What is rock 'n' roll? Why rock? Who is rock for? This is a set of questions that have been in the minds of ** people and music fans for a long time.
Looking back at the history of Chinese rock, it is not a long history, but the fluctuations of the melody have marked enough ups and downs of the times.
On May 9, 1986, Cui Jian, who was rolling a pair of trouser legs, stood at the Beijing Workers' Stadium with a big grin, and shouted "When will you go with me", half of the audience was surprised and half cheered.
The song "Nothing" has become a recognized starting point, and the interweaving of those surprised or surprised eyes has also become a metaphor, indicating the inner pull and multiple scrutiny that Chinese rock will face.
In the last 20 years of the 20th century, the rock music that emerged from this land was primitive but sincere, simple and intense, humanistic and serious. The 1994 Magic Rock Sanjie concert in Hung Hom, Hong Kong was an iconic node. "Who made the question so difficult, there are correct answers everywhere", *'s roar, accompanied by Dou Wei's flute, was exchanged for praise from the audience.
But the ** era in memory is short after all, the wind of the new century is warm, and everything is changing-
Chinese life is rapidly reconstructed, and "my home is inside the Second Ring Road" sounds different; **Brought by popularity**, the record industry was shattered, and pop** came like a tide; The rock stage is deserted for a while, and deep questions must also face market-oriented examination papers.
For example, in 2004, Da Zhang Wei decided"Self-deprecating rock and roll martial arts", the former rock boy ran in a different posture, he may not have thought that those amazing rock works written at the turn of the century would become popular 20 years later.
Time is flowing, and time is accumulating strength. When the debate of "whether it should be commercialized" enveloped the rock stage, the two labels Modern Sky and Midi ** silently held the Strawberry ** Festival and the Midi ** Festival one after another, polishing the band, precipitating works, and cultivating audiences.
Behind the excitement of the festival, the independence ** moves forward slowly. For example, in 2010, when China's rock veterans collectively closed the curtain at Gongti, a band called Universal Youth Hostel quietly released their first self-titled **.
In 2019, the flow of time finally broke through the mountains and rushed out of a gorge called "Summer of the Band". **Expression, Expression of the Times, Commercialization, Above and Below Earth...The questions that were once tangled seem to have new answers.
The livehouse was crowded, with fans old and new dancing with similar gestures; Copyright awareness has been popularized, and the electronic version of the bands has set new sales records again and again; The connotation of rock and roll is more diverse, and people are no longer confined to a certain expression, and they are no longer easily expelled from "rolling".
Many changes seem to have started in the summer that belonged to the band, which is the node of the previous era and the new sound of the next era.
Of course, the answer is still not the only one.
1. Not sure, but not only.
1. Not sure, it's quite rock 'n' roll.
New Weekly chatted with Da Zhang Wei, Zhang Yadong, Liang Long, and Ma Dong to listen to their voices about rock and roll and that summer.
The first is an interview with Ma Dong.
Author |Zhan Shibo.
Edit |Menji Su Wei.
Cover|Visual China.
When I was a child, Ma Dong's family lived in the dormitory of the Radio and Television Bureau, and across the street was *** College. Ma Dong can often meet a group of ** students playing trumpets under the bridge of the Fuxingmen overpass.
It can be said that whether it is in the compound or outside the compound, there is no shortage of rock and roll players around Ma Dong. But Ma Dong just "doesn't have any feelings" for rock and roll.
Three seasons of "Le Xia" still haven't changed him. For example, after recording the show this year, Zhou Xun told Ma Dong that there were nearly 500 more rock songs in her playlist, and Ma Dong was surprised because from 2019 to the present, he still hasn't added any rock music to his playlist. "Not only do I not listen to rock and roll, I don't listen to ** very much, my mobile phone is full of cross talk."
He attributes it to his "music blindness": I have tested before, and I can only hear 5 out of 7 tones, and 1 less when I am in a bad mood.
It's no wonder that 5 years ago, when Ma Dong decided to do "Le Xia", everyone didn't believe that rock and roll could be made into a variety show, and the artists who received the invitation thought it was a fraudulent message, "You are going to poke the hornet's nest".
Big brother, you go to Lexia, what's the use of you on it", this lyric adaptation from Liang Long may be the most appropriate portrayal of the band's hearts when they first heard "Lexia".
(Picture "Summer of the Band 3").
As a result, not only the niche dark horse band Eight Immortals Hotel and Rejuvenation Pill that are favored by the industry participated in the show, but also rock veterans such as second-hand roses, the right to reshape statues, new pants, and pain.
When New Pants and Cindy sang "Eribadi", Li Hongqi used "courage" to keep "common sense", Pu Shu went home to sleep when he arrived, Wutiao was repeatedly salvaged by netizens across the country, and Zhang Wei picked up the guitar again after finishing the band, those prejudices about "variety shows are destined to rock and roll" were dismantled little by little.
When the band achieved "Le Xia", "Le Xia" also helped the band realize a wish: to move the stage from the studio to the stadium. In October this year, Xingongti held its first performance - "See You Summer Concert". The chorus of 30,000 people made this concert, which gathered the backbone of mainland rock, make up for the cheers that rock music has been owed for many years in a rather ceremonial way.
Rolling circles have worked hard for more than 30 years, and they have been concentrated through a variety show. In five years, the stage of "Summer of the Band" presented more than 300 songs by 88 bands, making rock and roll a new hobby for countless people.
Ma Dong said that he had a sad background and had no way to "resist", but a "music blind" who can break the circle of rock and roll may just disdain to resist with slogans.
From this point of view, Ma Dong, who doesn't know rock 'n' roll, is actually quite rock.
Rock 'n' roll is just a grammar
New Weekly: Some people say that it is difficult for the post-90s generation to make really good rock music works, because they grew up in an era of material abundance, and the birth of rock music must be accompanied by the turmoil of the times and the cramped living space, do you agree?
Ma Dong: I think this is to solidify rock 'n' roll, and each era has its own rock works. is like the Wei and Jin celebrities in "The World Speaks New Words", maybe you think they are rock and roll now, but if you are in that era, there is a high probability that this group of people is not as good as the older generation of "rock people".
In the same way, each generation of young people has its own dilemma, and everyone can find their own grammar to resolve it, rock music, rap, and poetry are just one of the grammars. Therefore, there is no need to use rock music as an origin to summarize the changes of the entire era.
New Weekly: What is the difference between doing a comedy variety show and doing a band variety show?
Ma Dong: There is not much difference between comedy variety shows and rock variety shows, because they are essentially variety shows, but the grammar is different. Variety show is a kind of content product, and the purpose of content products is to make the audience like, cry and laugh, and get some spiritual satisfaction. I often see people who play rock 'n' roll produce some comedic effect on stage. Their embarrassment, social fear, the contrast between being eager to express and being ashamed to express, both flamboyant and nervous, is comedy in itself.
The only difference between them may be that for comedy shows, the co-creation of content is the difficulty; When it comes to rock, the tuning of the scene is a top priority. The tools you need, the areas you need to learn Xi, and the assistance you need will be different.
(Picture: "Summer of the Band").
New Weekly : What about those who play comedy and those who play rock?
Ma Dong: The threshold for "playing" is actually very high. If you want to enjoy comedy, you must not only know the way, but also have talent, otherwise you will not only not be happy, but you will also be extremely painful, because creation is a very, very difficult process, and it requires a huge investment of time and mental cost.
The reason why there are more people with emotional problems among comedy masters is because behind every stalk, huge energy is needed to support it. More often than not, comedy is not played, it is born out of entanglement, pain and dilemma, and I think the word "play" is too light.
The same is true of rock and roll, its threshold may be higher, not only technically, but more often than not, it is actually spiritual. When I had dinner with Xin Shuang before, he told me that he could tell at a glance whether this person was really rock or like rock. People like rock and roll can perform perfectly, and you can't fault the pitch, rhythm, vocalization, etc. But true rock may be out of tune every time, but he's very free on the inside.
People who really rock and roll must enjoy the stage very much, but people like rock and roll enjoy the performance and fake enjoyment. Because he's seen the way he really enjoys, he thinks it's right, but he's not necessarily really rock 'n' roll.
Since 2006, Xin Shuang has once again performed on the same stage with Joyside. (Picture "Summer of the Band 3").
New Weekly: In your eyes, what is real rock? How do you distinguish between rock 'n' roll and rock 'n' roll spirit?
Ma Dong: Rock music and rock spirit is a relationship between "front shop and back factory", rock spirit is a specific mental state of human beings in a specific period, this state is liked by some people, some people don't like it, generally they like it when they are young, and they don't like it when they are old. The essence of the spirit of rock 'n' roll in my heart is not to live the way the world has set it for me.
For the spirit of rock and roll, rock music is his grammar, they use strong rhythms, shocks, lyrics that are closer to the audience, melodies, etc., all these grammars to express their mental state. It's just an expression of them, and rock 'n' roll is that result.
New Weekly: "Happiness must be the bottom need of people, and it is the most basic placebo for people to fight against this world, which is the same in any era." In terms of your observations, what kind of comfort does rock give to today's young people?
Ma Dong: In the past few decades, our needs for happiness, spiritual enjoyment, and dopamine have been the same. Young people are more likely to have a rebellious mentality, and the synonyms of rock and roll are rebellion, youth, blood, and feeling. The spiritual world shown by rock and roll is what young people like.
Rock 'n' roll is the quintessential positive emotional value
New Weekly: After so many years, let rock and roll return to the work body, is this a "giveaway" for variety shows, or is this the same chore as opening up "Lexia"? 30,000 people listen to rock together, what is the difference between the shock you felt on the spot and when you did the show before?
Ma Dong: In the past five years of doing "Le Xia", I have often asked the band what his wish is, and the most common answer is to hold a concert in the stadium. So when "Lexia 3" came to an end, we felt that we should use a sense of ritual to explain this matter, not only to the band, to the audience who like "Lexia", but also to our own director team.
Many people photographed me wearing makeup and a leather jacket at the scene, looking very self-assured, but in fact, I was so nervous at the scene that my feet were almost clenched into fists, after all, it was an event of tens of thousands of people, and it was a big deal if something happened, and I didn't listen to a few songs.
The first concert of the new Gongti gave rock music. (Picture "Summer of the Band 3").
New Weekly: Some viewers think that the overall rhythm of "Lexia 3" is relatively gentle and gentle, without the previous rebellion and amazement, and some people say that each of your projects is "the peak of debut", what do you think?
Ma Dong: This is actually what everyone calls "the dilemma of the Nth generation", when you come out of the first season, other people's expectations of you will be raised, and there will be less surprises in each subsequent season. I think this pressure will exist for anyone who does a show, unless you don't want to do it, and since you want to do it, you have to face it calmly.
I'm open to what the audience wants to say. One of the most important functions of the public content products you make is to provide people with a variety of true, fake, and connectable topics and imagination space. 1 3 of the money you make is what you earn, 1 3 is your audience buying the lonely time at home, and 1 3 is the audience's discussion. We offer a product that is a very important part of its value if it provides a larger discussion. So you should gladly accept it.
But in essence, I don't think it's all bad to be gentle and gentle, and rebellion and amazement aren't necessarily all good.
Ma Dong was arranged by the program team to Xi drums, and Da Zhang Wei ridiculed the process like "a cat scratching the door". (Picture "Summer of the Band 3").
New Weekly: You want your shows to be positive, but the background of rock seems to be rebellious, mournful, and not so positive, how do you balance that?
Ma Dong: I think that rebellion does not mean that there is no positive energy. If you can be moved by rock music, it shows that these things are typical positive emotional values. Because it's not similar to the simple dopamine obtained by brushing. For example, if you watch a concert, the reason why you will be immersed in it is because ** is always linked to positive emotional value, you gain endorphins in it, and you feel happy, resonant and satisfied.
New Weekly: What are Miwei's plans for the follow-up program? Will there be a fourth season of "Lexia"?
Ma Dong: Mi Wei's show is a process of following the trend, and the primary goal of the variety show team is to create positive emotional value and serve the public. Although the number of new bands is more than we thought, they have all been around for too short a period of time, and the bands need to grow collectively. You have to give them time for them to have a real precipitation. This is also one of the reasons why "Le Xia" was able to succeed before, Chinese rock music has been accumulated for more than 30 years, and "Le Xia" just provides a platform for everyone to "concentrate on the explosion". With our ability to do so, we can't see the resources that can support a short period of time, and what we need at this time is nourishment, and we don't want to pull out the seedlings to help them grow.
Our set direction is to return to comedy, which is the hardest choice, but it makes sense to do the hard and right things. First, comedy is the most popular way for the public to be happy, and it is a very meritorious thing. Second, judging from the data, the long-tail effect of comedy is very obvious, and many comedy works will still be widely disseminated to this day.
As for whether other categories will be added, we don't have the time to think about it yet. There are too many categories that can be turned into variety shows, and they cannot be exhausted.
Proofreading: Yang Chao.
Operations: Hee-hee.
Typesetting: Yang Fang.