Text | Li Xiaoying
Proofreading | Li Xuejiao
Edit | Zhao Xingyu
In 1996, after graduating and returning to China, Song Ke founded Maitian Music Company, and he decided to publish a collection of music works for Gao Xiaosong, a fellow Tsinghua University student. Before this, "You at the Same Table", composed by Gao Xiaosong and sung by Lao Wolf, has been circulated in major universities and influenced the Chinese music scene.
Gao Xiaosong once proudly said: "I created an era in which literati came to make music", which is often considered the heyday of "campus folk songs" in the mainland.
At that time, Ye Bei was still a first-year student at the China Conservatory of Music, and in her spare time, she went to bars to play the piano and sing and earn pocket money. When Gao Xiaosong found her and wanted to ask her to sing a few samples, she asked: What is a sample? Gao Xiaosong replied to her: For the big name.
A year after Ye Bei recorded four small songs for "Big Name", "Youth Without Regrets", "Echo", "After the Rain in B Minor" and "The Age of White Clothes", Gao Xiaosong found her again and confirmed that the official versions of these four songs would also be sung by her. During this period, Gao Xiaosong also found several singers to audition, and it sounded like Ye Bei sang the most emotional, and these simple-sounding songs were not easy to sing.
After the release of the music compilation album "Youth Without Regrets", it continued to sell well, and Ye Bei signed a contract with Wheat Field Music and gradually became a real big name. In those years, in the eyes of Song Ke, Gao Xiaosong, Old Wolf, Zheng Jun, Pu Shu and others, Ye Bei was like a little sister who was not deeply involved in the world, to protect and pamper, they often said: Ye Bei, you have a good voice.
With the cooperation between Maitian Music and Warner Music and the continuous decline of the mainland record market, Song Ke, Gao Xiaosong, Lao Wolf, Zheng Jun, Park Shu, Ye Bei and others no longer conquered the same river and lake, some of them changed careers to make movies, some were half retired and half hidden, and Ye Bei returned to leisure, living an ordinary and unremarkable life, reading, playing the piano, enjoying movies, and occasionally traveling with friends.
This year, Ye Bei, who has not issued a new film for nine years, once again appeared in the public eye. At the launch of the new album "Falling in Love with You on the Wandering", she wore a white dress, and stood next to Gao Xiaosong, Old Wolf, Park Shu, Zheng Jun, Xiao Ke, Zhang Yadong... These "innocent years" of male gods.
Gao Xiaosong can be counted as Ye Bei's Bole; "Youth Without Regrets" has become the classic chorus of old wolf and Ye Bei, and in the new album "My Favorite Person" Ye Bei has once again invited old wolf to cooperate with him; Park Shu's classic song "Birch Forest" is sung by Ye Bei; Zhang Yadong is the producer of Ye Bei's album "I Want Freedom"; Ye Bei's ending song "Where We Seem to See" sung for the TV series "Let's Get Married" was composed by Xiao Ke. These people have experienced the glory of campus folk songs together, and have also witnessed the growth of Ye Bei.
△ Ye Bei and host Lin Hai
The day's press conference was hosted by Lin Hai, and Lin Haihai once hosted a record conference when Faye Wong released the album "Will Love" in 2003. This time, when he received Ye Bei's invitation, he did not hesitate and was invited. Including Gao Xiaosong, Old Wolf, Park Shu, Zheng Jun, Xiao Ke, Zhang Yadong, these people, every time they receive Ye Bei's invitation, they will try their best to support, everyone will feel "why not come"? Twenty years ago, Ye Bei released her first album "The Age of Innocence", and her pure and simple appearance and clear and simple singing made her a "campus goddess" in the hearts of a generation. Subsequently, albums such as "Pisces" and "Deep in Happiness" came out one after another, and she had been protected by the "male god" brother by her side, until Ye Bei herself felt tired and wanted to change.
Unlike previous albums, all the songs in this new album "Falling in Love with You on the Wandering" were completed by Ye Bei alone, and she also served as the producer of the album for the first time. The old wolf said that when he thought that everyone looked at making music relatively lightly, he found that Ye Bei could still write his own songs at home. She can use songs to express her inner thoughts, proving that her life has opened up to another level. Park Shu also said that Ye Bei's music was late ripe, but finally matured.
At the press conference, these big-name stars, who are rarely seen on weekdays, will always look childish in front of Ye Bei. In the final selfie group photo, no one wants to hold up the mobile phone in the front, "Let Xiaosong come, his face is already big." "Let Xiao Pu come, he is the thinnest, not afraid to appear fat."
△ Selfie framing
"We later said that day was like going back to kindergarten, it was very innocent and cute, wasn't it?"? Ye Bei talked about these people as if she were her sister, and she had the cutest family in the world. Smiling happily, Ye Bei continued: "In fact, this conference also has regrets, that is, Song Ke did not come, he went to Saipan, but sent a flower basket, otherwise our group of people will really gather." ”
"You are really the only girl in this group of male gods!"
"The only female singer".
Ye Bei never denied her luck. She also didn't think about what her life would be like if she didn't meet Gao Xiaosong's gang. She said she was always too happy when she was younger, and she feared that that happiness would be overdrawn.
Born in a musical family, he studied piano from an early age, and studied vocal music all the way from the Attached Middle School of the China Conservatory of Music to the China Conservatory of Music, becoming a professional singer. Ye Bei said that this seemed to be the arrangement of the heavens, he had a good voice, and he could always make music, and everything was natural.
"Actually, I think I'm a person who is walking along the stubble, singing pop songs and folk songs that I didn't think about, but the opportunity came."
When Ye Bei was in college, she never thought about the future too far away, taking classes, singing, working, in addition to these things in front of her, she didn't even want to use her brain to think about anything else. As a reference, the brothers and sisters of the same school have chosen to enter the literary and art group after graduation, and the desire to perform is not very strong to stay in the school as a teacher. And there are very few like Ye Bei who can sign a record company in her junior year. She became a lucky and happy "little sister" in the eyes of everyone.
During the interview, Ye Bei recalled an interesting story when everyone was together before: When Ye Bei and the wheat field music they signed were working in the Huiyuan Apartment, which was Song Ke's early house, they did not have to rent. One year at Chinese New Year's Eve night, everyone agreed to go to the company to eat dumplings together and watch TV and play cards. Song Ke, Gao Xiaosong, and Zheng Jun all went, and Ye Bei also went. As soon as she entered the door, Zheng Jun ran over and asked: How did you come? Ye Bei said, "Why can't I come?" When she looked up, she found that the house was full of these men, and there were several girls, who should be Song Ke qinghua's classmates, who later went to the United States and came back this year for the New Year to get together. In fact, there was nothing, but in Zheng Jun's eyes, Ye Bei was a child, and the jokes they usually made Ye Bei could never understand. "I couldn't understand it, and I couldn't react to it, so I was in a hurry." You think, they didn't look very good at that time, or that kind of expression, how funny." Ye Bei said these past events and laughed a few times.
In Zheng Jun's eyes, Ye Bei will always be the perfect little sister. He said that he saw that many people would have evil thoughts, but he would not see Ye Bei because she was too simple, and everyone was reluctant to deceive her.
△ Ye Bei, Park Shu and Zheng Jun on the day of the press conference
Although Ye Bei has a youth that everyone envies, she is "particularly not nostalgic, not nostalgic at all."
Originally, she didn't feel anything, but the more people she said, she would also think back, thinking of those who grew up with her, and now they are still around her, spoiling her and caring about her. And Ye Bei will also treat everyone sincerely and responsibly, and there is no waste or absurdity together. "I spent those wonderful times seriously, and in the process of growing up together, each of us was able to realize our own problems, and still continue to move forward, grow and enrich ourselves. Everyone is still there, why nostalgia"?
Zheng Jun said that over the years, he had a lot of opportunities to see Ye Bei, and when she used to play together, she was a child who didn't understand, but over the years she became more and more different, from becoming a little bit mentally sound, to now opening up the wisdom like waking up.
"I did know she could sing, and I was singing from the heart, but I felt like she was a singer, and now it seems that she is not only a singer, but also a very good creator." Zheng Jun was surprised and moved after listening to Ye Bei's new album.
Ye Bei experienced the golden age of mainland music, and she was also the most representative female singer of that era. Although she has not released a new film in nine years, she has been making music and continuing her insistence on music in her own way, and singing is regarded as her lifelong profession.
Although it is a labor-saving approach to singing with others, the downturn in the record market makes not many people want to invest in high-quality music, and the cost of good music cannot be reduced, so Ye Bei wants to give herself a chance to create an album alone, just as a gift to herself.
When signing with a mainstream record company, Ye Bei had to be interviewed by up to four media outlets a day, and she didn't even have to worry about attending the event. The launch of the new album "Falling in Love with You on the Wandering" is the first time she and her team have landed on the ground, from inviting guests to link settings, doing it herself. Although she had not figured out exactly how to get the conference a few days before the start of the conference, including the invitation to Lin Hai, it was particularly meaningful for her to cross the river by feeling the stones, and everyone could sincerely invest in expressing their needs and participating in the discussion to express their ideas.
Not wanting to live a life of competition, coupled with the continuous decline of the music market, Ye Bei is more and more aware that the success of music and the impact of the market atmosphere are not large, music is not designed, nor can it be spread by having big names to stand on the platform. Music needs to have sincere content in order to resonate with everyone.
△ Ye Bei, Old Wolf, and Gao Xiaosong on the day of the press conference
Gao Xiaosong is the initiator of Ye Bei's music creation. He once asked Ye Bei: "Since you are from the Conservatory of Music, why don't you write your own songs?" In Ye Bei's understanding, writing songs is a more professional thing, and it cannot be done casually. But Gao Xiaosong told her that writing songs needs to be quantified, and that writing always insists on writing will always write good things. He also taught Ye Bei to start writing from the house number of his own house, writing the story of what happened to this house number, and the story of what happened after the door was pushed open every day, from today to tomorrow.
Although Ye Bei has not written this "proposition song" of Gao Xiaosong so far, Gao Xiaosong unconsciously said after hearing Ye Bei's latest album: "I feel as if time has never passed, no matter what kind of music everyone likes now, Xiaoye's music is still so clean, I listened to the song "Red Dragonfly", I feel that the clouds in the smog of Beijing are not wild, but pure, listening to her songs will make people think of beautiful scenery and feel happy."
Ye Bei believes that "music is used to convey beauty." Beautiful things always make people envious, music is like this, and so is the friendship between Ye Bei and friends. Although everyone has encountered some lows or ups and downs in creation, life, and work over the years, this is a kind of displacement before a person wants to get more energy, and it is a period of suffering and darkness that must be experienced, which is the only way.
"I said to myself I must not cry on the day of the press conference." Ye Bei was a little excited to recall the complex changes she had experienced in the past nine years, so her requirements and norms for herself were "not to cry." Now it seems that the changes she has experienced are worth it, which not only bought her all the favorable times and places today, but also made her feel happy. Appearing in front of everyone's eyes again, Ye Bei hopes that she can meet everyone in a calm, warm, family-like environment, so that all those who care about her can feel her changes, and can also let her look at herself more truly.
Although the white-clad youth is gone, Ye Bei and her music are like a seal, which freezes the memory of beauty and purity in each of us. As she puts it: "Together we are a beautiful energy in the music industry". I have to admit that when this upward energy can appear collectively, it will still cause a huge wave. The reason is that these pure musicians still have a pure musical attitude and state, ye Bei believes that only in such a state can we continue to make good music, "our music scene will not be without hope."
Ye Bei did not think that her music and friendship with Gao Xiaosong, Lao Wolf, Zheng Jun, and Park Shu were products of that era. "Good music has nothing to do with the times, things are grouped together in groups, and the attitude and state of our group of people cannot represent that the whole circle is like this." We can always maintain such a good relationship because we can tolerate each other's problems, in fact, we did not spend much time to maintain this relationship. Friendships between friends can't lie, time can't lie, music can't lie."
Ye Bei believes in blessings, and also believes that the highest state nature of making musical works is compassion, if compassion is lost, music can still have beautiful melodies, but there will be no energy rendering.
Fortunately, Ye Bei finally spent nine years to make a musical work that was not pleasing to herself, but only wanted to give to herself, she said: "We are all together twenty years ago, and we will be together in twenty years."