Sirens: Interview with SingerSen

What was the inspiration behind the Sirens EP?

在伦敦7天的工作时间里,我和Guy简直是超常发挥,我们从无到有,作词作曲编曲录音制作,7天我们共完成4首歌曲。《塞壬》是这期间完成的最后一首歌。我记得当时我在即兴的哼唱着,然后我们把这些小旋律录制修改一番,然后再配合整体音乐聆听,听着听着,Guy突然问我,你此时此刻想到了什么,我说我感觉自己在飞,并且很冷很孤独,在高高的山顶或者冬季的海洋上面,天很阴。。。Guy很兴奋,他说他感觉也是在辽阔的海面上飞。然后他突然说,你听说过塞壬吗?然后他找到一幅描写塞壬的古典绘画,并且讲了这个传说给我。我当时就意识到自己的鸡皮疙瘩都起来了,于是兴奋的拿起笔很快的就把《塞壬》这首词按自己的想象写出来,并且一气呵成,只字未改。

In the seven days in London, Guy and I were performing at extraordinary levels. We produced four songs in the seven days, including composing, lyrics writing, rearranging, recording and post-production.

Sirens was the last of these songs during that time. I remember at the time, I was just humming, and then we would record these tunes, edit them and listen to it with the rest of the music. As we were listening, Guy suddenly asked me what I was thinking of, and I said I felt like I was flying, cold and lonely, on a tall mountaintop or a wintery sea. The sky was gloomy… Guy was excited and he said he also felt like he was flying on the sea. He later asked me if I had heard of Sirens? He found an ancient painting of Sirens and told me the legends.

I immediately felt something and quickly wrote the lyrics for it based on my imaginations. We didn’t change a word of the lyrics.

How different is it recording an album like Sirens, and then having to perform it on a live show?

正如大家看到的,我在追求属于我自己的音乐,并且不计任何代价的付诸行动,因为我需要表达我自己,我不希望被任何事情任何东西束缚,即便追求这种另类原创音乐在中国很艰难,很孤独。寻着别人的脚步走路一定是简单容易的,但是那是别人愿意去做的,而我,我更喜欢自己开辟一条陌生的路出来,它是很艰难,但是在这么做的时候,我才会感觉自己的存在,自己的价值,路上遇到的每一份快乐和每一份疼痛都在提醒着:我活着。在我发行了这张EP和带着我的乐队参加了一些像中国张北音乐节这样15万人观看的重量级演出后,我得到了意想不到的收获。我的观众他们爱我的音乐,他们爱我的现场演出,他们要求我给予他们更多。我的一些视频甚至在网络上点击率早已经超过了500万次。现在我每天都会从我的官方网站SingerSen上,还有YouTube、Twitter、Facebook、Weibo、Youku等网站上面收到我的乐迷们发给我的留言和鼓励,这是最让我开心的事!

Like everyone can see, I’m pursuing music that belongs to me, and don’t care about the costs because I want to express myself without any constraints, even if pursuing such alternative music in China is very difficult and lonely.

Walking in others’ footsteps may be easy and simple, but that’s their wishes. Me, I like creating my own strange path. It’s difficult, but only when doing so can I feel my existence and value. Every joy and pain on this road reminds me that I’m alive.

After I released this EP and took my band to join some major performances like China’s Zhangbei Music Festival, which has over 150,000 attendees, I had a lot of surprising gains. The audience loved my music and performances and asked for more. Some of videos online even had over five million hits . Now, everyday I receive support and comments from my fans on my Official Website, as well as on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Weibo, Youku, etc.

This makes me very happy.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

10 Responses

  1. Camiele says:

    Ummm…. she seems like the most fun EVER! I’m defniitely gonna have to listen to her. She takes a very Icelandic approach to her music. I only say that because the Icelandic artists that I’ve listened to tend to start with nature and allow it to shape the way they make music. I love this earthiness, this organic and untouched way of creating music. It’s beautiful. And she seems just as beautiful.

    • amy says:

      @Camiele, she does. And at the same time… not. It’s a mix of Icelandic/Chinese, she does have Chinese ethnic influences in her electronic music – a little bit like Sa Dingding does, but at the same time the both of them have very distinct Chinese ethnic influences. xD

      You should def. check her out – her album review has a link for streaming. :)

  2. Stephanie Chan says:

    SingerSen is so awesome!!! Thanks for introducing me to her stuff :D Can’t stop listening to her music, and I love her style~

  3. margot says:

    omgosh, Amy. Thank you so much for this interview! It’s great. I’ve just found SingerSen not even 2 hours ago and I’m already addicted. I look forward to her full length album.. if it hasn’t been released yet, I’m still researching her. haha;;

    • amy says:

      Hi @margot, glad to see you commenting!! xD It’s easy to get addicted to SingerSen’s sound. I haven’t heard from her full length yet, but she did have a new EP out early in the year called Ghost Street.

      • margot says:

        @amy, Thanks~ I’m usually a silent reader/follower ^^;; and yes!!! I actually stumbled upon the Chinese version of Ghost Street on tumblr and it took off from there. The song Drunk and its MV really got me. They’re so unique it’s hard NOT to like it. Although I suppose it would also depend on the person who hears/sees it.

  4. Surreal18 says:

    I really like SingerSen.I’ve just discovered her music one week ago and I feel fascinated about her unique style & voice.Interesting interview.

  1. January 20, 2013

    […] more about SingerSen in her interview with Amy from YAM here and watch the MV […]

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