The author | dumbfounded
Edited | Yiqing
"I don't like to think of you, but the cat downstairs always dreams of you."
The slightly dimmed stage lighting creates a gentle atmosphere, and the owner Heng, wearing a blue-gray shirt and black coat, sits in a chair with an old-fashioned TV next to him. The low and gentle voice has its own storytelling, which is perfectly in line with the ethereal voice of the guest Qi Zitan.
In the battle for the top six labels of tomorrow summer school on October 2, Zhuang Zhongheng sang his original work "Lover and Friend", melodious melody, sincere lyrics, and interpreted the emotion of "more than friends, less lovers". "Many themes, especially the theme of love, are easy to express very impulsively, but your song makes us see the power of precipitation and calm." Helping guest Cai Weize commented.
With his outstanding performance, Zhuang Zhongheng ranked first in the live examination with a total score of 520, and Mr. Ma Wei of the Fengyun Teachers Group directly issued an invitation when commenting, "No matter what step you take in the school tomorrow summer, when you graduate, I hope that the two of us can cooperate in a song." ”
The audience also opened the "boasting" mode: "Zhuang Zhongheng really won the hemp today, he sang the first word and fell into it" "Brother Zhuang this song is my top today, really good" "God, is the most beautiful original I have heard recently."
Since the program was broadcast, more and more people have always been on the top of the owner.
In the super words of the owner Heng, there are constantly new fans with small green icons appearing, "It turns out that there are super words, and they are chasing after them." Some people say that they "fell into the tenderness of Brother Zhuang", and even some people have struck the owner Heng, "Brother Zhuang, you sang me crying, so did you pay me a tissue?" In the Douban Tomorrow Creation Plan Group, some people also posted that they "like Brother Zhuang more and more", and received a lot of "+1" and "I am too" comments.
With a moving work, the originally somewhat "inconspicuous" Zhuang Zhengheng is being heard and seen by more and more people, and his light is gradually revealed.
Image source: Sina Weibo @ Tomorrow's Creation Plan
Zhuang Zhongheng is not hurried to speak slowly, in this interview with Yu Jie'er (ID: yuci-er), he often unconsciously adds a "yes" after saying a sentence, and when it comes to interesting places, he can't help but laugh out loud.
His evaluation of the outside world is almost immune, if he writes a song that he likes very much, he will not feel that the song is not good enough because no one listens to it, and he will not be complacent because everyone praises the song as good.
In an era when everyone is in a hurry, the owner Heng spends time trying to find a balance between ideal and reality, and the open-mindedness of "seeing open" and the leisureliness of "not rushing" make the owner Heng more attractive outside of music.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" > "Buddhist youth" from the seaside</h1>
Zhuang Zhongheng is an authentic Cantonese from Lufeng, Shanwei, which is only about thirty kilometers away from Haifeng, the hometown of the Wutiaoren Band, one of the "Tomorrow's Creation Project" teachers' group.
Lu Feng linhai, the owner Heng grew up on the beach, the composition of childhood life is very simple: eat fish three times a day, snacks are a variety of smoothies, leisure time and small friends to the beach to play in the water and sand.
He loves to eat wet fried Niuhe, calling himself "a brother of wet fried Niuhe", joking that the influence of his hometown on him is "crappy accent". The owner, Heng Xiang Yu Er (ID: yuci-er), smiles happily when he recalls the happy life of his childhood.
Source: Sina Weibo @ Zhuang Zhongheng
The seaside town is at odds with the pressures of the outside world, there are no inner rolls, the days go by slowly, and people pay attention to going with the flow.
"It seems that the people on our side are very open-minded and more casual, which is the kind of so-called 'Buddha' that is now called." The temperament of his hometown subtly shaped the character of Zhuang Zhongheng, who grew up "Buddha" all the way from childhood to adulthood.
Zhuang Zhongheng is 26 years old this year, and when he was a student, there was little pressure on his schoolwork. Therefore, for the so-called "fixed lifelong" college entrance examination, he actually had no concept at that time.
In the eyes of the people in my hometown, being admitted to the undergraduate degree is already a very good thing, "Wow! Undergraduate eh. He mimicked yuci-er.
Zhuang Zhaoheng, who studied at Zhaoqing College as an undergraduate, joked that it was an "unknown college." After graduation, he found a job that was still good in the eyes of others, and joined a well-known advertising agency in Guangdong, often needing to do PPT.
Work is very tired, Zhuang Heng does not want such a life, so he chose to flee, resigned from the company, "so I lived a very poor life, resulting in now also very poor." This was confirmed by the live broadcast of Jiang Xiangui, another classmate of tomorrow summer school, zhuang Zhongheng, who is one of the poorest three students in tomorrow summer school.
"I'm Still Better suited to be an artist" is a true portrayal of his "Buddhist" mentality: the ideal career is to work in a hamburger shop, or to be a competent landlord, or an artist who "doesn't want to return to work and says he has no inspiration". For him, happiness is more important.
The song resonated with workers who were reluctant to roll in, and in the QQ music comment area, some netizens wrote, "So, who wouldn't like to leave work on time?" Some people also commented, "What actually impressed me the most was this one, the hit man monologue." ”
His hometown has shaped the character and temperament of Zhuang Zhongheng, and his family has planted the seeds of music in his heart, "From a young age, it may also be a factor that I like music." ”
In Zhuang Zhongheng's memory, one of the most memorable pictures of getting along with his grandmother is a typhoon day experienced when he was a child.
"It was so windy that it blew away the ceiling of our house, and I was scared, so I hid in my grandmother's room, and then my grandmother sang there." Zhuang Said that Grandma is a member of the local folk choir, so she can sing a lot of songs.
Although he no longer remembers what Grandma was singing, he still remembers how he felt at the time. "I felt peaceful. There were typhoons and a falling ceiling outside, like the end of the world, but listening to her sing next to Grandma, I felt very stable and safe. Zhuang Heng recalled.
Zhuang Zhengheng's father is a doctor with a wide range of hobbies, one of which is collecting records.
Every morning when Dad exercised in the living room, he would use the speaker to play classical music and classic old songs, and the melody flowing out of the speaker was like the alarm clock of the owner, and he got up in the song. The most listened to is Teresa Teng's album "Light And Quiet Feelings", "She covered a lot of ancient poems, and I hope that people will be long and alone in the West Building." There are also Luo Dayou's songs, which my father often broadcasts. ”
After junior high school, thanks to the relaxed atmosphere with less homework, the owner always had plenty of time to go home and play by himself: "I will watch a lot of books and movies, listen to a lot of songs, and study musical instruments by myself." ”
At this time, Zhuang Heng fell in love with folk songs, and Luo Dayou, who had heard with his father, became one of his favorite singers, in addition, there were Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, etc., who told Yu Thorn (ID: yuci-er) that when he was composing, he would continue to approach them.
In the seventh program, Zhuang Zhongheng adapted Luo Dayou's classic song "Proverbs of Love", for this song that grew up with him, he was "very feeling" and at the same time very "desperate", "Such a good song for me to change, I think it is ridiculous." ”
In Zhuang Zhongheng's view, he only "completed the task with difficulty", but in the eyes of the mentor, this is a very good adaptation. Teacher Deng Ziqi gave a super high evaluation, saying that "it was time to discuss skills", praising the performance as moving and sincere; Mao Tao, a teacher of the Five People Band, described it as if he had returned to the past, "as if Lu Fang was singing "The Proverbs of Love". ”
Some psychologists believe that the experience of an individual in his youth has basically determined the direction of his life, and Zhuang Zhongheng agrees with this view: "My hair, blood, and every part of my body are shaped by my hometown, and when I grow up, I face all the choices of life, and my decisions will carry the shadow of my hometown." ”
This is also reflected in his creations. Zhuang Zhongheng wrote in his self-introduction PPT that the homeland and the loss of the city are his two major creative themes.
He wrote dialects into the song, taking inspiration from the sea in my hometown and my own family, "When I want to write about myself, I think of my family, my family, and I can't help but write about my hometown, because that is part of me." 」 ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="122" > "artists" who are afraid of being praised</h1>
When he was in junior high school, Zhuang Heng wanted a guitar, so his father bought him a guitar with a hundred pieces, which he jokingly called "burning sticks", and this guitar accompanied him to college.
At first, as a "layman", Zhuang Heng did not even know what the relationship between the melody sung by the singer and the sound played by the guitar, and later, because he liked many foreign singers, he went to YouTube to watch pickpockets and instructional videos, and slowly learned how to play the guitar and what harmony was.
In this process, Zhuang Zhongheng found it difficult to patiently learn some "class" knowledge, but preferred to write songs directly.
"At first I would only play two chords with the guitar, and then I would write songs with these two chords, and after writing a song, I had a sense of accomplishment, and this sense of accomplishment inspired me to learn more difficult knowledge, so I wrote more songs." 」 Unlike many musicians, Zhuang Zhongheng gradually built up his own musical kingdom through continuous songwriting and practice.
Soon after getting the guitar, Zhuang Heng wrote the first song in his life.
"It is a very picturesque love song, written about two little couples going to see the moon together, pretending to be very poetic to describe the picture under the moonlight, but in fact, it is their own imagination." He described the content of the song to Yuji (ID: yuci-er), and halfway through the story he suddenly felt ashamed, "Don't say it, my toes are on the ground." ”
Although it is embarrassing to hear now, the owner heng at that time felt that he was very remarkable, and he still remembered the mood of that year: "It's over, there is another person in the history of popular music whose name is going to be left." ”
From then to now, the number of songs and music clips written by Zhuang Zhongheng has exceeded 100.
He didn't seriously organize his work, and he would only look for it temporarily when needed. Some of the melodies he recorded in the learning machine and MP4, and the lyrics were "scattered" in N ordinary books, some of which were written very thickly, and some of which were only a few pages thin. In his own words, "A bit sloppy." ”
Zhuang Zhongheng took these lyrics with him, and occasionally looked at them and felt "unsightly", just like watching the logs and talking about qq space, but there would also be very emotional moments, it turned out that he had written so many things and walked such a long way.
After the Spring Festival in 2020, Zhuang Zhongheng stayed at home for a while because of the epidemic, and "Haihai", which he created during this time, was "a very important song in his life".
Before that, although he still had the idea of making music in his heart, Zhuang Zhengheng had no inspiration for a long time, and he had not written songs for a long time, and he even felt that he might not have any connection with music in his life.
The turning point was a very relaxing afternoon. When the owner Heng woke up from his nap, some melodies unexpectedly appeared in his mind, and he suddenly wanted to write songs, even if it was just for himself.
The songwriting process is unusually smooth, and the owner writes the melody naturally. Because there are very few syllables in the song that can fill in the words, it takes a long time to write the words.
The original chorus had no lyrics and was all humming, but later, the owner heng slowly wrote out his feelings about the sea, as well as a more specific and stronger thought of his family. There are some quotations in the lyrics, "For example, the long sky under the wind and the moon, in fact, is a quote from a poem that I like very much, the eternal sky, the wind and the moon." ”
Life is full of seas and seas, ups and downs, many things are not controlled by people, Zhuang Heng expressed his state of mind at that time through this song, "it is a very powerless feeling, the epidemic makes people feel insecure, I have been away from home for a long time, there is no opportunity in music, many complex emotions are intertwined there, there is such a song." ”
"I think it's a process of ripping yourself apart, and it's a shame because you're going to say something you don't usually dare to say. If there are other people who are going to be very uncomfortable, no one at all, I will feel safe and can do this. "Zhuang Zhongheng needs to be alone when he creates. At tomorrow's summer school, he would hide in the laundry room and write songs, because it was the only place where no one bothered.
For the works created, Zhuang Zhengheng has his own judgment, he will not change his mind because of the number of listeners and the evaluation of the outside world, "I will still believe what I believe." ”
After participating in the program, Zhuang Zhengheng and his works were seen, heard and liked by more and more people. Although he hardly went online during this time and did not read much of the evaluation of netizens, through the reaction of the audience, he vaguely felt this.
When I first performed, few people knew me, and now on stage, there will be audience members shouting their names. Zhuang Heng told Yu Shi'er (ID: yuci-er): "This feeling is still very good. ”
Although he mentioned several times that "who doesn't like to be liked by others", Zhuang Zhongheng is still not very comfortable with the praise of others.
His family has watched the show and praised his song as "very good", he will feel very embarrassed; Liao Juntao commented on "Haihai" as "the best in the whole field, and Mao Brother (Mao is not easy)", he will be a little nervous to answer "I am not worthy"; the audience's like, he also put a question mark in his heart, "I have always doubted in my heart, whether I deserve to be liked by others, can I reach that position, why do they like me?" ”
Compared with good singing or good technology, the most popular evaluation that Zhuang Zhongheng wants to receive is "impress me". Correspondingly, he felt that the most basic thing in creation was to be sincere. "I'm not the type of song you ask me to write a song, I can write a song out, although there will be some limited time creations in the show, but I feel that I am still writing songs with my instincts, and I will not deliberately design some bridges." 」
His requirement for his work is "poetic", "this is a creative state that I yearn for, even if it is written in the vernacular, I hope it is poetic." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="123" > pragmatic "experiential" dreamer</h1>
Before resigning from the graduate school, Zhuang Zhengheng was engaged in a relatively easy and also advertising job.
Although he was able to complete the task easily, Zhuang Zhongheng began to doubt life, and in his heart he did not have the driving force to support him to do it for a long time, and he was getting by every day.
In order to make his life a little hopeful, he thought of buying lottery tickets, and soon found it a little difficult.
After recognizing the reality and giving up the idea of getting rich, Zhuang Heng thought of his regrets, he studied science in high school, and the college major was programming that he did not like and was not good at, and the formal education he had received before was incompatible with his hobbies. If you read a major that you like and are good at, you may be able to find the hope and motivation of life, so he came up with the idea of graduate school.
In the middle of October 2020, thinking that the exam would be taken in December, Zhuang Zhongheng decided to resign and leave himself two months of endorsement time. He didn't have the idea of gambling everything without hesitation, but with the mentality of trying it out, "It's better to be admitted, if you can't do it, you should rest for two months and then go back to work." ”
"Take a step and see a step" is the attitude of Zhuang Zhongheng's life all along, after being admitted to the Zhongchuan Media Music major, he has not planned the future, "Life does not have so many things that come according to your ideas, everywhere is unexpected, and there are two years of time without going to work, you can get a diploma, and you can always find a job after coming out, isn't that good?" After the end of the examination, the owner Heng was "happy" at home for a while.
At that time, the "Tomorrow's Creation Plan" was being recruited, and for Zhuang Zhongheng, who liked to create and sing, the show not only provided the opportunity to sing, but also the reason why he could "justifiably not make money" while waiting for the school to start, and he signed himself up.
In the eyes of many people, participating in the program can change a person's fate. In this "many", it must not include the owner Heng.
He didn't think the show would change his destiny, and he never thought about overnight fame, "How could such a lucky thing happen to me, and frankly, if you really analyze the whole environment, you will find that such things are less and less, just like I buy lottery tickets." 」 On the other hand, I know what level I am. ”
In the column of "Set up three flags to be completed in the school tomorrow and summer" of the re-examination volunteer form, zhuang Zhongheng wrote: Try your best to perform every song of your own; enjoy every encounter you may encounter; not for the result, only for the process, not sad or happy, and be at ease with the encounter.
His idea is very simple, anyway, his own songs are not listened to, there is a stage that can be sung, naturally to perform well, can sing more than one song, leave some evidence in the program that can prove that "I have come", and when he is old, he can also reminisce: "Later, I can show my granddaughter, my granddaughter can brag in front of her classmates, saying wow my grandfather is great, he participated in variety shows in those years." ”
The owner heng who enjoys the process does not care so much about winning or losing, and his desire to win or lose mainly stems from the idea of "don't drag others down". "If I sing badly and leave, I think it is acceptable, but if I cooperate with others and 'drag' others away, I will feel too careless to go, so I will still want to win if I cooperate with Ban Ge and cooperate with Zhong Yixuan."
In zhuang zhengheng's view, participating in the program itself is already a very rare experience in life, and in the program, he also has the opportunity to talk and communicate with more people.
"There may only be one or two chances to be on the show in a lifetime. And all of you will feel honored, even a little unbearable, to work hard for one of your insignificant works. ”
On the other hand, communicating with classmates, staff, and a variety of people brought him new ideas and experiences. In life, Zhuang Zhengheng has no friends who make music around him, and it is difficult to find people who can talk about music and creation, but in the program, he meets classmates who have common topics.
"Zhong Yixuan's personality and I are quite similar, including the style of the songs I like to listen to, so we can talk very well." Although Jiang Xiangui is a 'weird coffee', when he talks to him about metaphysical topics, he finds that the two of us have a special resonance. ”
(From left, Zhong Yixuan, Zhuang Zhongheng, Jiang Xiangui)
The program has been carried out until now, when it comes to ideas for the future, Zhuang Zhongheng's answer is still "take one step and look at one step".
For a long time in the past, music was not the main line of the owner's life. He has been going to work and school normally, and there is no stage of "just making music and doing nothing else".
For him, music is not the whole of life, but it is an ideal state of life: if you can't make music, you should go to school, you should make money to make money, going to work is not unacceptable, but if you have the opportunity to sing, sing, have the opportunity to make music all the time, of course, it is the best.
When he was a student, Zhuang Heng once had a reverie about his future, "At that time, I felt that I was very powerful, Oh my God I was an artist, Oh My God I will definitely be great in the future, I want to be famous in history." 」 ”
When he grew up, he no longer had the ideal of "being tall" and rarely put "making music" on his lips, but whether he decided to enter the media music major or decided to participate in the "Tomorrow's Creation Plan", it was enough to prove that Zhuang Heng's deep yearning for making music was enough.
Becoming one of the top six labels of Tomorrow Summer School, Zhuang Zhongheng has taken another step towards music. Although the corners of his mouth were raised when he heard the total score and entered the admission area, the expression of the owner Heng soon returned to calm.
In him, he can feel a gentle and firm temperament that is not disturbed by the outside world, and he will take the initiative to seize every opportunity that interests him and try to get close to music in his own way. At this time, he was no longer an ordinary Buddhist person, but a dazzling big dreamer.