Da Zhang Wei's youth is soaked in the most glorious time of rock music.
In his opinion, rock music is not only a form, but also a spiritual core. "Rock 'n' roll can make people very innocent in a very reasonable way, and that's how rock 'n' roll changed my thinking."
Having lived through the starry era, he had long foreseen the ceiling of his creation. Da Zhang Wei once said that he has never heard a better Chinese rock than Dou Wei's "Tomorrow is Longer", "I feel that this song has been written to the end".
The lights in the house were all turned off, only the colored fluorescent lights were flickering, and Da Zhang Wei was lying in a bathtub full of bubbles. He casually hummed a few melodies, recorded them with a memo on his mobile phone, and the prototype of "The Law of All Things in Bloom" was born.
The song was written very quickly, and the title of the song was decided after thinking about it for two months. Da Zhang Wei said that at the beginning, the title of the song was "Mindfulness Meditation", "I read a book and said "Heart Sutra" before, so that you don't get angry and don't be sad." The lyrics are his mantra when he gave himself "mental yoga" in recent years: "As long as I don't care, nothing can hurt me." I'm not angry, I'm not angry, don't be angry with fools......”
This new song is regarded by many young people as the contemporary "Punk Heart Sutra" - it is refreshing to listen to it once, and the nodules are completely eliminated after listening to it twice".
The same is true for Da Zhang Wei, "Since I finished making this song, I have listened to it repeatedly, and I feel that I have recovered from my illness." He suddenly found that in addition to wanting to make everyone happy when he wrote songs over the years, the more important reason was to ** himself.
My happiest songs were written when I was extremely unhappy. "The pain of life has become a "shortcut" to Da Zhang Wei's creation—as long as I twist, fight, suffer, and feel uneasy, I am very easy to come up with a lot of songs." deliberately letting himself fall into the mood of "sad" and "unhappy" was once Da Zhang Wei's way of "holding back his songs".
Even 25 years after his debut, he is still looking for a more relaxed way of creating and a more relaxed pace of life: "My current creation is to write whatever I want. ”
"Great Time" concert, Da Zhang Wei and all the fans**. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
In Da Zhang Wei's "armpit", the folder where he stored his songs, there are more than 20 songs that have been written but not released. "I haven't been popular for two or three years, I'm very unhappy, I've been competing with the world, I don't want to sing anymore. ”
The solo tour "Big Time" is approaching, and he decided to release a new song. "My goal in life is to produce 300 songs, and I've calculated that I've released 178 songs now. ”
At the beginning, Da Zhang Wei thought that doing ** was to be happy, but later found out that doing ** has become a kind of "self-help".
At the end of October, after a ** festival performance, in the car to another city, Da Zhang Wei accepted an exclusive interview with New Weekly, sharing with us the story of him and ** have been on the road.
Listening to Da Zhang Wei, you can't take it too seriously, because he may just be joking;But if you don't take it too seriously, you may miss his truth. Just like he wrote in the song, "My affection is a joke, the more I work hard, the louder the laughter", and the jokes that others laugh at may hide his affection and sincerity.
The variety show "saved" Da Zhang Wei
In the opening performance of the third season of "Summer of the Band" (hereinafter referred to as "Le Xia 3"), Da Zhang Wei sang "Still", which made many people feel emotional.
To a certain extent, Da Zhang Wei and "Le Xia" are mutually successful. Before, the public's impression of Da Zhang Wei was still at a certain stage in the past:
A genius boy who created "Still" at the age of 14, later "gave up" punk and switched to pop, and "calculated" the ** Divine Comedy such as "Hee Haw" and "Poor Happy". At the age of 31, he sang the square dance divine comedy "Bei'er Shuang" on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and in the face of the ensuing doubts and controversies, he laughed at himself as a "** tailor".
Later, he became the "top of variety shows", which can be "Yi Zhongtian" and "Cai Qin" in "Variety Show", or he can be a witty observer in reality shows such as marriage and love, and workplace. When he was invited to participate in "Lexia", even Da Zhang Wei himself felt, "No one in this world believes that I can still punk."
Da Zhang Wei once imitated Dou Wei in "Variety Show", "The only person I want to imitate the most is Dou Wei". (Picture "Variety Show").
The appearance of "Le Xia" has allowed the public to re-understand Da Zhang Wei from the perspective of ** people. He is familiar with the development of rock music and the stories of various bands, and always unconsciously exposes his vulnerability and softness in ** - because love cannot be hidden.
Only then did the public discover that Da Zhang Wei, who had switched to variety shows for many years, still had the purity and sincerity of the best. Rock music is like the adrenaline of Da Zhang Wei, once he talks about **, he is no longer a gag variety show, but a professional and unique **person with light in his eyes.
At this time, Da Zhang Wei became the key to help the public open rock music, and music critic Er Di believes that he is the most indispensable commentator, "He understands technology, aesthetics, delicate heart, has stalks and strong language skills."
Da Zhang Wei's comments can always make the ethereal ** have a more specific picture. (Picture "Lexia 3").
He would watch the band perform with great devotion, often unconsciously substituting for himself: "When he plays the piano there, I feel that person is very much like me." ”
When Curry 3000 sang, "She never listened to the songs I wrote, even though I was tearing my heart to ......."Da Zhang Wei cried inexplicably, "There is a particularly beautiful despair that lies in the fact that I have been doing rock music, but I feel that no one listens." There are many times when you don't know who I'm making it for, and where is my ideal hot, it burns myself, and no one else gets it."
Nowadays, young people who are beating with the ** fever in the rock music scene may not be able to understand where Da Zhang Wei's abandonment and cowardice came from. But the image buried in the depths of his memory is like this, when he performed punk rock on stage as a young man, the audience would cover his ears and look at him with "what is that man doing", "like the pants of the singer on stage are dirty".
It was the late 90s of the last century, and he was still a member of the Flower Band, and the most popular songs in China at that time were "Heroic Song" and "Always Go Home to See".
In the finals of "Lexia 3", Ma Dong commented on Da Zhang Wei: "I have never seen anyone more rock and roll than him." ”
This pent-up mood has always been with Da Zhang Wei, but also with the increasing niche of rock music. "In the first two years, I really felt that rock and roll had become an 'intangible cultural heritage', not only in China, but also in the whole world. Until "Lexia" appeared, "Even if it was Tang Dynasty (band), Black Panther (band), Dou Wei, and Zhang Chu, I didn't think there was a time when "Lexia 1" made a generation of mixed feelings."
Da Zhang Wei, who is always ashamed to reveal his true feelings, has finally learned to return to the spotlight The old rock artists dared to expose their scars on the stage, and the "spirit**" was sincere and hot.
Collaborated with the Hedgehog Band on "Silly", and he punked to his heart's content and presumptuously. "I no longer please indifference, I am humbled enough to be ...... at easeThe song became his cry in response to all kinds of doubts and misunderstandings, and it was as if the punk boy who sang "The" to the person who threw a water bottle at him again.
In "My Affection is a Joke" with Carsick Cars, he changed the joking and joyful singing style of the past, quietly played the guitar, sang softly, and expressed his heart: "It's better to pretend to be crazy and stupid, it's better to pretend to be deaf and dumb, this is also good, self-deprecation saves embarrassing ......."”
At the 20th anniversary concert of his debut, Da Zhang Weiqiang sang "Those Are Not Me" with tears in his eyes. (Screenshot @figure video).
As soon as I showed my true feelings, I began to speak incoherently. But when I write the song, that's who I really am. In 2019, at the end of the 20th anniversary concert of his debut, Da Zhang Wei specially prepared a finale song "Those Are Not Me".
Returning to the simplest guitar playing and singing, Da Zhang Wei confided in the world: What you see is not me, only in the world of **, is the real me.
Books, rock 'n' roll and "madmen".
Da Zhang Wei's youth is soaked in the most glorious time of rock music.
In his opinion, rock music is not only a form, but also a spiritual core. "Rock 'n' roll can make people very innocent in a very reasonable way, and that's how rock 'n' roll changed my thinking."
Having lived through the starry era, he had long foreseen the ceiling of his creation. Da Zhang Wei once said that he has never heard a better Chinese rock than Dou Wei's "Tomorrow is Longer", "I feel that this song has been written to the end".
Not long ago, as the only invited Chinese in China, Da Zhang Wei attended the new global launch of the Rolling Stones and gave "China Fire" as a gift. (Picture Weibo @ Da Zhang Wei Studio).
In 1983, Da Zhang Wei was born in an ordinary Beijing worker family like his real name "Zhang Wei", and rock music began to sprout and develop on Chinese soil.
In the seventies and eighties of the last century, rock music was the core force of the world's leading trends, and rock stars such as Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, U2 and other rock stars emerged, and people began to feel the strong impact of rock music. It wasn't until 1986 that Cui Jian sang "Nothing" with a roar in the Workers' Gymnasium, which became a landmark event for the birth of Chinese rock music.
When he was a child, Da Zhang Wei was nicknamed "** prodigy" and "little Pavarotti". But this choir child star, who had a bright future, suddenly collapsed on the eve of the interview for the ** specialty student of Beijing Key Middle School. Later, Da Zhang Wei could only study in an ordinary middle school and enrolled as a ** special student, but he was not even selected as the lead singer of the class choir.
Before he became obsessed with rock music, Da Zhang Wei was a standard "good student". (Figure source network).
In the 90s of the last century, it was the peak of Chinese rock music stars, and the "Three Masters of Magic Rock" Dou Wei, Zhang Chu, **, as well as the Tang Dynasty Band, Black Panther Band, Overload Band, etc., are all names that will still make rock fans excited. "No Place for Self-Containment", "Sister", "Flying Bird", "Tomorrow Longer" ......The classics of that period have become spiritual food that has nourished generations.
Let me spread a little wild on this snow, because I just don't feel ...... my illnessWhen he was in junior high school, Da Zhang Wei began to listen to Cui Jian's songs, "These lyrics are so cool, they speak my heart."
Zhang Wei, who is crazy about rock music, is also "crazy" in the eyes of the teacher: "What kind of is this, why are you listening to this?".Is this child sick?”
In that era when there was no Internet and no smartphones, "mouthbands" and rock magazines were the main sources of information for music fans. Young people are like sponges, frantically absorbing the nutrients of the West.
In order to save money to buy mouthbands for foreign bands, Da Zhang Wei often only eats crisp noodles for five cents for lunch. From the borrowed videotape, Da Zhang Wei saw Nirvana for the first time. "They smashed the drum and the piano ......He sat in front of the TV for more than 10 minutes, unable to believe that such a thing could happen in the world.
He began to get in touch with European and American rock in a more comprehensive way, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Green Day, Blink-182, ......When he heard a song by Green Day from the headphones on a bicycle for the first time, Da Zhang Wei was stunned, and he didn't react after several rounds of traffic lights, "I finally know what youth is."
"Growing up" with rock 'n' roll. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
At that time, Da Zhang Wei often went to the Ark Bookstore of music critic Hao Fang to read books, "because I didn't have the money to buy so many books." He read a lot of books about rock music, and there were a lot of books in these books....The names of these books are as straightforward as rock 'n' roll, "you want to read them as soon as you hear the title". Slowly, he also began to read the books of Wang Shuo, Ding Tian and other writers, "except for world classics, I read almost any book."
After school, Da Zhang Wei no longer played games, but began to study and write songs silently. Just like the fashionable young people of that era, Da Zhang Wei, Guo Yang, and Wang Wenbo began to form a band, in addition to going to school, listening to songs, writing songs, and rehearsing.
And then there's the familiar story. In 1999, the Flower Band released the first ** "Next to Happiness", which shocked the Chinese music scene, and the 15-year-old Da Zhang Wei took care of all the songwriting alone, with sales of more than 500,000. At that time, Pu Shu's "I Go to 2000" sold 300,000 copies.
The flower band, which became famous in one fell swoop, was pinned on high hopes - "China's third-generation rock" and "China's new ** hope". No one expected that the Flower Band would become the last bloom in the rock fireworks of the 90s of the last century, and the once brilliant and colorful fireworks disappeared into the sky in an instant.
The hopeful millennium in Pu Shuge's song is coming, but Chinese rock has opened an "underground decade". The Flower Band is also struggling with it. After only 1 year, the second ** "Strawberry Statement" of the Flower Band sold dismally.
The reason why it is called "Next to Happiness" is because Da Zhang Wei's table mate at the time was in love, and Da Zhang Wei felt that he was sitting next to happiness.
In the 2000s, the ** industry was hit by the popular ** and the Internet Divine Comedy, coupled with the rampant piracy, the market for CD and other physical ** products shrank sharply. Pop ** has gradually become the mainstream of the market, and rock music has stepped down from the peak. It is rumored in the rivers and lakes that "Dou Wei has become an immortal, Zhang Chu is sick, ** crazy", and the glory of rock music seems to have come to an end.
As he became more and more familiar with the rock circle and culture, Da Zhang Wei gradually discovered that the three most important things in rock music, "criticism", "doubt" and "girl", were not the themes he wanted to express. He knew very well that there were only two endings to continuing to rock and roll: "Either he was eliminated because of the era, or he was forced to change careers because his dreams were shattered." ”
Therefore, when he needs a golden song "Supporting his family", Da Zhang Wei can pick up all the popular ** lists, listen to 100g**, and count "a song "Hee Haw" that is popular all over the country.
likes to listen to cross talk, so he combines the singing, shouting, and music art in cross talk with popular ** elements, and writes his favorite and most satisfying work "Poor Happy" so far.
But the flower band that heard the "sound of money" finally dispersed.
In 2009, the Flower Band held its first and only concert "In the Mood for Love". After the 26-year-old Da Zhang Wei cried and sang "Can We Not Break Up" on stage, the Flower Band officially disbanded. Da Zhang Wei's life also slipped into the "dark abyss".
Farewell to the concert "In the Mood for Love", Zhang Wei couldn't cry.
In the same year, the first strawberry festival was held, which opened up the situation of domestic festivals blooming everywhere. Chinese rock was able to get out of the "underground" and try to find a balance between commercialization models and content themes. It's just that when rock music flashes like a "spark" in the land of China again, Da Zhang Wei has become alone.
After the disbandment of the Flower Band, Da Zhang Wei spent his depression mainly by watching Wu Zongxian's entertainment programs, and he was determined to shift his focus to work. It is precisely because variety shows have become an antidote to the low point of his life that he also hopes that he can bring happiness to more people.
The young musician may have met the ups and downs of rock and roll too early, and also foresaw the future of rock and roll, and made his own choice, but punk has long been carved into his bones.
From the end of the 90s (last century) to punk, early 2000 to do teen pop, in the middle of 2000 to do Chinese characteristics of rural dance music, after 2010 to do electronic hip-hop, every period can be regarded as a good job, you can think that he is opportunistic, but I have to admit that he does have a super perception and imitation of **, and has an amazing sensitivity to pop culture. Music critic Er Di sorted out the first context of Da Zhang Wei's debut since his debut, and gave this summary, "He gave up punk, but like a punk."
In 2019, Da Zhang Wei posted his room full of electronic music equipment on Weibo, and he said that the mentality of doing EDM is the same as doing rock music in the past. Cheng Zhenxing, a ** producer who has worked with Da Zhang Wei for many years, said: "He is not willing to do the same thing, he will buy all the tutorials such as teaching arrangement, mixing, mastering, etc., and learn little by little." ”
Da Zhang Wei's ** studio. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
Later, when he found that EDM was being used in major evenings and programs, he was "tired of playing" and began to look for the next "toy". "I used to love pancakes made on the street, but then the pancakes became popular, and I could add sausages and heat dogs, but I couldn't taste the pancakes anymore. ”
In the amusement park, Da Zhang Wei is like a playful child who refuses to leave, constantly looking for new toys. When the crowd flocks, he's long gone, looking for the next interesting new thing.
However, what bothers and pains him the most is always the "next consummation" in **?
"It's important to be alive."
14-year-old Da Zhang Wei once said: "Young people should not always be addicted to a particularly stable **, if everyone can always maintain a particularly passionate mood, so that when they are old, they will not hate themselves." ”
40-year-old Da Zhang Wei hopes to become a person who can control his emotions, "so that I will not be particularly tired, and the audience can be high." "In the past, I was very happy when I saw everyone, and after each performance, I felt like I was beaten, and my whole body hurt so much that I had to rest for several days. ”
You can't imagine how high Da Zhang Wei can jump during the performance. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
At the moment of the interview, he had just "jumped" a few songs on the stage, but when he returned to the car, he was able to accept the interview calmly. It was as if he was just sitting comfortably on the sofa in his living room after dinner, drinking tea and chatting with friends. He would share the talk show he watched the other day and hear interesting speeches, "I'll tell you" and "Do you know" ......
Several times, I felt in a trance, as if I was at lunchtime on a weekday, listening to a colleague who knew him endlessly sharing interesting stories about his life, and I was also like the Chinese and history teachers in the old classroom, sharing various life insights and talking frankly. Listening to Da Zhang Wei's speech, you will find that the seemingly uneventful ordinary life can also cause so many small and interesting waves.
Da Zhang Wei said that he has recently become obsessed with listening to lectures. He will be moved to tears by the story of a Shanghai girl drawing illustrations, and he will also listen to the "illegal teacher" (a teacher who teaches literature at the University of Political Science and Law) on the Internet to enlighten students about ......their troubles with literature
In his spare time, he also lives on Douban and Zhihu like ordinary people. He paid attention to many questions such as "a quote that shocked you", and "the funniest thing was that I found that there were still people quoting me, but it wasn't what I said."
He said that he rarely took the initiative to chat with others, but he just liked to "eavesdrop": "I like to listen to others, and when I hear a particularly touching sentence, I will write it down."
Zhang Wei, who has a lot of golden sentences. (Screenshot ** Screenshot "Phoenix Extraordinary Road Interview with Da Zhang Wei").
Da Zhang Wei's mobile phone memo has become his material library, which contains golden sentences that flash in inspiration, melodies that he hums casually, sentences that he feels touched when reading books or listening to lectures, and so on. When he was alone at home, Da Zhang Wei would be like an accountant, sorting these materials into categories and storing them in computer documents. Earlier, when smartphones were not yet widespread, he would carry a notebook with him.
In fact, life has always been an important nourishment for Da Zhang Wei's creation.
I wrote "It's Out of School" because I didn't want to go to class in junior high school and longed to get out of school soonThe inspiration for "Bei'er Shuang" came from one day when I was suddenly in the room and heard my mother shouting "Bei'er Shuang" when she was drinking a drink;The lyrics of "The Law of All Things in Bloom" are the mantra he uses to comfort himself when he is wronged.
When life becomes the source of Da Zhang Wei's creation, it also means that he has to open all his senses anytime, anywhere, all the time, in order to capture every interesting moment. Life seems to have gradually become a part of work.
Da Zhang Wei likes to collect figures. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
Da Zhang Wei's recent plan is to "learn to be in a deep daze and do nothing", he believes that this is a way to "save yourself", "I am a person who is easily anxious, I can't go on like this anymore, I want to save myself". In the past many years, working like a spinning top is the most secure of Zhang Wei. Now, 25 years after his debut, he feels that "I want to be really quiet", even if it's just a daze alone.
Later, I found out that I didn't love **, but I wanted to change the way of love. If I feel that I can only love one person, she must also love me, then if she doesn't love me, I am in pain for the rest of my life. ”
In the documentary on the 20th anniversary of his debut, Da Zhang Wei confessed: "What about 'China's No. 1 Punk'?Unimportant. The important thing is that I don't live in such a way that I feel like I'm alive. "It's important to be alive."”
During the live broadcast, Da Zhang Wei will agree with fans on the way to support each song in the concert. Da Zhang Wei, who often broadcasts live, is more to sing the songs he wants to sing. Picture Weibo @大张伟)
I just hope I'm still happy to live, and if it doesn't become the most important thing that makes me happy in the future, I can stop doing it. Not long ago, the topic of "restarting life" was hotly discussed, which touched Da Zhang Wei to a certain extent, "If I only do **, I can only live the same life."
Da Zhang Wei joked: "Maybe I will become a person who can make slippers or make mobile phone cases in the future, I think it's good, because it makes me live a different life." ”
Over the years, ** and the public have devoted themselves to digging into the other side behind Da Zhang Wei's banter, trying to uncover all the efforts, profundity and sensationalism that he tried so hard to hide, and expose his very different state from the spotlight.
A highly praised comment at the end of these articles reads: "The anxiety behind happiness is not the most worthy thing to write about in him, but the way to Xi happiness and the ability to provide happiness to others in anxiety is." ”
Supermarket frontman Tian Peng said that Da Zhang Wei was the one who "figured it out". (Picture "Lexia 3").
However, "being misunderstood is the fate of the expressor." ”
Whether it is the "talk" he relies on for a living or the ** he loves deeply, Da Zhang Wei has to express it, and he can only find an outlet by himself. "If everybody understands you, then what do you have to be?”
"Uncle Bird" Park Jae-sang, who also created many divine comedies, once borrowed Chaplin's famous words to evaluate Da Zhang Wei: "Life is a comedy from a distance, and a tragedy from a distance." Despite this, Da Zhang Wei still continues to use jokes to leave footnotes to his life, so that his life is still a comedy that can make people laugh easily.
Obviously, Da Zhang Wei has already figured it out. To live true to oneself is a kind of resistance, a kind of rock 'n' roll.