HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES
Young fans are being motivated and inspired by the lifestyle and songs of a part-time band. Xing Wen reports.
At a “live house” event packed with young music fans, the Beijing indie band Sir Deer performs a song as the audience sings and claps along.
The band’s meet-and-greet show is to announce its 2018 roadshow across the nation.
Meanwhile, the band started its tour in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on March 17, and will perform in Hangzhou and Nanjing on March 24 and 25.
The tour is scheduled to cover a dozen cities including Xiamen, Chengdu and Shanghai this year, during which 10 new songs will be released.
Over the past two years, Dong Libing, 31, who plays the keyboard in the band, has got used to being busy nearly around the clock — by day, she’s a landscape designer, drawing plans for an institute of architecture design, while at nights, she plays music.
None of the band’s six members, who were all born in the 1980s, plays music full time.
They work in Beijing — one as a manager of a startup, one in financial planning, one as an engineer and three as designers in State-owned institutes.
But, after work, they pick up a microphone, guitar, and bass … and together they drown themselves in sound at least twice a week.
On weekends, they fly to different cities, to perform at theaters and music festivals surrounded by cheering fans.
“It’s quite relaxing to play music in your spare time, which increases my efficiency at work,” says Dong, who also adds that the band members’ jobs help them stay grounded.
Dong, a graduate from Beijing Forestry University, learned the piano as a child.
And she has known Guo Beibei, the lead vocalist; and Li Si, the bassist, for a long time — they were schoolmates of the same university.
In the autumn 2014, Dong asked Guo and Li to help her prepare for a performance at the Mid-Autumn Festival par- ty at Dong’s institute.
The three schoolmates then teamed up, later attracting two colleagues of Dong to join in the performance.
After a year or so, the drummer Tian Fangming, was recruited by the band.
That’s where Sir Deer’s story begins.
Speaking about the band, Yang Songlin, 35, the rhythm guitarist, says: “All the songs are written, played and sung with sincerity from within.
“We are so happy to find that so many audience members get touched by our songs.”
The band’s 2015 debut song titled Chunfeng Shili (Spring Breezes Ten Miles), received more than 200,000 hits online and comments on the NetEase Cloud Music website and app.
The fans dote on the band so much that in 2016 they pitched in to help it produce its first album. Through crowdfunding, more than 7,000 netizens on Musikid.com raised a total of 300,000 yuan ($47,400) to cover the cost of the project.
Referring to how the band has influenced his life, Yang, who has a doctorate from Beihang University and is now a structural engineer in the same institute as Dong, says the part-time music career has brought a new purpose to his life.
The band’s latest hit single is titled Blooming Days, and Guo, the lead vocalist who has written the song, says his life is in full bloom.
“The present is good — and we’d like to cherish the moment instead of merely waiting for good prospects in the future.”
As for whether they will go full-time into music, Guo, an entrepreneur who has his own culture and media company, says they may not be able to enjoy what they are doing if they have to earn a living from it.
“We want to remain true to our original aspiration, that is to express our feelings rather than cater to the mainstream market,” he says.
Such an attitude to music and life may partly explain why Li Yuannan, a 20-yearold student from Beijing Forestry University, loves the band.
Li says despite its popularity the band members treat the fans like friends, adding that sometimes they help her deal with life problems through blogs on social media platforms such as Sina Weibo.
Speaking on what she finds attractive about the band, she says: “To us fans, they are six well-educated brothers and sisters who lead an enviable lifestyle, showing us how to strike a balance between work and life,” says Li.
“We find strength in their songs, which unveil the possibilities for us.” Contact the writer at xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn
It’s quite relaxing to play music in your spare time, which increases my efficiency at work.” Dong Libing, a designer, also keyboard player of Sir Deer band