图书序言
We said yes. 我们答应了
We’d been lucky enough that summer to have after-hours access to a small studio that belonged to a friend of Yuen’s. Before that, we recorded in his bedroom, or Bosco’s basement, or in empty houses. By that summer we had been together about a year and a half. And in that time we’d spent countless hours writing and recording, trying to create something special- something that the Asia hadn’t heard yet.
那年那个夏天我们非常幸运,能使用Yuen的朋友那间业余小录音室 。在那之前,我们只能在Yuen的房间、Bosco的地下室,或是空屋里录音。乐团差不多成立一年半,那时的我们花了数不清的时间写歌、录音,想要作出很独特的音乐-亚洲没听过的音乐。
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I met Yuen a short while after I had competed in the New Talent Singing Auditions in Vancouver. We had been paired up for a World Vision charity concert- he accompanied me on piano while I sang. A few months after that I joined him and a couple of his friends, Bosco and Julian, to perform in a song writing contest. Yuen’s song won in the hip-hop category and that’s really when it all started.
认识Yuen,是参加温哥华的比赛(New Talent Singing Auditions)之后不久。我们两人搭档参加世界展望会的慈善演唱会-我唱歌,他替我伴奏。几个月后,我们和他的朋友Boso及Julian,一同参加歌曲创作大赛,Yuen写的歌获得Hip-Hop组优胜。一切就是这么开始的。
We discovered that we had something great together and decided to form a group so that we could combine our talents and come up with new material. Although we were all very different- an Engineering student turned Psychology major turned music producer, a hair and make-up artist, a Taiwanese playboy, and me, an English major- we all had something very much in common. We had all been infected by the music bug and each of us desperately wanted success in the music industry.
我们发现我们合作时会有新的火花,所以决定组个乐团,结合大家的专长,创作全新的音乐。虽然我们都各不相同。一个原本唸工程系后来转到心理系,现在又变成音乐制作人;一个发型造型师;一个台湾的花花公子;还有我这个唸英文系的学生,但是我们却有共同之处。我们都中了音乐的毒,每个人都想在音乐这个领域大展长才。
We spent time and time again cooped up in basements writing songs and recording vocals. And after we had laid down the tracks Yuen had to spend an additional 15 hours (and sometimes more!) putting it all together so that it was just right. Before we had the studio, we had to endure the stifling heat of Yuen’s bedroom as we recorded. We couldn’t turn the air conditioner on or open the windows because of the noise. And even when we took those measures, sometimes the entire track would be ruined anyway because of an airplane flying overhead.
我们花了很多时间,把自己关在地下室写歌和录音。录完后,Yuen还必须花上额外的15个钟头(有时候甚至更久!)把所有音轨集结在一起,这才算大功告成。在这间录音室工作之前,我们必须在Yuen闷热的房间里录音,没办法开冷气,也不能打开窗户,外面的声音太吵了。虽然我们都已经这么做了,有时候刚好有飞机从我们头上经过,整首歌还是要从头来过。
Of course, as it always is in a band or any group of people working together, we had conflicts and disagreements. Our own personal issues and agendas often made things difficult to say the least. And on many occasions we faced opposition from our families. Sometimes, I didn’t even want to be in the group anymore… I had always dreamt of being a solo-artist and being in a group sometimes felt amiss. Sometimes, it just felt like doing it on my own would be so much simpler. But I knew that if I didn’t have the three of them to spur me on, I probably wouldn’t have gone as far on my own. Where one person was lacking, another made up for it.
当然,和每个乐团或一起努力的团队一样,我们曾起过争执,也有意见相左的时候。我们的私事和行程往往会凑不拢,而且偶尔也会面临家人的反对。有时候,我甚至不想再待在乐团里…我从小的梦想是当歌手,待在乐团里总觉得不太对。有时候我也觉得如果只有我一个人,事情应该会简单得多,但是我知道如果没有他们三个人鼓励我,我一个人应该没办法有这样的成就。只要我们其中有一个人有不足的地方,其他人就会补足。
After we had a full album of demos, we started sending them out in the hopes of getting our big break. We had a lot of interest from management companies and agents, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. One day, a radio DJ that I had met called me and said that there were some representatives from a record company in Taiwan that wanted to meet us. They had heard our music and it had peaked their interest. So, we met them. They liked us. And then they asked us if we would come to Taiwan to meet their boss.
我们录完一整张专辑的试唱带后,就开始到处寄发,希望能有出道的机会。很多经纪公司和我们连络,不过那并不是我们想要的。有一天,一个之前认识的电台DJ打电话给我,说台湾的唱片公司代表想和我们见个面。他们听了音乐后很感兴趣,于是我们就去了,他们很喜欢我们,问我们是不是愿意到台湾和老板见面。
We said yes. 我们答应了。