The end of the year is here, and many people go to the Northeast with an acoustic guitar on their backs. He was invited to participate in a New Year's Eve concert held in Laobei City, Shenyang. This young man from the south wrote, "The wild geese fly south, but I go further north." In the 24th year of his life as a northern drifter, this young man from the south wrote, "The wild geese fly south, and I go further north."
Many is the lead singer and guitarist of the barn band. The band once sang for migrant workers for twenty years under the name of the New Workers Band. They became famous and passed through the golden age of rock music.
Five years ago, this rock band decided to sing for the village. They set off from the city and went into the fields, ancient villages and old lanes, sang voluntarily for farmers, and composed songs for the villages. They called this the "Village Song Project". Many said that the band hopes to compose village songs for a hundred villages, and currently, the project is more than halfway progressed.
Lead singer and guitarist of The Barn - many. Picture provided by the interviewee
From city to village
The launch of the village song project was not a temporary enthusiasm.
In 2017, Duo Duo and his band mates drove two cars and toured rural areas across the country. The furthest one, they sang all the way from Beijing to Guangxi. "Society has developed to the point where cities need to feed back the countryside. We see more and more people choosing to return or go to the countryside." This is why the Barn Band chooses to leave the city. They are like children, crazily absorbing information about the countryside. All in one month, we can walk through more than 20 villages.
many and barn band members. Picture provided by the interviewee
Many people get their creative passion from this “country tour”. He said: "I saw the vitality of the countryside. The village is eager to be seen by the outside world, and the villagers have strong spiritual needs." Just like the workers during the wave of migrant workers in the city, the villagers also want to express themselves and long for a spiritual outlet.
"We will basically sing the band's original songs, and then some folk songs and ballads." Many played the guitar and hummed softly on the simple stage set up in the village. The villagers in the audience swayed to the music. Many said, " The villagers are also sensitive to music. Even the illiterate older generation can respond to the pitch of the voice. This is the appeal of music."
So the barn band decided to sing for the village. In 2018, the village song project was officially launched. The promoter Duo Duo and other members of the band went to the villages for research, and they turned their attention to the villages. In the past five years, the Barn Band has researched nearly a hundred villages, and currently has created and composed village songs for more than fifty villages.
In 2022, the Barn Band officially changed its name. Many said that this meant producing organic spiritual food for the countryside. In addition to many lead singers and guitarists, there are also lead singer Sun Heng, drummer Jiang Guoliang, bassist Allen, guitarist Xue Qinshuai, and saxophone player Kang Yan. Many said: "When we get together, we use music to express ourselves."
band members are not always together, they each have their own division of labor. For example, during village surveys, when Sun Heng went to the mountains to go to the countryside, many would go to more business performances to earn some activity funds. Eight years ago, Duo Duo and his members moved to Pinggu District and established Tongxin Music Commune. The farm in front of the compound was filled with peach trees and served as a venue for the band's daily activities.
The Barn Band established Tongxin Music Commune in Pinggu and held singing activities. Picture provided by the interviewee
Every spring, peach blossoms bloom everywhere, the petals float in the sound of music, and a pink rain nourishes the hearts of wandering wanderers. Many people say that they like the changes of the four seasons, the exuberance of spring, the heat of summer, the desolation of autumn, and the tranquility of winter. Time flies in the reincarnation, and these young people who were in their early twenties and sang vernacular against reality have reached the age of not being confused in the blink of an eye.
"But the use of music to express this matter has not changed." Many members of the band are still using music instead of expression. In the past, they sang for workers, sang about the boredom on the factory assembly line, and sang about the spirit behind the rapid development of materials. Scarcity, and now they turn their attention to the countryside, singing about the beauty of the village and the desire of the village.
My hometown is everywhere
“Go out of this city and find your hometown."
These are many words written in the song "My Hometown". Over the years, he has been heading north, moving towards the original intention in his heart. However, the young man has been walking stubbornly for many years. When he turned around and looked back, he asked Where is my hometown? Many answers were, "When I walked into the countryside, I discovered that my hometown was everywhere. "
Many performed at the village song premiere in Lijia Village. Picture provided by the interviewee
Every village is different, but there are similarities. "Returning to the countryside is to restore human nature. "With the development of society at this point, people have come from the wilderness, divided cities, built high-rise buildings, and left the cities, yearning for nature. Many said: "I see more and more young people returning to villages to become village officials and open cooperatives. They are based in the village, build the village, and the village feeds back to nature. This is a two-way supply. "
Many of the hometowns are in Haining City, Zhejiang Province. The poet Xu Zhimo and the writer Jin Yong were also born here. It may be that they were touched when they visited the former residence of their predecessors, or it may be the subtle influence of the land nourished by literature and art on the descendants living here. Many people feel that they should be born to be poets. In fact, many people have become such people. He said: "Life itself is a poem, and music is also a part of poetry." ”
Duo Duo (third from left) composed a village song with the villagers in Lijia Village. Picture provided by the interviewee
In the first half of this year, Duo Duo received an invitation from his hometown of Haining City to compose a village song for one of the villages, Lijia Village. Returning to the familiar In my hometown, the humid southern air soaks into the nasal cavities of many people who have adapted to the dry climate, and a sense of emotion is injected into the chest along with oxygen. "When I returned to my hometown to create, I was a little nervous, and I could feel my heart beating in my chest. " Carrying an acoustic guitar on his back, many people started their research work in Lijia Village.
Under the familiar local accent, many village surveys went smoothly. Since the 1990s, Lijia Village has embarked on the road of industrial development. Almost every household in the village is involved in textile operations. “To put it bluntly, during the busiest times, the couple can only see each other when changing shifts in the corridor. "
Village survey record of the barn band. Picture provided by the interviewee
"The loom keeps busy when it rings, and the shuttle weaves a path to happiness. "Based on the stories told by the villagers, many composed the song "I Walked from Lijiahe". In the early summer of this year, at the village singers' meeting, many sang softly and melodiously composed the music, drawing people into the independence of the small southern village. Some charms, endless aftertaste.
Let the villagers sing unique stories
Many said that no one else would create village songs like them.
"In the process of creation, we are involved as collaborators, and the core of the song and soul, all come from the villagers and the village itself. The villagers are the main creative subjects of village songs. "In the past five years, the Barn Band has traveled to Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi, Fujian, Inner Mongolia and other places. They communicated with villagers and composed songs using notes instead of time.
This is a collective creation. The Barn Band's The steps are as follows: village observation, collective discussion, and recording. Many said: "Every creation is a production, touching each other's hot and true hearts." "However, not everyone can open their hearts to the guests as soon as they come up. The Barn Band spent a lot of time and used many methods to communicate with the villagers.
"At the beginning, some villagers were not willing. Talking to us, we don’t even know what to say. "Many ways are to show his absolute sincerity. He goes to the villagers' homes as guests, goes to the fields with the villagers, and drinks wine late at night to cool off. There will always be a moment when the story will turn into the wind and moisten the hearts of the visitors.
Many people like and The villagers communicated with the same acoustic guitar, strumming the strings, and the notes popped out one by one, and with the local accent, the songs stayed. The village songs composed by the barn band include scenery and experiences. In the old days of Ordos In Miaowan Village, they sang "Old Miaowan is rich and beautiful." In Xantou Village in Fujian, they sang "It's so romantic to go up the mountain to pick flowers." In Waipula Village in Yunnan, they sang "Fire Bonoma Left Foot Dance" "Sing the song".
Song is a high-level language.The Barn Band wrote in "The Song of Mahai": "The mountain road is winding and the birds are singing, and you can hear the singing when you go up the stream." This is the first village song composed by the Barn Band for Mahai Village in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The village is dominated by an elderly population, and a poetry association houses the souls and life wisdom of the older people. "Old people hope to integrate poetry into songs, but in the process, we also observed that different groups have different expression needs."
Many said that in some villages, the phenomenon of male superiority to female still exists. At discussions on collective creation by villagers in Mahai Village, men often speak louder than women. At this time, the band members are more like moderators. They encourage women to express more, and they also use voting in the final selection of content. way to make decisions.
"Village songs should give people a sense of belonging, express the protagonist's thoughts, and connect to the land beneath their feet." The interaction between the barn band and the village does not end with the creation of village songs. In the process of going to the countryside, many people got to know many people, including university student village officials, young people who returned to the village to start their own businesses, and village party secretaries who were over sixty and still tried new things and pursued new development. Music connects. For example, in Siping Village, Fujian, the village song creation by the Granary Band reawakened the village's memory of local opera. Later, young people established a local opera practice center in the village, and the culture with local characteristics was awakened and revitalized with new vitality.
Of course, recording and narrating are only the most basic functions of village songs. Many say that these songs are sung first to the villagers and then to everyone. "I believe that more and more young people or investors will pay attention to the countryside, pay attention to the culture here, and go into the countryside to contribute to the development of the countryside."
Rock is constantly creating and persisting to the end
Many were once rock and roll youth. He has shaved his head and grown his hair long. Like all rock and roll youths, he externalizes his dissatisfaction and resistance to reality in his image. Now, he has dark, slightly curly, medium-length hair that looks fluffy and unruly. This is the look that he has kept for the longest time and is also the most satisfying. Sometimes, many people also use headscarves with bright colors and complicated patterns for styling purposes. "I sometimes wear a hat to protect my small hair."
In 1999, many people came to Beijing and became a middle-aged Beijing drifter. Here, he met Sun Heng, Xiao Wu and others, many of whom said: "People in difficult situations need strong spiritual satisfaction." So they sang for workers in factories and construction sites. Many of the days when he was composing and singing in Picun seemed like a dream when he recalled it. Although in several interviews, he had to recall and sort it out. When everyone thought he had turned the page, he reread it in his dream. .
"Many people will ask me, why are you softer now, and have you compromised on life." Many people smiled and told the questions raised by their friends. He said that now that he is at an age where he is not confused, he can try answered. "We are just taking a path that brings music closer to reality. We still embrace ideals, but we also face reality."
is constructed through deconstruction, and many paths of observing the world remain unchanged. In the era when "migrant literature" was booming, many band members adapted poems written by fellow workers and composed them into songs. They deconstructed the people in the factory and presented the invisible image of the workers in a vivid manner. Now, the process of urbanization has caused people to turn more attention to the countryside, so the barn band has appeared with a new look. They help the countryside construct its subject, while also constructing and enriching itself.
Many people say that creation is an exciting process. "Going to the countryside to collect and learn is a kind of nourishment in itself." Many people who are in their forties are still very rock and roll. He likes to communicate with young people and learn something that touches their souls from the way young people socialize. “I found that many young people like to go to taverns to sit, chat and party, but in this process, wine is the least important.”
“I am still creating and expressing through music, this remains unchanged."Many people admit that they look at the world with softer eyes. They say that time has given them more wisdom, enough to think about the changes in the world and generate new perceptions. At the beginning of this year, the Barn Band released a new song "Hey! Human World" , many sang: "We have nowhere to escape, we can only fight to the death, loving this sea of people." ”
Beijing News reporter Chen Lu
editor Tang Zheng proofreader Wu Xingfa
