Once, he was the mastermind behind the concerts of veteran Chinese music singers such as Wang Jie, Faye Wong, and Tan Yonglin; now, he lights up the dreams of grassroots musicians of different professions and ages in Kuaishou.
Since his exposure to Chinese pop music at the age of 18, Guo Zhikai has followed the changes in the way Chinese pop music is presented, and has changed his identity from concert planning to short video music producer, but what has not changed has always been his obsession with music.
As he said in his original essay collection "Gorember Eight Thousand Miles": There are dreams that must be willfully walked. At Kuaishou, Guo Zhikai is blooming a new light, which is closely related to music.
Keep the most beautiful children's voices
In the early 1990s, the Chinese music scene entered the era of a hundred flowers. At that time, 18-year-old Guo Zhikai opened a record store in his hometown of Luoyang. During the period, at his own expense, he invited musicians and bands such as The Great Zhang WeiHua'er Band, Zuo Xiaozu, Zhang Qianqian, New Pants Band, Feng Jiangzhou and other musicians to perform, losing a lot of money, and the original plan to open a shop to make a living was broken, and Guo Zhikai wandered in the music.
After the record store closed, Guo Zhikai went to Beijing and began to contact the Chinese concert market. In 2004, Guo Zhikai planned the first concert in Beijing for Wang Jie, and then he was responsible for the promotion of Faye Wong's Workers' Stadium concert, and also planned the sensational 2010 Tan Yonglin Return Concert, Elton John Concert, 2012 Zhangbei Grassland Music Festival, Brilliant Years Concert, etc. At the same time, he is also the most senior music critic in China, a senior media person, has published "That Smile is Summer", "Gollumbuer Eight Thousand Miles Road", "After Thirty Years Old, I Am Still a Teenager" and other books, at the launch of the new book, deyun society famous cross-talk actors Yu Qian, Zhang Chu, Ding Wu, Liu Zhuohui, Zang Tianshuo and other stars are all on his platform to help.
As a professional musician, Guo Zhikai has his own insistence on music, and he hopes that Chinese music can develop in the direction of innovation. When he was concerned about the lack of excellent children's songs in China, he began to cooperate with excellent musicians in the two years from 2015 to 2016 to build a children's song production system.
Subsequently, under the boom of short videos and live broadcasts, Guo Zhikai began to share classic songs in Kuaishou (ID: kaikai_2003), live teaching "how to sing", and writing songs for free for Kuaishou anchors. In his view, Kuaishou is closer to ordinary people, which is conducive to the popular dissemination of music. The works of "Whale Fall" created for Kuaishou anchor Xu Haixia and "I Miss You in the Distance" created by Xu Xiaoqian are deeply loved by Kuaishou users.
At Kuaishou, Guo Zhikai found an interesting phenomenon: some parents would create nursery rhymes and give it as a birthday gift to their children. This made Guo Zhikai start to wonder if he could also write songs for the children and spread more children's songs. To this end, Guo Zhikai has created catchy children's songs such as "Dream Starry Sky" and "Looking for Spring", and "Childhood Time" created by him has exceeded one million times shortly after its launch.
The initial success of the water test inspired Guo Zhikai's creation. "I want to stand more from the perspective of human nature and use songs to convey true feelings." The song "Our Guardian Star" composed by him tells the moving story of a taxi driver in Yizhou, Shanxi Province, who escorts a mother and daughter riding an electric car home at night with high beams.
Gradually, many parents and children paid attention to Guo Zhikai in Kuaishou. In order to have more exchanges with everyone, Guo Zhikai will hold live broadcasts almost every day, sharing classic songs, chatting about Chinese music, and answering questions related to singing.
During the live broadcast, Guo Zhikai met the blind girl Zhang Yunzhe. "She's 11 years old and loves to sing. I wrote her a song called "The Magician of Spring." "Knowing that Zhang Yunzhe's family conditions were average, Guo Zhikai later paid for her own advance and promoted her song." I hope to communicate this song, convey Yunzhe's love for music and life, encourage more people to fall in love with music, and be full of hope for the future. ”
Before this, Guo Zhikai also wrote songs for the blind boy Cai Xinrui. "This child has a natural voice, which I think is very rare, so I gave her the original work 'Little Lotus Lantern' to sing." Giving music works as gifts is a tacit understanding reached by Guo Zhikai and the children in Kuaishou.
And behind this, there is a deeper meaning. "Affected by physical development, many children disappear after the age of 13. I want to use a good work to keep their most beautiful voice. Guo Zhikai said.
Realistic version of "The Sewing Machine Band"
Not only children, Guo Zhikai has also cultivated many excellent kuaishou anchors, and "Blind Singer Song Feilong" is one of them. Recalling the first acquaintance with Sein Feilong, Guo Zhikai said: "When he first started the live broadcast on Kuaishou, he only had three or four thousand fans. Despite this, he still insisted on singing every song, and this energy touched me. ”
After learning that Sein Feilong's mother was laid off at home and that the increase in live broadcast income could improve the family's life, Guo Zhikai decided to assist the young man in his early 20s to let more people see his musical dreams.
Guo Zhikai first encouraged Song Feilong to sing every song well, and then found a teacher from the China Conservatory of Music to teach him professional knowledge, and as long as Guo Zhikai opened a live broadcast, he would connect with Song Feilong to help him practice singing.
"This kid is very sunny and has positive energy. In the matter of learning to sing, I have also made rapid progress. "Now, Sein feilong will basically sing live in Kuaishou every morning and evening, and his monthly income has also increased significantly, basically stabilizing at five or six thousand yuan per month."
Some time ago, Guo Zhikai wrote a song to Song Feilong, "Daoxiang Piao", which won the top 10 of the Chinese Golden Melody Awards and the third place of the original song of Qingdao Music Station, which also made Song Feilong a professional singer.
"If you sing well in Kuaishou, you will naturally have more income." When more and more Kuaishou musicians realized their dreams with the help of Guo Zhikai, everyone began to associate him with the role of agent played by Dapeng in the movie "Sewing Machine Band". Also as an agent, the same group of ordinary people, sparkling with insistence on their dreams.
For the identity of the broker, Guo Zhikai has a wealth of experience. He was the agent of Dapeng, the lead actor of the sewing machine band. At present, Guo Zhikai has entered the new field of short video and live broadcasting, and his past experience is also pushing him to explore new possibilities.
The farther the musical path
Guo Zhikai said frankly that after using Kuaishou for a long time, he felt more and more that if he wanted to really do a good job of Kuaishou, he must do it as a job. Putting aside his former identity as a concert planner, a traditional music media person, and a well-known music critic, Guo Zhikai began to re-examine his own value.
During the Spring Festival in 2020, from the first day of the first year to the tenth day of the first year, Guo Zhikai broadcast live for an average of more than 9 hours a day. In normal times, Guo Zhikai will also guarantee 6 hours of live broadcast time every day to continue to communicate with fans.
In Guo Zhikai's view, traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television are being replaced by new media, which requires re-accumulating fan attention in order to better disseminate music.
In the vertical field of music, there is no shortage of excellent musicians on Kuaishou, but Guo Zhikai found that most musical works are more disseminated, and relatively lack the deep cultivation of music majors. What he can do is to pass on his creative experience and understanding of music to more users and musicians.
When he was a music critic before, Guo Zhikai developed a habit. He listens to 6 to 7 albums or albums every day, and the song genre covers China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Europe and the United States, etc., so that he can immerse himself in the melody of the music. "I've been doing this for 20 years, and that's why I've been able to keep creating." Now, Guo Zhikai can still guarantee the output of 4 to 5 original works per week.
In addition, in Guo Zhikai's home, there are also 30,000 tapes collected by him when he opened a record store, ranging from the four kings to the queen of heaven, Faye Wong and other Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwan song tapes. There are also some extremely rare and rarely distributed collectible tapes, and Guo Zhikai is one of the most listened to domestic music, and he often looks for inspiration in these classic songs.
With the help of short videos and live broadcasts, Guo Zhikai will also share these creative insights with everyone. "I've always believed that classic old songs bring together the essence of music and can give creators more directional guidance. A good musician is inseparable from a good musical work. ”
In addition to sharing by himself, Guo Zhikai will also invite other star musicians to discuss music with him, such as Fruity VC, Paradise Band, Wang Zheng, Xu Yuteng, Mizuki Nianhua Miaojie, Ardor Singer, etc. have all been guests in Guo Zhikai's Kuaishou live broadcast room.
So, how to make musicians who have the ability to create good works have a longer-term development? Guo Zhikai is trying to explore a new path in Kuaishou.
Referring to Mizuki's experience in helping farmers in Kuaishou, Guo Zhikai plans to launch a music revival program, mainly for fans in the 70s and 80s on Kuaishou, hoping to evoke their youthful memories through music-related old objects, and use this part of the income on music. In addition, Guo Zhikai also plans to do a "music + travel" variety show to provide a larger self-presentation stage and more exposure opportunities for more musicians in Kuaishou.
Seeing the traffic dividend of the Kuaishou platform, Guo Zhikai hopes to bring new development to music, and now, he has embarked on a new journey again.