Interview: Chui Wan

The four-piece experimental rock group, Chui Wan, has earned quite the reputation in the past years for their exotic, funky, psychedelic, borderline-schizophrenic music. Before their show this weekend opening for Snapline, I was able to ask their members – Yan Yulong (vocals/guitar/keyboard), Liu Xinyu (guitar), Wu Qiong (bass/vocals) and Josh Feola (drums), a few questions to get a better sense of what exactly is going on in their heads’.

1) I, for one, hate trying to define to find what a band’s sound is – for those who have no frame of reference to who you guys are, how would you describe yourselves?

JF: I always describe Chui Wan as \”psychedelic noise\” or \”noisy psychedelic rock\” but I\’m not sure how accurately that conveys the sound of the band.

WQ: The four of us like different kinds of music. I like Captain Beefheart, The Red Crayola, Beach Boys, The Residents, some German bands, Japanese, even from West African countries, like Ethiopa. I like Chinese Guqin. A lot of modern music – we try to add much of our favorite things into our music.

LX: Our style is psychedelic rock – erratic at the core, and combined with many other unrelated influences

YY: We’re a high band

2) Many of the members are regulars of the experimental scene at D-22, and currently XP – how much does improvisation play into your music?

JF: As a whole it\’s pretty important. Actually the bass and drums don\’t change much; there isn\’t much improvisation involved there. But the other elements (namely Yan Yulong and Liu Xinyu) of the music are very fluid and change almost every time the songs are played. Some of our newer songs have improvisational sections built in.

LX: More than half of our songs we’ll improvise while in rehearsal – afterwards, we’ll take the recordings and pick out what works, and think about the structure of the songs – and then return to the rehearsal room with that in mind, improvise a bit more, and so on – working it in stages. Later on, if Yulong and Josh have some ideas, they’ll add it into the mix as well.

ZQ: We had the idea once to do a whole show of improvisation but it didn’t pan out – perhaps in the future.

3) What’s the process of creating new material? Do you all have to set down ground rules whilst coming up with new material or does it just turn into a free-for-all?

ZQ: In real life, there are enough rules so we try to avoid these as much as possible when we play and have fun – “feeling it” is ten thousands times more important.

LX: Of course we don’t follow the rules – it’s always better to play as natural as you can. When you get that feeling it’s amazing – sometimes if you feel it you can work up to three songs a month – but if you don’t you may come up with nothing for two or three months straight. Naturally, I still follow my own style subconsciously – and with our four styles there you have Chui Wan’s style.

YY: We really try to focus on the details within our music while coming up with new ideas

JF: I\’m probably the least involved in the actual songwriting. Xiao Long taught Wu Qiong how to play bass and they live together, and Liu Xinyu sometimes crashes there, so they go through a long process of getting the basics of new material down before we\’re ever all in a practice room together. Usually I just start playing the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear a new song they\’ve been working on and that usually is the beat I end up using on the \”final version\”. But there really isn\’t a \”final version\” of any Chui Wan song.

4) Audiences usually bring in their own expectations before a show – is there any enjoyment out of playing with the musical form, changing arrangements, and going off the beaten path and seeing how the audience reacts?

ZQ: I think about it, but it seems we don’t change up too much during the shows – our shows are never that crazy to begin with

JF: Yeah, I think it\’s pretty important that we change things up because we don\’t have a very deep catalogue and otherwise people that see us more than once in a short period of time will just see the exact same set. I don\’t think about the audience\’s expectations as much as what I would be experiencing if I were an audience member seeing the same band twice in two weeks, and how I might not bore this hypothetical audience member.

LX: The main ingredients can’t be changed by the audience, but sometimes because of the atmosphere we may change small things like the rhythm, or the tone to

YY: Overall we follow the plan

5) Just about all of you play in other bands and side projects? How does this cross-pollination of ideas and music help you progress? Does it ever become a hindrance being so damn busy?

JF: There are a ton of bands made up of a pretty small nucleus of people, including Chui Wan and a lot of other bands/solo projects centered around Zoomin\’ Night and now XP (as you mentioned above). Playing in different combinations and contexts helps refine each person\’s aesthetic and builds performance chops, and also keeps the music from being too locked down stylistically. Most of the Zoomin\’ Night bands (including Chui Wan) don\’t really focus on writing \”hits\” in the \”Zhong Nan Hai\” tradition, which I think is a result of this. On the other hand it can be annoying when you have to plan your band\’s schedule around 10 other bands.

ZQ: That’s why I told Yan and Liu to stop starting new bands

LX: I don’t agree, I think that playing in two bands is very relaxing. Sometimes if you ‘re too busy in one band – you’ll have a headache and as a result no ideas. Now playing in two different styled bands, you can broaden your ideas, giving the chance for both of your bands to progress

YY: The wider the view the better – with more ideas there will be more attempts – I think it’s a good influence.

6) What’s next for Chui Wan?

JF: Later in June we\’re playing in Hangzhou and Shanghai as part of the Maybe Mars 5th anniversary tour series. We\’re finishing the mix on our debut LP which hopefully will be out late summer/early fall.

ZQ: Yeah, visiting a lots of cities – I didn’t travel this year so it’ll be fun!

LX: The album is being mixed by Yang Fan, guitarist of Ourself Beside Me – perhaps a tour along with that when it’s finally out.

YY: Continue making new material, new songs, new progressions – step-by-step.

Thanks Chui Wan for the time. Don’t forget to check out their douban page and see them play this Saturday, the 2nd, at Yugong Yishan with Snapline and Fat City. Also, if you happen to be in Hangzhou on the 22nd or Shanghai the 23rd, you can catch them playing alongside other Maybe Mars bands for their 5th Anniversary Tour. Here’s another video to get a taste of their sound.

Click below for the full, un-translated version.

1)我是其中一个不喜欢定义乐队音乐风格的人。但对于尚未接触到你们音乐的朋友来说，你们能描述一下你们的乐队吗？

WQ: 我们四个人喜欢的音乐都不一样。
我喜欢Captain Beefheart、The Red Crayola、Beach Boys、The Residents等等；一些德国的乐队；一些日本的音乐；一些西非国家的音乐，比如Ethiopia；也喜欢中国的古琴。
还有现在新的音乐。
可能我们就是在摇滚乐里尽可能的加一些自己也喜欢的东西。

LX: 我觉得吹万的风格在迷幻摇滚左右，飘忽不定，我们几个除了迷幻摇滚之外还喜欢很多别的不相干风格的音乐，算是个以迷幻摇滚为中心的融合吧。

YY： 我们可能是一个比较飞的乐队吧。

JF： I always describe Chui Wan as \”psychedelic noise\” or \”noisy psychedelic rock\” but I\’m not sure how accurately that conveys the sound of the band…

2）大多数你们的乐队成员都是 D-22, 和现在的XP experimental scene的常客。你们的音乐中有多少是即兴发挥出来的。

ZQ：乐队排练的时候，经常会即兴，如果有一段大家即兴得很好，就试试把它编成一首歌。
有一次我们想在现场即兴，但那场演出后来取消了。以后吧，也许会即兴演一场。

LX： 大概有一半的歌是大家闷在排练室即兴排出来的，排完回家整理几个小时的录音，挑出好的部分，再想想歌曲结构之类，下次继续排，一首歌就陆续完成了。后期更多歌是小龙和弥散在家中想出几小节的新动机，大家就一块即兴加入自己的东西。

YY： 有很多，排练时的即兴很重要。

JF: As a whole it\’s pretty important. Actually the bass and drums don\’t change much, there isn\’t much improvisation involved there. But the other elements (namely Yan Yulong and Liu Xinyu) of the music are very fluid and change almost every time the songs are played. Some of our newer songs have improvisational sections built in.

3） 新的作品的产生需要遵守一定的程序吗？还是当感觉到了自然就有了。

ZQ： 生活里的程序太多，玩乐队尽可能的有乐也有趣。感觉比程序重要1万倍。

LX： 当然不需遵守，还是自然发挥比较好，我喜欢自然一点。感觉这个东西很神奇，有的时候感觉到了我们一个月会排出三首新歌，有时则两三个月排不出歌儿。不过虽然是自然发挥，也会有自己无意间遵守的自我风格存在，四个人一起也就形成了吹万的风格。

YY: 这倒没有，大家都会提供动机，不过有很多细节是反复推敲的。

JF: I\’m probably the least involved in the actual songwriting. Xiao Long taught Wu Qiong how to play bass and they live together, and Liu Xinyu sometimes crashes there, so they go through a long process of getting the basics of new material down before we\’re ever all in a practice room together. Usually I just start playing the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear a new song they\’ve been working on and that usually is the beat I end up using on the \”final version\”. But there really isn\’t a \”final version\” of any Chui Wan song.

4) 在一场演出前观众一般都有自己的期望。你们会不会更加享受现场改变你们的乐风，对你们的演出做一些调整。改变你们的鼓点看现场观众有何反映？

ZQ: 想了想好像我们从来没临时加过什么桥段，而且我们的现场并没那么火爆。

LX: 主要的东西不会因为现场而改，但偶尔几个音符的律动，或者某个音色之类可能因为现场气氛的影响会做些即兴的小改动。

YY: 会有一些，但是总体算是稳定的。还是按照自己的计划。

JF： Yeah, I think it\’s pretty important that we change things up because we don\’t have a very deep catalogue and otherwise people that see us more than once in a short period of time will just see the exact same set. I don\’t think about the audience\’s expectations as much as what I would be experiencing if I were an audience member seeing the same band twice in two weeks, and how I might not bore this hypothetical audience member…

5) 你们同样也在另外一支乐队演出。这种音乐和想法的交叉如何让你们不断的进步？你们现在如此的繁忙会不会对你们的发展有影响？

ZQ: 所以我对闫玉龙和刘心宇说，求你们俩别再组其他乐队了….

LX: 我反而觉得玩两支乐队是件很让人放松的事情，有时一直在一个乐队中忙碌，最后很可能头疼，没想法，深陷泥潭。而这样同时深处在两支风格不同乐队里，可以让你交叉产生更多不同的想法，也会使两支乐队同时进步。

YY: 视野越宽越好；大家的想法都很多，当然会有更多的尝试。我觉得是好的影响

JF： There are a ton of bands made up of a pretty small nucleus of people, including Chui Wan and a lot of other bands/solo projects centered around Zoomin\’ Night and now XP (as you mentioned above). Playing in different combinations and contexts helps refine each person\’s aesthetic and builds performance chops, and also keeps the music from being too locked down stylistically. Most of the Zoomin\’ Night bands (including Chui Wan) don\’t really focus on writing \”hits\” in the \”Zhong Nan Hai\” tradition, which I think is a result of this. On the other hand it can be annoying when you have to plan your band\’s schedule around 10 other bands…

6) 对于吹万来说，下一步的计划是什么？

ZQ: 再过几个月，我们就会发行第一张专辑，接下来也会参加兵马司策划的5周年巡演，会去很多城市。今年我没还旅游过，等着到时候好好玩一玩！

LX: 混音，发行专辑。现在专辑正在由ourself beside me的吉他手杨帆做混音工作中。也可能为专辑发行顺便做个小巡演。

YY： 我的计划就是多做新歌，做更有意思的歌。一直进步吧。

JF： Later in June we\’re playing in Hangzhou and Shanghai as part of the Maybe Mars 5th anniversary tour series. We\’re finishing the mix on our debut LP which hopefully will be out late summer/early fall.