Interview｜Night Keepers: When insomnia, jump into their music barrier

Written by: frozen pear

Night Keepers When the Night Keepers was established in 2015, only the lead creator/keyboard Xu Zhang and drummer Qiwei. The two started from the game soundtrack and crossed over to independent music. In 2017, lead singer Zhi Ling and guitarist Jia Ying joined, and the night watchman evolved into version 2.0. In more than three years,

has released two works "Eternal Night Island" and "Good Night Manual". They use dreamy music to comfort the insomniac.

In October 2018, the Ninth Golden Tone Awards announced the shortlist. The "Countdown Beginning", which is a collaboration between Night Watcher and Ke Minxun, was shortlisted for the best folk single.

Use music to heal yourself and comfort others

The place Xu Zhang dreamed of when he was a child was a forest that was always in the dark. Opening his eyes, he may be sleeping in his home in Taipei, or he may have come to Hong Kong, Shanghai, or the United States.

Because of the work of the parents, Xu Zhang followed the bumps, and every time he made friends, he went to the next city, and his interpersonal relationship was ups and downs. Coupled with the time difference, Xu Zhang reversed day and night, and his longest friends were games and music. At that time, I loved red and white phones, and when he was in his 30s, Xu Zhang would occasionally play the remake version.

is the earliest way for Xu Zhang to talk to himself when he is alone at home. It is too expensive to buy a CD, so Xu Zhang adapted episodes from movies such as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Castle in the Sky" and played for himself. In the movie "Vanilla Sky", Paul McCartney's theme song "Vanilla Sky" of the same name prompted him to have the idea of ​​writing a soundtrack for the movie one day.

Xu Zhang likes the Canadian orchestra Broken Social Sense and the Chicago Orchestra Smashing Pumpkins, which calms him and can also shout out all kinds of depressed feelings. The parents of

let him learn piano, originally hoping that he can embark on the elite road. Entering Bunka University to study news and communication, Xu Zhang is not only good at piano but also the president of the school’s guitar club. He still took the elite line when he was in college. But the loneliness planted in his childhood can only be eliminated by music.

Around 2003, Zhang Xuan hadn't released a film yet, but he had already become famous in Taipei's cultural circle. Every time he went to the witch shop and other Livehouse performances, he would be full. 22-year-old Xu Zhang is one of the audience. Cycling listening to the iPod, repeating Zhang Xuan's "Stateless", seems to find an outlet for loneliness.

Xu Zhang later participated in the inter-school music competition "Hua Yun Award" and buried his love for music creation. At that time, Zhang Xuan served as a judge, so he got acquainted. Zhang Xuan released the album "City" in 2009 and started the tour in 2010. Xu Zhang was drawn into Zhang Xuan's Algae Orchestra as a keyboard player. In 2012, he participated in the production of the album "Game of Gods"... Xu Zhang decided to return to Taipei and focus on doing music. In addition to being a keyboard, arranger, and producer in the independent music and mainstream music industries, Xu Zhang established the "Ice Bird Studio", combining his childhood favorite games with music, and cooperating with the game company Reya Games for soundtracks. The

music game "Goodnight Alice" was launched in 2015. Xu Zhang collaborated with other musicians, so he met the drummer Qiwei. From middle school to university, Qiwei has been the main force of the swimming team. Training is under great pressure. In his spare time, he plays drums and vents with friends, plays music and mixes. When he graduated, he weighed the two and entered the music industry.

The rhythm of Foo Fighters and the steady rhythm of Red Hot Chili Peppers influenced Qi Wei deeply.

unexpectedly found that their respective creations fit well, so they discussed to do it together. It happened that Rhea Games held music carnivals in Taipei and Beijing that year. Musicians performed their own soundtracks for thousands of audiences in the form of an orchestra. Xu Zhang and Qiwei's orchestra were born before the event, named Night Keepers. Games and music often accompany human beings when they suffer from insomnia. Xu Zhang and Qiwei want to be the guardians of the night and comfort each other.

meets people with similar smells, we are needed

to do the soundtrack for game manufacturers, I don’t know when we were asked to be as passionate and lively as AKB48, Mingming Xuzhang and othersWei is both decadent and wasteful; returning to the night watchman himself, the music he makes may be soothing and psychedelic. The "fantasy" of

night watchman's music is a very important part, so female musicians such as Ke Mingxun and Johnson Huai have been invited to join. In 2016, the album "Eternal Night Island" was released, which included ten game music and original works, and the members were stable to three. But because of personal planning, the lead singer left the group. The members who have worked together come and go, and the most stable members of the band are Xu Zhang and Qiwei. The income of

’s works is not much, the box office of the performance has to accumulate slowly, the members’ creative ideas are not compatible, and they have to take care of their daily work...All kinds of practical problems, let the night watchman think, is it not ready for the life mode of the orchestra?

“I originally thought that the orchestra was not good enough, but the partners we met made us feel very powerful.”

In 2017, Xu Zhang was invited to serve as a judge for the Tamkang University Golden Shao Awards. In the competition, a 19-year-old Russian girl child Ling sang "Toxic" with a weird and dreamy voice. Although Zhiling did not win the prize, Xu Zhang asked her to join the night watchman after the game as the "sleepwalking lead singer."

Qi Wei thinks that Zhiling is "singing like a foreigner wearing a Chinese appearance."

Soon after, Xu Zhang, as a senior in the soundtrack session, participated in a creative symposium hosted by the Taipei City Government to exchange experience with students, and "collected" the current guitar Shou Jiaying: A girl who majored in film and taught himself music at Beijing University of Arts.

Jiaying nominated herself and gave her resume to Xu Zhang

. At the beginning of the next year, the night watchman released the EP "Goodnight User Manual", which ran out of Xu Zhang and Qiwei's savings. EP received a good response, but did not expect any follow-up.

In October 2018, the finalists for the Golden Tone Award were announced. Qiwei was sleeping that day, and Xu Zhang kept calling, saying that he was shortlisted for the Golden Sound Award. At that time, more than half a year had passed since the release, and Qiwei completely forgot that there was another selection: "We’ve been publishing the film for a long time? Shouldn’t this matter?" I saw it on the Internet and found that it was true. "Nominated for the Best Folk Single Award. The feedback on the

street sound website also gave the night watchman strength: the amount of audition is always beyond expectations, it seems that the crowd of street sound is similar. "It turns out that the music we make is needed and heard."

"Countdown Begins" has been played more than 65,000 times on the street.

More than 40,000 contact signals, floating in the night

"Good Night User Manual" is An EP is also a collection of words and paintings: discussing the problem of insomnia, and accompanying people who are alone at night. The content of the text is like the dos and don'ts of the old yellow calendar, encouraging everyone with verses.

Xu Zhang grew up to live alone and had the conditions to sleep well, but he automatically consciously lived in American time. There is no human interruption at night, and I continue to create in silence. Many lyrics and even meaningless short sentences are mostly from the time of self-exile in the middle of the night, as if the universe sent him a signal.

Childish Lingling Middle School began to have insomnia, and often read some novels to pass the time in the middle of the night. After joining the night watchman, strange thoughts often popped up and recorded with a mobile phone. The more I thought about it, the more I could not sleep.

Qiwei doesn't like to sleep. He returns home after a whole day, and this time belongs to himself. Listening to music, practicing musical instruments, watching movies, it's dawn accidentally. Jiaying's "insomnia" is written in her genes. She followed her family to sleep late from kindergarten, chatting with her family in the middle of the night and listening to music.

Two men are in their thirties and two girls are in their twenties. Their favorite games and animations are almost the same. A group of people like

have become the guardians of the night.

If you open the chat page of the night watchman Facebook fan page, you will see an AI version of the "Good Night Manual". Every day from 23:00 to 6:00, send thoughts in the dialog box. AI will reply to the good night signal poems based on keywords. These verses are from different netizens. More than 40,000 poems are like contact signals, floating in the sleepless night.

smashed the exam, emotional frustration, being made things difficult by the supervisor... Many times the backstage will receive stories like calls for help. If netizens have thoughts of hurting themselves, the night watchman will jump out: "We are real people and not AI, we can talk to you!" Some people alsoSo get through it.

"People who stay up all night may have a mental state. They need to wear a mask during the day to please others. Here, the night watchman can take off his arms and vent himself." The night watchman creates a barrier at night and takes in people who have nowhere to go.

holds a lightsaber in his hand and overcomes all obstacles

Light and darkness are the propositions that night watchmen have long discussed. Xu Zhang started from his childhood dreams and imagined that if there was an island with only dark night, how would the people live here?

The night watchman sets the first album "Eternal Night Island" in a game. For the audience, the "player", this is an island that is always in the dark, and no one will be abandoned. As long as the "player" is free, the island will emerge and can be reached through a dream.

Qiwei serves as the NPC character "disaster creator", will destroy their current life, rebuild the environment, and help everyone become impossible people in the "game" and escape the daytime life.

The image of group members in "Eternal Night Island"

After "Good Night Manual", the night watchman returns to the "dark night" in real life.

lives in the world, and many people will find support. Many people in the music industry also sign labels and companies. The feeling of "must rely on" makes Xu Zhang insecure and does not know what to do. So I wrote a "Sense of Belonging" to encourage all people who lack a sense of belonging and security.

Xu Zhang also launches a "good night signal" on Instagram.

Every New Year's Eve, Xu Zhang thinks of the melody of "The Countdown Starts". During the New Year's Eve at different locations and with different time differences, everyone basically huddled together and counted down noisily. After a long time, I was a little tired: Will it really become happy after the countdown? From last year to this year, are these people still my friends... Maybe someone wants to count down in a sad way, without pretending to be very passionate.

This is the first song written by Xu Zhang for himself, and I also got the collaboration of the first lead singer Ke Mingxun. With Ke Mingxun’s voice like a child, through "Countdown Begins" to give everyone an unfettered countdown.

In real life, many people are about to be unable to live, the night watchman said slyly, you have no problem, this is what the world owes you. "The things that change the form of life are not the major difficulties encountered, but the successive wear and tear in daily life." On New Year's Eve from 2018 to 2019, Jiaying was urged by the party A of the video soundtrack; Zhi Ling once One day after the performance and the exam, I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep all night... The night watchman, who is well versed in the pain of life, wrote the lyrics of "I'm Almost Unable to Live", but the singing and melody are deliberately pleasant and relaxing.

Whenever they perform, the goal of the night watchman is to let everyone relax.

The current night watchman is called version 2.0. "Bring The Light" is the first song made by four people.

do you believe there is a song, can help you slow down the time around you? Do you believe that someone is like you, also wants to raise his hand and cry out, and also want to cry out bravely? Let us use the time of a song to practice repeatedly, let you see clearly your own strength, at least these few minutes, we can relax, well, let people who want to find you, see you Light and signal.

The Night Watchman’s Dream-pop dream rock is like a child holding a lightsaber in the dark, or just a small flashlight, shining wildly in a typhoon, to embolden himself.

This may be the starting point of Night Watchman 2.0. Whether it is insomnia or loneliness, there is always a slight light in the dark.

// Easter eggs //

SV: What is the game you are addicted to recently? How is the music inside?

Xu Zhang: "Onmyoji". I have been protecting my soul from the liver, and I got a big tengu at the New Year's Eve. Study the mobile game of "Reaper", catch Pokémon with Qiwei, play Switch, and re-enact the red and white machine... "Onmyoji""The orchestral and electronic elements in "match the historical background of the Heian period.

Qiwei: "Diablo". The game soundtrack is biased towards classical epic, and the soundtrack used for fierce fights is very contrasting. I will think about why it is used in this way.

Juvenile Ling: "Onmyoji". And the more dreamy pet game, music game "Cytus".

Jiaying: "Legend Showdown" ("King of Glory" Taiwan server version). Super surging, a bunch of boys in the Internet cafe "wow--" and then scolded swear words. Later, I watched behind-the-scenes films of music and special effects and found that the music was made by Hans Zimmer (Editor's note: Hans Zimmer, a German film score composer and music producer, won the Oscar for Best Original Music Award for "The Lion King", "Inception", "Twelve Years as a Slave", "Interstellar" and other production soundtracks).

When I go wandering

If I want to live in an uninhabited place for a long time, I can only bring three records, a book, and a daily necessities. What is your choice?

// Xu Zhang//

- Record-

Smashing Pumpkins "Adore"

Pushu "Summer Flowers"

The Postal Service "GiveUp"

- Book-

zzz2 Goodnight 1zzzzzzzzzzz2 Goodnight 6zzzzzzzzzz2 Goodnight 6zzzzzzz Bag

(I like to sleep against a bag full of water)

// Qiwei//

- Record-

Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Californication" (favorite one)

PREP "Futures"