Source: China News Network
According to the American Overseas Chinese Daily network reported on August 5, "The hot road, I drove a long way, the rusty car climbed to the other side of the sky, half collapsed, half flames, suddenly a station appeared in front of me, but I did not want to stop, brilliant life is waiting." Eluvia's lead singer Doug McGee sang his band's new song "Rest Stop Town" from a fluent Chinese.
On July 14, the lead singer and two members of the Eluvia Yi band were interviewed by reporters in Beijing. Overseas Chinese Newspaper Network
band
Doug McGee made his first trip to China from Hawaii in 2002, and now living in China for 19 years, "Doug" is the Chinese name he gave himself. In 2011, Dao Ge formed his own band in China, named Eluvia Yi Band.
Daug told reporters that Eluvia is a geological word that is related to soil, mud and water. "Over time, as the rains passed, everything turned into good soil. Eluvia, like these soil deposits, represents the story of how we live. If we open our hearts and express our whole lives through art and music, we will produce good things and bear good fruits. ”
The Eluvia Yi band mainly plays on acoustic instruments and incorporates traditional Chinese instruments. "We like to combine different musical styles to draw inspiration and create. At the same time, our members are also from different countries, the United States, China, etc., and everyone gets together to make music that we like. Brother Dao said.
Known as the "rock and roll ecology", the band Eluvia Yi has its own unique style, acoustic rock, American country, reggae... Even joined the Chinese national instrument Yangqin, some people say that they formed a world-style rock band that "combines Chinese and Western".
In addition to lead singer Doug, guitarist Ben Whitmore is from Missouri, USA, has lived in China for 8 years, and is a music producer and orchestral player. Bassist Hilbert Alexander is from the Caribbean dominica and has been in China for 12 years. Jason Coffey from the United States and Nick Trombetta from China are the band's two drummers. Chris Gaertner is a banjo player from the United States. There is also a special musician in the band is Fan Wenting, a yangqin player from China, who plays the yangqin to connect "East and West", and everyone affectionately calls her Tingting.
Fan Wenting is not only a dulcist of yi band, but also the music director of ivy dad company, she makes good use of music to compose music for ancient poems, and makes a lot of music related to poetry. Born in a musical family, Fan Wenting began to learn YangQin with her father at the age of 3, and was admitted to the Conservatory of Music of the Central University for Nationalities at the age of 12, and has been expanding in the field of combining ethnic music and Western music.
Group photo of Eluvia Yi band members. Courtesy of respondents
Acquaintances
In 2008, when Dao Ge was working as a recording engineer for a live music project, he first met Fan Wenting, who played the dulcimer, and her dulcimer playing technique impressed Dao Ge. "Tingting is a musician trained in ultra-high traditional music, but she also likes to improvise, and Tingting can play all our songs at once with the dulcimer. Nine years ago, when we first played together, she played blues, rock, jazz and reggae on the dulcimer. ”
Is there any possibility that the dulcimer and guitar can work together? Fan Wenting told reporters that Dao Ge is a very creative musician, who has produced his own national instruments and added these elements to her original "White Dove and Red Dragon" to show the sound of the dragon. "So we played music together and then became friends, we knew each other for many years, and slowly we found out that there might be a possibility for the dulcimer and the guitar to work together, and before that, I had an album with my American friends, and Dogo was very interested in it, so naturally we formed the Yi band." 」
Fan Wenting introduced that the yangqin is easier to integrate with other instruments than other ethnic instruments such as guzheng and erhu, and can also be suitable for the rhythm of Western music. Coming from a folk music class, she has also studied a large amount of Western music history, based on traditional music and absorbing Western music culture. "Further up, I want to integrate with internationalization, but this should be grown in the national music itself, through the combination of Western characteristics, the characteristics of Chinese national music to play out."
Eluvia Yi band members play with a dulcimer battle guitar. Courtesy of respondents
"Our dulcimer made me fall in love with the dulcimer." Guitarist Bein bluntly fell in love with Chinese folk music and fell in love with the dulcimer. "Any instrument that plays well is wonderful. Strings are the instruments I do best, and I think the glissant of the erhu is really beautiful, and the guzheng is very soft but can also be very powerful. Bassist Hobant also said that in traditional instruments, playing the guzheng has been included in his list of life wishes. I want to play some very beautiful music, like guzheng, or pipa. ”
In the performance of Eluvia Yi, the dulcimer resonates with the guitar and bass, bringing a perfect interpretation of the combination of Chinese and Western music. "Music itself is a language, for example, when I playEd "White Pigeon and Red Dragon", they would also make up their own parts and cooperate with each other, and everyone used music to communicate." 」 Fan Wenting said.
Obsessed with music, this group of young people from different countries got together. "Beijing is a very big city, but here you can still find friends who have the same interests and like-minded people, and it can be a small community." In this way, we met in a community of music and love of creation, played rock and roll together, and made music, because we had a common vision and love for music. Brother Dao said.
Douglas McGee, lead singer and captain of Eluvia's band, sang the band's original song "Station Station". Overseas Chinese Newspaper Network
decade
When the yangqin battle guitar, when the American countryside meets the Chinese folk music, from punk, heavy metal to the world style of acoustic rock, the Yi band gradually found their own unique style, every two weeks they will rehearse in their own music studio, but also often perform in the bar, always insist on making their own music.
What Fan Wenting remembers vividly is that she once performed for a group of autistic children at a live house in Beijing. "The first time we came into contact with so many autistic children, when we started playing the piano, they were very excited, they started to stand up and dance, we all played in a circle with them, everyone was very excited. The children's moms and dads were there at the time, and they burst into tears and said they were especially grateful to us for doing such a show and fundraising. At that time, the mothers said, thank you for giving the children a happy evening. ”
"Music knows no borders." Fan Wenting introduced that the Yi band has toured China for almost hundreds of times since its establishment, and this year, they have ushered in the tenth anniversary of their establishment. "Ten years is an amazing journey," Dao Ge told reporters with a smile in the interview, "I think we should have a party to celebrate." Just like the meaning of the band's Chinese name "Yi", Dao Ge introduced, "Yi" and "Eluvia" complement each other, and the "Yi" of "Yi" represents unswervingness, like the ancient, ancient, and deep-rooted, "representing that we have stood the test of time." ”
Nowadays, Yi Band also often publishes short music videos or live music broadcasts on social media platforms to share their positive music energy with the audience. Like Bene said, making music together is a special experience. To them, superstars don't seem so attractive, instead they like to work together, bump into ideas, maybe disagree with each other to try different things, but everyone is working towards one goal, which is to make the best music possible.
Bane told reporters he likes to make music in China. Even if the cultures and languages are very different, when they play music and sing together, they have the same desires and the same emotions. "Music is like a privilege that makes people start to see each other with love. Through music, people come together. I think the world needs more of this stuff. (End)