Not Regular Friend

Not much DT news, hopefully he is having a good break as his album promo will start again nxt wk in various parts of TW. Watched A date with Lu Yu & it was really nice & intimate, not controversial as mostly stuff we already know abt David -- his childhood, LAPD stint, etc. They used Regular Friends as the theme, introducing those close to him who are Not Regular Friends starting with his parents & ending with his fans where many DTFC mbrs were also in the audience. The most touching moment was when Lu Yu asked a male mbr to sing Melody & everybody sang along including David. It was no ordinary idol/fan relationship. David shares the deepest friendship, love, respect & trust with DTFC. When he was chatting with Lu Yu, he kept looking around & smiling with so much warmth in his eyes.
I remembered during one of his radio interview in China, a male fan called & said that he would be attending his autograph session & could they be friends? David at once answered of cos we can be friends & you know he was not just saying it, he meant it. Another nice moment was when they actually hid a lipbalm under 1 of the seats & the lucky lady who found it was invited to apply on David's lips like SP concert ^__^ When he was asked why a lot of record companies wanted to sign him for his 1st album, he said it was cos a lot of ppl at that time had heard the demos he recorded for the many singers for whom he was producer. He is really such an unique character. Most singers want to become singers cos they wanna sing. He was actually quite contented to work in the studio & became a singer cos others thought he could sing.
Really interesting interview here where he answered to various criticism of Tai Mei Li, tried to translate so as to get the gist cos its really enlightening:
Point 1 = Too bland
"When I listen to this album I find it is extremely rich. I find that my previous albums do not have such consistent style. I am always trying to achieve a very consistent album. If in Beautiful, there is suddenly a song like Black Tangerine or Ghost, then do you think this album will become more interesting? To me, the feeling will be extremely forced."
Most Chinese albums having many different styles. "But if you do this in Europe or US, the acceptance could be very low. Because if suddenly after a slow song, there is a very explosive song, how would you feel?" So David do not think Beautiful is bland. "In this album there is a lot of struggles, a lot of black and white, also a little grey."
Point 2 = Groundbreaking
How can music be grounbreaking? "To be groundbreaking for the sake of groundbreaking, that will not be my intention. I feel that if you deliberately want to do something, it will not be comparably to just doing something and then find that it's really good. Like childbirth, every mother will hope that her unborn son will be tall, handsome and strong. But one cannot predict what the unborn child will be like. It's the same with an album. If you are really a musician, sometimes it can be hard to know what the result will be. If you are not a musician but a singer, your staff can help you prepare an album called Beautiful where you can first select the type of songs then later look for ppl to work on them. In the market now, 80% of the things are done like that."
In his new album, David said there are some different stuff. "If you want to talk about music style, I have done something that has not been done in Chinese music - that's SOUL, more towards the 60s. Most of the drumming in the album are from real drums not a drum machine, which is similar to the 60s where real instruments are used to record a song. Not like now where music synthesizers are used in place of instruments. This is a sincere way of writing love songs."
Although David admitted the album may not sound very high or inventive. "It could be today's environment, everybody's taste is heavier. So they need to see something very outstanding then they will feel it's fresh. But after making music for a period of time, I don't wanna do such thing, like if you listen to Sting, you will not suddenly have something very strange coming out. But if you listen to Black-eyed Peas, you will find many different things jumping out."
Point 3 = Nostalgia
"I feel I am still passionate about a lot of things but only that this album is not suitable to represent this side of things. If you are 20, you will be living for today and will think of social issues. But if you are past 30, you will become more nostalgic, you will be more aware of the passing of time and youth. Which is why my songs are talking about this. They are talking about the courage of love, the importance of time and youth. That's reason why these are the topics of Tai Mei Li."
To a writer, it is very cynical that popular singers are always singing love songs but hiding their real-life relationships. Sometimes it requires real courage for a musician to express their real feelings.
David agreed, "After finishing this album , a lot of media are rumor-driven. At that time I really hope my music in the album can be revealing. What you heard is what I am thinking and not something that is representative or hidden, not wanting to let you know. That is why I hope my work can be honest and realistic, but that do require a bit of courage, not to mention you can often be misunderstood."
Point 4 = Commercialism
In one album, we discovered 4 commerical songs. "Not four, but three songs. It will be great if there are really four! Actually to me, commercialism may not be a bad thing. You can be commercial but not to betray music. To me, I will try my best to make sure the music is still meaningful. Of course I will also have to follow the brief of the advertiser."
"Actually I feel like I am in between. If I don't have a few commercials, there would not be the publicity generated so people can see me, so I am sorry but you are not popular. But if people keep seeing me, they will feel I have become commercialised. I have encountered these 2 situations. For instance some fans have said to me, David why do you want to film that commerical, if you did not we will love you more. I said that's right but if I do not film then you will not be able to see me. I am on tv and radio, if not for these ways, there is no other to enable more people to recognise you, for this reason. Alternatively I heard some fans said to me, David why don't you film more commercials like Jay & Leehom. Later there is another opinion, that's why I feel in the middle there should be agreement about your intention."