Q: Welcome back!Thank you for accepting the interview with QQ Music and Music Inspiration!First of all, please say hello to our audience, which city are you in at the moment?Please share your recent life status and recent developments!
Hello QQ Music friends, I am a returner, and I am very happy to participate in the project "Spring Renaissance" of Music Inspiration.
I live in Chengdu now, and I'm currently working full-time on music, and I haven't been busy with anything else lately, mainly working on my second album, and then spending time at home with my two cats and a dog, sometimes going to play billiards, or watching movies and reading books at home...... I've been playing games a lot lately, and I didn't really like playing games since I was a kid, but recently I've suddenly discovered the fun of games (laughs).
Q: "Return" is a pseudonym for your music creation, what is the interesting story behind this name? Yes, there is also an explanation of the origin of this name at the top of my Weibo - it was a dream that I went to a place called "Return" City, which is like a paradise, and after I woke up, that good feeling still lingered in my mind, but I searched on the Internet and found that there was no such place in reality, and then I decided to name myself "Return".
Q: Let's talk about your music works, in the 2023 album of the same name you released in 2023, the music styles and elements involved are quite diverse, so we feel very fresh and interesting when we listen to them, did you consciously design these tracks when you were making them?
Objectively, there may be some different stylistic elements in it, but in my opinion, these are not the most valuable parts of my music, or rather the most important thing I want to convey. I think it's just a medium, and more often than not, when I depict a different emotion or a different atmosphere, I interpret it in a different style, which can make it more imaginative.
▲ us - reverse
Q: As mentioned in the album introduction, this album is composed of 13 songs from your 18 to 20 years old, which is the first stage of your artistic career
Looking back on the experience of creating this album at that time, in fact, I am still in that state at this moment, I feel that my mental state, psychological state, emotions, and my pace of life, even including daily routines, are now in a very unstable state. I think you can hear it on this album as well, it's not a soothing-sounding, stable album, but an album that is very contradictory and conflicting, like songs like "Spotlight", "Opaque", "Gone", "Revenge", "Puppet" and "PTSD", all of which have a gloomy power, which is my own feeling.
The song "I Ride By" originated from a time when I really liked to ride out and go around every day, and one night I rode home from my bike, and there was no one outside at that time, and I passed by some alleys, shops, and a few people scattered on the side of the street - I felt the feeling of those street scenes appearing and skimming in front of my eyes - and after I got home, I had some inexplicable feelings, so I improvised this song with a guitar.
Also, the song "Some...", which I wrote when I was in love, because for a long time I lived by myself, and I rarely saw others, and then suddenly I started to have a very close relationship with someone, I would spend a lot of time together, and I would do a lot of things together, and my sense of alienation and insecurity from the outside world in the past has also changed a little, so this song is about the part of the good feelings in intimate relationships.
And then there's the first song, "Spotlight," which describes how much I'm looking forward to a light coming down on me, and then I can express and speak or sing freely, well, that's what I thought. ▲ Spotlight - Reverse
Q: Outside of making this album, what musicians and music do you feel as a musician that inspires and inspires you and influences your creation?
There are a lot of them. For example, when I was younger, the singer who influenced me was Lady Gaga, and when I was in elementary school, she made a very wild impression on me, so I wanted to be a wild female singer like her. When I was in junior high school, I was probably influenced by Portishead, Radiohead, and so on, and then Lana Del Rey! I still like her very much, and the way she expresses herself gives me a lot of shock! When I first heard her in junior high school, I would think that her music was very emotional, and she was a very romantic creator, from her lyrics, composition to her singing, the whole thing was really beautiful.
Q: So how did your musical beginnings begin?
When I was about 3-4 years old, there were two pianos in kindergarten, and there were children older than me who were learning piano there, and I thought the piano sounded very good, and then I went home and told my family that I wanted to learn piano too, and then I started to learn piano, but I didn't continue to learn it when I was in elementary school. When I was in the sixth grade, I had my first mobile phone, I remember it was an iPhone 4s, and then I downloaded the latest and hottest software - Sing it, and began to wear headphones every day to sing K, at that time I thought that I must do this in the future, I like music so much. After that, my mother sent me to learn bel canto and sang bel canto for two or three years, but later found out that I didn't really want to learn bel canto, I just wanted to sing, so I started to enter the so-called state of making music, and then I learned to arrange music or something by myself and embarked on this path.
Q: All your works, from lyrics, composition, arrangement and production, are completed independently, I wonder when you started to learn these skills on your own? Do you have your own learning methods and experience sharing? What part of your creation do you value the most?
I taught myself how to arrange music from high school, and I probably wrote songwriting a little earlier, in junior high school, but now I probably can't find anything I wrote in junior high school. I started by watching YouTube, but I'm the kind of person who doesn't have the patience to learn things, so I watched some videos, installed a Logic software on my computer, and figured out how to use each feature...... It's just that you're blind, and you'll know how to use it if you order more.
I think I value the emotions it conveys when I create it, or its values, that is, the core of what it wants to express, rather than style and technique or something, style and technique are really not important, they can only add points, but if there are only these things, in my opinion, there is no value.
Q: When you first started playing music, did you think about what style and type of music you wanted to make? Actually, I don't really want to define the style of music. Because when I'm a listener, it's hard for me to define the style of musicians, singers or bands that I admire. The boundaries of modern music styles are becoming more and more blurred, and a lot of the music I like can be said to be different if you want to classify them, but they are all very different, so I can't define them very well. ▲Opaque - Reverse
Q: Whether it is the color tonality of the album cover or the presentation of the music and listening sense, you can feel your own unique aesthetics, such as cold, gloomy, fragmented and even a little grotesque, do you have your own set of aesthetic standards for visual concepts?
I don't know what my visual philosophy is, it's just intuitive. I don't think I've been influenced by anyone on the aesthetic side, but I've grown up preferring things that are more – intense and bleak – that give me this feeling.
Q: Do you want to know what you look like outside of music, is it as cold or complex as your musical temperament, or is there a certain contrast? What kind of personality are you in your daily life?
I think everyone is complicated, for example, some people feel very positive and cheerful to the outside world, and some people feel very introverted or a little gloomy to the outside world, but no one can easily conclude like this. I must have been complex, with a very sharp side and a very soft-hearted side, but one thing is for sure - I'm a very special paranoid person, and my friends will say that I am the most paranoid of all the people they know.
Q: What kind of state do you usually work in, and what kind of creative environment is comfortable for you?
I don't like to have other people around, I don't like to work with other people, I don't like to make songs with other people, and I don't like to share music with other people because I don't think it makes much sense. For me, my work is very private, it's a bit like I'm whining by myself, or writing a diary, so I usually write songs or produce by myself. There is no such thing as a specific state of creation, but I must be on my own to be able to create comfortably.
▲ I rode by - reversed
Q：
I remember that in 2021, you also participated in the Youth Rap Project, what kind of experience was that music variety show for you?If there are similar music variety shows in the future, will you still participate?Compared with the return on the stage in 21 years, what new changes have you made now?
It must have been a very precious experience and brought me a lot of different feelings. But to be honest, maybe the bad feelings will outweigh the good feelings, first of all, it's not a very good show for me, and secondly, I hate this kind of format - it's just a competition or something. For me, the pressure is much greater than the joy and excitement of the harvest, but it was a valuable experience for me because I didn't have the opportunity to be on stage until then. In the future, if there is a similar music variety show, I will definitely not participate in it again, if there is one that is particularly suitable, if I think it is what I want after thinking about it, I may still try it.
Compared to me in 21 years, I must have improved now, but I haven't changed much, it's my core, it's not too much.
Q：
You're now in a new creative phase, right? Can you tell us a little bit about the recent progress? I'm working on my second album, and it's still the same thing as the first album, but it's a little different. Some of the works on the second album are from the same period as the first one, and some of them are even from the previous ones, so you can come and listen to them, and I'm really looking forward to my second album.
Q: You seem to have been teaching yourself Humai until last year, how are you learning now?How did you become interested in Humai? Do you consider incorporating this element into your new work?
Yes, I'm teaching myself Humai. At first, it was because a friend of mine sent me a collection of female Humai players from all over the world on WeChat, and after I watched it, I thought it was amazing, it was very different from the Humai in my impression, and it made me see another possibility of Humai. There was a girl in the video, she was not Mongolian, she was not Mongolian, she didn't have that kind of ethnic roots, but I was very shocked by her way of expressing Humai, and then I went to the Internet to find a tutorial on Humai and started trying it at home. I realized that I had a little bit of talent and quickly found that feeling. Of course, I have encountered some difficulties in learning so far, but I have also made progress in stages, which is much better than some time ago, and it is possible that it will really be included in my work in the future.
Q：
I've been with Matt for a long time, are you also very good at billiards nowhahahahaha, are you considering cooperating with Matt to make new works in the future? We are in Chengdu, Shi Xinwenyue is also in Chengdu, he also plays billiards, and then we play together, and now we are definitely playing very well among non-professionals. Matt's second album is now in the works, and I'm involved in this album, so you can look forward to it.
Q：
Last year, the album "Return" appeared in many friends' annual album summary, and also received a lot of praise, when you receive these reactions, how do you feel, will you be surprised, or is it within your expectations? I thank you for liking my music! But in fact, I am not very surprised, I don't know how to look at it, I just hope that you can continue to pay attention to my more creations in the future, and I hope that you don't need to define me, you can see how I develop naturally- I'm curious about my music and the content I deliver, and I hope you can join me in seeing what I will become in the future.
▲ Gone - 反返
Q：
Do you have any expectations for the future?
I want to continue to create in its purest form.
Q: Okay, thank you for the return, and I hope you continue to be inspired and everything goes well!
▲ Click to listen to the inspiration playlist of regression
▲ Click to listen to the podcast episode