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Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

Huang Xiaoxia, Huang Xiaoshan, Susan, Huang Ma...

Singer Huang Qishan has been called many names along the way.

But what she missed most was "Xiao Xia".

It's a very common nickname.

Shouting but with familiarity,

Changing to a rural accent is more refreshing.

Growing up with the name, she used to wrap vulnerability in rebellion, leaving home first after her parents divorced because "they probably don't want me anymore." In the 1990s, she wanted to go to the most famous song hall in the mainland music scene at that time, "Bu Tong 100", and finally got admitted after taking the exam three times in a row, and others hugged her unevenly, but she did not ask the owner of the song hall for the reason, she thought to herself, "You don't want me? That (we) walk and see. ”

After that, I slowly learned how to be packaged "beautifully"; slowly learned to use relief to suppress the turbulent twists and turns of emotional experience.

In the year of knowing her destiny, she chose to put the past into music. From the young girl "Xiaoxia" who first entered the world, to the "Xiaoxia 2.0" that has experienced the world, and then to the "Xiaoxia 3.0" that has not yet been known. Just like she studied music at the age of 3, she stood on the "Butong 100" when she was a teenager, and after she matured, she competed on the stage of "Singer", and the rhyme of this road echoed, and a sunset side reflected the fantasy music flow in the Chinese music scene in the past 50 years.

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

Color-block coats and white vests are bally

The first impression of Huang Qishan was her smile.

When she was just finishing her makeup and choosing clothes, she stood in the door of the dressing room and glanced at a touch of green on the clothing rack in the distance, "What is that green stubble?" After seeing the full picture of the green suit, she found it completely different from what she imagined, and immediately laughed heartily: "Oh, unforgettable tonight." ”

After changing her first set of clothes and walking out of the dressing room, there was a piece of music in the shed that was integrated with ethnic instruments, and she laughed again: "Can you change a ha?" It feels like Sun Wukong is making a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace, and he wants to go back to Huaguo Mountain, hahahahaha. ”

The music seemed to be some kind of switch for her, and when the music came together, she swayed with it, and even the makeup artist helped to tidy up her hair. The shoot ended happily, she said, and this was the first time she had been shooting with music, relaxing and comfortable.

It seems to echo this relaxation, and when she is interviewed, some onomatopoeia often pops out of her mouth: 嘁哩 click, twitter, twitter, rattle, rattle... It was crispy when she read it, just like her music, with the casual frankness of Chongqing sisters.

The same goes for chanting your own name. She chewed on the three words "Huang Qishan" and said that at first, she did not like it. The biggest opinion is on the side of the word "Qi", which she emphasizes verbatim, "rotten, twisted, silky, child".

"At that time, everyone lived with a kind of superstition", "Rotten Silk" looked at the twists and turns, and the meaning was not good. But she had to accept the name at the time, just as she had to accept many of the lessons that followed: the name itself, "It was someone else's work, and we weren't as sovereign as we are in this day and age." ”

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

White shirt HUGO

Black knitted vest SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

Beige wide-leg pants BRUNELLO CUCINELLI

In today's entertainment industry, artists often double as the owners of their own studios, hammering out their own work. But in the early years, it wasn't like that. Huang Qishan debuted in the "golden age" of Chinese physical records, behind the million-level record sales, there is a large group of people performing their duties, and the artist himself is one of the links. Artist packaging is an important step, first of all, your name has to sound like a star.

"At that time, everyone would think that Xiaoxia was very earthy, very neighborly, and did not have the brilliance of an artist."

She lamented that with the change of the times, everyone's aesthetic has changed a lot, before everyone liked the sense of distance, but now everyone likes to break the distance, the neighbor is no longer a shortcoming. Returning to Xiaoxia's identity makes her feel very comfortable, "In fact, I have always been used to Huang Qishan, but Xiaoxia does not have to get used to it, I look like Xiaoxia in my bones." ”

The transformation of the recording industry is reflected in various aspects, such as the previous albums were simple CD and lyric books, and now the albums often contain more gifts and designs that attract the attention of listeners. This change is related to the functions carried by physical records. In the era of physical records, listeners buy records to listen to songs, and that CD is the most important. Now, listeners listen to songs on major music platforms, and physical records carry more collection value.

However, the Xiaoxia series did not run to the collection to do it. She felt unnecessary. "You see the current record opens, jumping out a lot of gifts, but for a few seconds, you are happy to be finished, it is over", or delete the complex and simplify.

In 1991, she entered the most famous song hall in China at that time, "Bu Tong 100", to sing, for which she took the exam three times in a row. No one understood why the boss didn't let her pass, "In the end, even Na Ying stood up and said that he, such a good singer, why don't you want to?" ”

Maybe it was a difficulty, maybe it was a test for Pu Yu, looking back on this experience, Huang Qishan was very relieved, "There is no way to be distressed, this is what must happen, what can you do?" Protecting her? Don't let it happen? impossible. To some extent, 'Rotten Silk' also interprets the story of life, twists and turns, highs and lows, left and right, you have to experience. ”

In the past, she felt that "rotten strands" were external setbacks, and now she felt that "rotten strands" were also inner twists. So she stressed that we must try to open ourselves, understand others, understand the world, and only after understanding can we truly understand, "People are not so 'twisted' because of understanding." ”

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

After singing songs for most of my life, what does "singing" really mean? Like a traveler who had driven a long way, Huang Qishan looked back at the origin of the departure. Debuting in the 90s, she was as vibrant as the times, singing to survive, singing to fight a road to pursue her dreams. She confessed that she once thought that singing meant that she could get a musical award through it, that she could be known and loved, and that she could "show the pendulum". But in the process of constantly climbing mountains and mountains with function and technique, Huang Qishan began to be attracted by the origin of singing. "Music is created for the sake of communication," like the chants that begin with a prayer and praise, are spontaneous and conform to nature. "Later, she realized, Singing is singing," she said, that it was an end in itself, not a means to an end.

Huang Qishan's two happiest stages in life, one is in "Bu Tong 100" and the other is in "I Am a Singer". There, she thinks she's enjoying a high level of treatment: "At this high level, I'm talking about lighting, sound, bands, dancers, and all the cutting-edge technology. ”

She has worked with many excellent musicians, and the experience of singing with Cui Jian has made her particularly happy, "At first I was his harmony, and then he invited me to sing with him, which was simply exciting." 」 Because he is indeed the collective memory of our generation. ”

"Music is a thing, really it is not the charm of music itself, it is the charm of the times."

She is very yearning for the musical expression and the state of mind of the fifties, "They are all singing and praising something more vast, they are looking up." People can't always look up, look forward, see the end, people will despair. Look up and you'll be full of power. ”

In the 1970s and 1980s, the humanity in music began to slowly expand, and there were more personal expressions. The voices of Liu Wenzheng, Teresa Teng and Su Rui resounded through the streets, and she thought that the music of that time was like a clear stream compared to today. "The music of this era pays attention to technology, pays attention to gorgeousness, pays attention to pomp, pays attention to luxury, and always wants to do something." The charm of that era is that people's minds are very concise. So at this point I admire Qin Sifeng, who continues the ideas and practices of traditional music. ”

Qin Sifeng is the producer of the Xiaoxia series, and they met in a music program and quickly confirmed the cooperation. After that, she spent a day talking to Qin Sifeng about the first half of her life, and she trusted everything to him with confidence.

"I have zero communication with the four winds in private, and we are all mature enough to not need so much communication. When I did 1.0, I was both the boss and the singer, and when he took the money for half a year, people disappeared. I may panic if I change others, but my heart is stable, because listening to the music of the four winds, you can hear his personality. Six months later, he showed up and came to me with music. ”

This unconditional trust and freedom of non-interference is precious to creators. And Qin Sifeng also lived up to his trust. The Xiaoxia series is currently two complete concept albums, not only the narrative between the albums is highly connected, but the ordering between songs and songs has also been polished, and has its own story line. Therefore, in the interview, she repeatedly stressed: "I ask everyone not to jump and listen. ”

For Huang Qishan, who already has a mature musical personality, the Xiaoxia series is not to create a career "musical doppelganger", she just wants to "honestly state her youth." In her view, women's youth has more or less similar experiences, "so my youth is your youth, I hope to build a bridge through records, we can find a lot of resonance together." 」 "The Xiaoxia series will only have three records and thirty or so songs, which was set at the beginning. Perhaps this is the restraint that only people who have experienced all kinds of things in the world can have: there are many past events, but the years are limited, and when the singing is over, Xiaoxia's story will be finished.

In "Xiaoxia 2.0", the one that moved her the most at first was "Then It Was Wrong, Then It Was Right", but the one that made her feel most special during the recording process was "My Beauty". During the performance, she closed her eyes and suddenly felt that she had jumped out of herself and become a Yi teenager in her 20s. "He was desperate, and in despair he gave birth to many hopes. Despair and hope are always interdependent, so I sing a kind of despair in the sun. At a time when the male and female perspectives are becoming more and more tit-for-tat, she enters the male identity with fantasy and interprets the synaesthesia of beauty between the sexes in the delusion.

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

White print dresses and large transparent earrings are FENDI

Another song she found meaningful was "Stupid." This song has caused a small discussion, is it already an outdated urban love song to love others and lower yourself?

She didn't say anything, but just laughed at herself as a "stupid person", laughing that she felt it was necessary to share some experience with her little sisters now:

First of all, you have to correctly understand the meaning of stupidity, "Your stupidity, in turn, is your good." ”

Second, admit your stupidity, "People like to cover up shame, but the more they cover up, the less they can grow." If you don't admit it, you're really not cute. To be cute, why not acknowledge anything you do? ”

Finally, cherish your stupidity, "I'm sorry now, I'm mature enough not to do stupid things." In fact, it's fun to do something stupid. ”

From running to a distant place for love, to betting on the sense of enthusiasm again and again; from not avoiding talking about love at the beginning, to singing the past into music in the name of Xiaoxia. Huang Qishan in reality chose not to look back.

She said that when she was shooting the album cover, the original plan did not include a wedding dress. It was almost the end of the shooting, and Takahara Sensei somehow brought a wedding dress and put it aside. She saw that she was playing with her heart, so she picked up the veil and put it on her head and said, "Come, let's play a few." "Playing and playing, I cried myself."

And by the second album, the pomegranate on the cover wasn't planned. But there was just a pomegranate on the set, and she took it to her head. At that time, she did not think too much, and it was only later that she realized that the pomegranate also had a very rich space for interpretation, facing Xiaoxia on 2.0, and the autumn fruits of the world were abundant.

You see, although it has gone through twists and turns, when the past echoes, you finally feel, "Everything is beautiful." ”

Of course, Xiao Xia didn't think it through at the beginning.

Xiaoxia first faced a fierce confusion in 1983.

That year, her parents divorced, each had to start a new family, 15-year-old Xiaoxia sandwiched between two families, unable to find her own place. Such a change makes her hasty and sensitive, "She thinks that her parents don't want her anymore." ”

Xiaoxia did not want to live in her mother's house anymore and decided to leave home to apply for a folk song and dance troupe that could provide accommodation. There was no income in the regiment, and when she was too hungry, she took the children in the regiment out to forage for food, and went down to the river to fight frogs. When she was in the wilderness in the field, sometimes found by the farmers and sued in the regiment, she would accept the punishment on behalf of everyone. No way, who made her the oldest.

The shattering of the original family, the submerging of the singing career, the ups and downs of the emotional life, fate is determined to grind her heart. Perhaps conquest is the mission of suffering, and obedience is the wisdom that ultimately arises through all kinds of helplessness. She laughed and said, "Life is inherently suffering" and "if you are tribulations and obey, you will get unexpected gifts." ”

She accepts the tribulation and submits to the tribulation, but it seems that subconsciously, she has not completely given up on being a warrior.

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

The black back cutout suit and the white halterneck jumpsuit are all ALBERTA FERRETTI

Black and white color-block pearl lugs Midnight OPERA HOUSE

On a variety stage with a hidden identity, Huang Qishan named herself "The Beautiful Girl Warrior who roared at the uneven road", put on a mask and long blond curls, and admitted that she had always had a dream of a beautiful girl warrior in her heart. "My life has two trajectories: music and emotion. Does music hurt me? Yes. Emotions, even more. But I can't fall because of these setbacks, I want to be like a warrior, and I have to be a beautiful girl. ”

She calls today's young people "little friends", and when she mentions young people, she seems more eager, "I especially like to play with children, and there is no gap between me and them." ”

When asked whether the personality of young people today is different from the personality of the 80s and 90s. She said, "Zhang Yang is just flamboyant, there is no need to preach, instead of preaching, why not have fun with them?" She repeatedly stressed that it is really nothing for young people to show off a little, which is a good thing.

In the eyes of young people, Zhang Yang may be a neutral word, but in her case, it seems to contain some accusations. So her knee-jerk answer is to justify young people, and she's afraid they're going through the same misunderstandings and criticisms she's been through. At that moment, she seemed to be still Xiaoxia, who was punished for her children as a teenager, and it was her habit to receive and protect the weak for others.

And the oversensitivity to "accusations" is probably because she herself has experienced too many accusations. Times have changed, and she often says that she is a person who can keep up with the times and is willing to understand the new things and new ideas of the times. But she still secretly carried many old marks on her body, which were the burns she had once had. The burn will heal, but the imprint has fallen into the texture of her thinking, and in some subconscious reactions, it is inevitable that it will suddenly appear.

In the interview, she used to call her former self in the third person, and called Xiaoxia, who was seventeen or eighteen years old, Xiaoxia Sister. It is true that Xiaoxia at that time assumed the identity of a sister in the song and dance troupe; but it seems that she also expressed a kind of respect and dependence on Xiaoxia at that time.

The strongest moment of a person must be her most difficult moment. The self that was not defeated at that moment is a shade that people can rely on for a lifetime.

At the end of the interview, she asked about the many titles she has been calling along the way, which one she likes the most today.

"Yellow old evil."

She said that she liked Huang Laoevil's gentle and firm posture of living.

Huang Qishan: There is a past in her name

The music is still reverberating, but the song will always play to the next one.

Photography / Xu Xiaowei

Interview, written by Guo Kan

Styling/Gin

Makeup & Hair / Liu Daqi (On Time)

Editor/Yuan Xin

Editorial Assistant/Lin Jing, Tan Mengling

(See the March 2022 issue of Mariae claire for details)

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