beijing, where she made albums with friends and then returned to Beijing to promote albums and perform. Cheng Bi independently completed the song creation and album packaging design, and then found an arranger, recording studio, sound recordist, after the recording was completed, he found someone to mix the post-production, and finally went to the printing plant to compare colors and proofread.
"The reason why I dared to take the risk and quit my job to become a singer at that time was because even if I didn't succeed, after two years to find a translator and a writing job, I could support myself." Cheng Bi said.
Artist and CEO
Cheng Bi was fortunate that she did not lie dormant for too long under the enthusiasm of the literary world and online platforms. "When "Poetry Meets Song", it did not cooperate with any third party, did not sign any company, and spread it on its own in the self-media. It just so happens that poetry is being reacquainted with everyone, and I think timing is very important. Cheng Bi said.
On the album "Poetry Meets Song", Cheng Bi's judgment of music mainly depends on her ears, and by the time of "I want to waste time with you", she has been able to understand some knowledge of orchestration and has a certain imagination ability in arranging music.
"I haven't been exposed to any basic music training, and my three albums can clearly feel the improvement in singing skills. Since "Poetry Meets Song", I have been making music full-time, and the requirements I have given myself are that I must play the piano for an hour every day, practice my voice, and practice the basic skills of music. If you are a profession, you should give yourself a requirement. Cheng Bi told China News Weekly, "I still think that the audibility of music is very important and makes people feel happy physically and mentally." Some singers use some weird chords, deliberately out of tune, and it's also a style, but I don't think it's acceptable. Cheng Bi said.
When recording the new album "I Want to Waste Time with You", Cheng Bi invited Mo xizishi to be the arranger. Mo Xizishi recalled: "Cheng Bi is very strict with music, I have thick lines, and some places will not be too entangled in details, but Cheng Bi will be very concerned." ”
Unlike the ignorance when he first entered the music circle, Cheng Bi has a deeper understanding of music and the market. "The Japanese are strict with the rules, and Chinese are more about people's feelings." But Cheng Bi's intelligence made her friend Qin Heren think that she could continue on the road of music. "Probably because she's been in Japan, she's more disciplined with processes and partnerships. Collaborate on a show and she'll find out exactly what media you're in contact with. You have to say that there are three relatively large self-media, she will ask which three, how many fans. She doesn't have a regular agent, and most of the things are her own business, everything is too big or small. ”
Some cooperative staff laughed and said that Cheng Bi not only looks like Faye Wong, but also feels like Faye Wong when working together. In this regard, Qin Heren said: "She has a fairy spirit in her music, she can coexist the identity of an artist and the identity of the operator, unlike some artists who enter the art field and do not have much contact with people, or it is more difficult to communicate." When she deals with people, she is her own CEO. Working with her will feel stressful, more stressful than other artists. She has the feeling of being in charge. General agents and assistants dominate, but she herself will dominate. ”
In Cheng Bi's view, the network gives a new generation of musicians a chance, and everyone must seize this opportunity. "Like Chen Grain, Ma Wei, and Song Dongye, they are different from the previous musicians. In the beginning, we just hoped to make things small and beautiful, but now it is the era of self-media, many musicians have also done well, and we can get the channel resources of record companies ourselves. Cheng Bi said.
"All the way down, I don't need any other work, I can support myself by concentrating on music, and I don't have so many bitter emotions." I can only guarantee the music, slowly accumulate, and hope to have my own complete team to work together in the future. Carefully operating self-media and maintaining personal image, Cheng Bi frankly hopes to establish his own brand, "I want to ensure that an album comes out every year, walk around the city with the album, sing, and hope to last for 20 years." If I have any ambition, this is my ambition. ”★
This article was first published in China News Weekly, No. 709
Disclaimer: The publication of the article of China News Weekly shall be authorized in writing.
<b>Editor: Qiu Guangyu</b>