Interview 走访 | 鸡毛信 Jimaoxin
鸡毛信 Jimaoxin
来自杭州的鸡毛信乐队，偏重于迷幻音乐分支中的宇宙和爵士乐方向的挖掘和扩展。他们像一支厌倦了在贵宾室给别人演奏的即兴乐队，突然开始运用自己的技巧手法，转而创造出更为宏大管弦乐，又模糊不清的音乐，伴随有更多趣味性。它在某一时刻是不紧不慢的——歌曲以蜿蜒曲折的间奏或乐器对峙的方式开始——片刻之后，每个人都跳进了隐藏在肌底深处的旋律中，而你甚至没有意识到这一点。它的怪异和复杂，几乎掩盖了旋律上的流行性，这让人不禁想起了Radiohead、Kikagaku Moyo，甚至还有the Beatles的音乐——但实际上，他们所创造出的声音世界自成一体。鸡毛信乐队将于1月20号在育音堂演出
Q: 单曲循环 《Feel So Right》快一百遍了，我每次听的音轨都不一样，好像每个人都在solo，只是恰好在同一个时空。我很好奇，这首歌到底是怎么写出来的？
A: 这首歌的动机是我用了一个Open E 的调弦，并试图在这个调弦中弹出一些印度音阶。当然鸡毛信的歌永远和动机差得非常远，我们在中间的一些配合甚至是拍摄前一天才决定的。我经常在开车的时候把自己当作杭州市长去视察这座城市，所以在拍摄当天我决定把自己当作Lou reed 去演唱这首歌。And buddy ，一百遍也太多了，教你一句中文：来日方长。
Q: 第一次听鸡毛信，感觉像一支厌倦了在贵宾室给别人演奏的即兴乐队，突然决定玩自己的，我猜得对吗？你们是怎么聚到一起的？分别有什么音乐背景？在音乐上你们有什么想实现的目标吗？
A: “厌倦了在贵宾室给别人演奏的即兴乐队”，这句话让我感觉在看一个话唠的英国导演在电影中的旁白。鸡毛信组队这件事情非常偶然， 总归是恰到好处的结合。据我所知鼓手想拿格莱美，并觉得鸡毛信的歌非常难听。我们在去年底录完了我们的第一张专辑，我是一个谦虚的人，这些录音中仍有太多的粗糙之处。看了某自媒体评选的华语地区年度一百大单曲，我认为这些录音中的每一首都可以进入前十。再次强调，我是一个谦虚的人。顺便再啰嗦一句，这首歌并不在录音中，这首歌更像是一个小品或者开胃甜点。
Q:在你们的音乐里，我听到了各种风格的痕迹，从Lou Reed到日本迷幻流行都有涉及。到底哪种音乐最能启发你们呢？你们最后会走迷幻路线吗？
A: 我认为这支乐队和迷幻乐并无太多联系，当然我本人算半个迷幻音乐的爱好者。甚至这支乐队的第一首歌我就用了一个很经典的迷幻音乐和弦走向（The Brian Jonestown Massacre和 Psychic Ills都用过），可惜的是我的队友没有意识到这一点，甚至试图改变我的和弦。这也是玩乐队的可贵之处，所以迷幻乐不重要。我时常觉得和出租车司机聊天比和一位乐手聊天更有意思。
Q: 我发现一个有意思的点，你们和其他迷幻乐队不太一样，没那么严肃，却自成一派。是不是有很多自身性格因素影响到创作和演出呢？
A: 重申，鸡毛信不是一个迷幻乐队。我怀疑我的队友压根不听迷幻音乐。鼓手是格莱美梦想者，贝斯手讲究“共振”“当下”这些概念，可以认为是一位爵士乐手，吉他手前年才弹电吉他，之前一直在弗拉门戈领域深耕。
Q: 这几年我觉得杭州很不错，可以亲近自然，也可以密接地下音乐。你们觉得杭州的音乐艺术现场发展得怎么样？
A: 杭州的音乐现场和很多上海人把杭州当后花园一样，显得有些傲慢和摇摇欲坠。
Q: 说起来，你们可以介绍一下杭州的秘密据点Suffering Ballroom吗？
A: 机缘巧合之下和朋友的一拍即合，一步错步步错，错着爱，爱着错。
Q: 终于要上海首演了！为什么等了这么久？有哪些演出看点？
A: 非常兴奋！！！！！Man! Cant wait !由于疫情和录音的关系已经好几个月没有上台，感觉自己是吃饱饱的老牛，也想尽情耕耘一下上海的摇滚圣地。
问了我这么多问题，我也问你一个。做这么一个自媒体显然是吃不饱饭的，为何坚持做这个事情？
Editor's Answer: 因为我固执并且盲目地迷恋音乐，以及其产生的巨大能量
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ENGLISH
Leaning into the cosmic and jazz-heavy end of the psychedelic genre - with an almost irrelevant madcap edge to their edifice – Hangzhou’s JiMaoXin 鸡毛信 – feel very much like a jam band who got bored of being lounge room mercenaries and started honing their skills into something more orchestrated, sonically ambiguous, and indefinitely more fun. It's unfastened one moment - with songs that kick off with meandering ramshackle interludes or dueling instruments - only a moment later clicking into place, with everyone jumping in on the groove you didn't even realize was lurking beneath. Its quirks and instrumental intricacies barely disguising the melodic pop sensibilities that evokes everything from Radiohead to Kikagaku Moyo and yes, even to the Beatles – but really, they're a world of sound unto itself. Jimaoxin will perform this Thursday, January 20th at Yuyintang.
Q: I’ve listened to ‘Feel So Right’ nearly one hundred times since you put it out - I find myself focusing on a different instrument each time through - everyone seems to be on their own wavelength yet at the same time not? It begs the question - how does a song like ‘Feel So Right’ come together?
A: The motif for the song was some Indian scales in an Open E tuning. Of course the Jimaoxin’s song is never very close to the motif, and some of our fits in the middle were not even decided until the day before the shoot. I often think of myself as the mayor of Hangzhou inspecting the city when I'm driving around, so on the day of the shoot I decided to sing the song as if I were Lou reed. And buddy, a hundred times is too many, to teach you a Chinese phrase: Come to the future.
Q: When I first caught you guys I was convinced you were perhaps a hotel band that got sick of playing the same old lounge room jams and decided to go off on your own — am I at all close? How did you all come together? What kind of musical backgrounds does each of you come from? Did you all know what you wanted to accomplish musically?
A: "Tired of playing in the lounge room jams" is a line that makes me feel like I'm watching a talking head British director narrating a movie. The forming of Jimaoxin was very serendipitous, but just the right combination. As far as I know the drummer wants to win a Grammy and found the songs of Jimaoxin very hard to listen to. We finished the recording of our first album at the end of last year, and as I'm a modest guy, there's still too much roughness in these recordings. But looking at the top 100 singles of the year in the Mandarin region as selected by a self-publisher, I think every single one of these recordings could be in the top 10. I have to emphasize again, I'm a modest person. By the way, the songis not on the recording, it's more like a skit or an appetizer dessert.
Q: I hear traces of just about everything in your music - from Lou Reed at his most bewildering to Japanese psychedelic pop. What kind of music inspires you? Do you consider yourself a psychedelic band at the end of the day?
A: I don't think this band has much to do with psychedelic music, though I'm half a fan of psychedelic music. Even the first song of the band I used a classic psychedelic chord progression (from both The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Psychic Ills). But unfortunately my bandmates didn't realize that and even tried to change my chords. That's what makes playing in a band so valuable, psychedelic music doesn't matter. From time to time I find it more interesting to talk to a cab driver than to a musician.
Q: There’s a madcap irrelevance to your music that I find refreshing - music of this genre can oftentimes take itself too seriously but you seem to have found the perfect tone. How much of your personalities are embedded in your music and performances?
A: To reiterate, Jimaoxin is not a psychedelic band. I doubt my bandmates ever listen to psychedelic music at all. The drummer is a Grammy dreamer, the bassist is all about "resonance" and "in the moment”, can be considered as a jazz musician, and the guitarist started to play electric guitar only a year ago and played a lot of flamenco before that.
Q: I’ve come to appreciate Hangzhou over the past few years - for both its proximity to green mountains and its down-to-earth music scene. What’re your thoughts on how the music and art scene has developed in recent years?
A: The Hangzhou music scene, like many Shanghainese who treat Hangzhou as their backyard, seems a bit arrogant and shaky.
Q: Speaking of which, can you tell me about Suffering Ballroom, one of Hangzhou’s best-kept secrets?
A: A coincidence, a friend, and a chime. A step wrong, all steps wrong, wrong love, love wrong.
Q: This will be your Shanghai debut! What took so long? What can audiences expect?
A: Very excited!!!! Man! Can’t wait! Due to the pandemic and recording, we haven’t been on stage for months, I feel like I am a well-fed old cow, but also want to plow the holy land of rock in Shanghai.
After asking me so many questions, I'll ask you one too. Why do you insist on doing this self-media thing, while it's obvious that you can't get enough to fed yourself?
Editor's Answer: Stubbornness, blind obession and a love for music and all its persusaion
Your editor in five years time
Translation: Xiu/Fanmu/Angeldust
Photo Credits: Band/LiveChinaMusic