Perfect combination
When Chinese filmmaker Ning Hao invited rock singer-songwriter Liang Long to write the movie soundtrack for his new movie, last summer, he was taking a gamble.
“Have you written music for movies before?” Ning asked Liang. “Not much,” said Liang, whose only previous experience was that he had written music for the indie movie, by director Geng Jun, about a decade earlier.
But Ning, intrigued by Liang, the frontman of the rock band, Second Hand Rose — which is known for its pioneering combination of traditional Chinese instruments, especially
with rock music — persuaded the rock singer-songwriter to give it a try. From to
Ning has built up his unique style of directing or producing movies by using black comedy to examine social issues. And Liang’s music also features similar humor, which has won the band a large fan base in the country since it was formed 20 years.
The collaboration turned out to be great.
Commercially, the movie, released on Feb 5, and has taken in more than 2.1 billion yuan ($313 million) at the box office to date.
The film is led by superstar actors Huang Bo, Shen Teng and Xu Zheng, who are big box-office draws.
While the holiday is a peak season for the movie industry, film music also enjoys a boost during this period. Movie soundtracks from eight popular movies screened during the Spring Festival break, have been streamed over 100 million times, according to statistics from the three music platforms of Tencent Music Entertainment Group: QQ, Kugou and Kuwo, which have more than 800 million users.
The theme song — which has been viewed over a million times online — has the same title as the movie. It is written and performed by Liang, and was released on Jan 25.
Liang — who is the movie’s music director — also wrote and performed songs like as well as an adaptation of the classic music piece, German composer Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem, from the movie,
— with traditional Chinese musical instruments — for the movie.
On Feb 19, a compilation of music from the movie was released as the album titled
Speaking about the reaction to his music for the film, Liang, 40, who was born in Qiqihar city, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, says: “I took my parents to the cinema to watch the movie and they laughed just like the others when the music played, especially the song,
That’s what I aimed for.” American composer Nathan Wang and Chinese musician, Song Nan, were also part of the project.
“The music we planned to present in the movie is visualized in a scene that involves an old, shabby car carrying various musical instruments — everything sounds noisy and looks crazy but in a harmonious way,” adds Liang.
The movie is about two friends, who hope to make a fortune from an alien and catch the attention of a mysterious Western force. It also stars American actors Matthew Morrison and Tom Pelphrey.
For the music, Liang uses the
a traditional Chinese musical instrument, to match Western symphonic arrangements. And he sings in heavy dialect of his hometown.
The typically creates a highpitched sound and is the main instrument used in performances, a traditional art form featuring ballad singing and dancing that’s popular in northeastern China. Liang grew up watching
and he combines the unique folk elements with rock, which is seen as the distinctive character of his band, Second Hand Rose.
“The is very versatile. It supports the crazy story in the movie,” says Liang, adding that his work with Ning also inspired him to expand his vision to movies.
So, during the recent trip to his hometown during Spring Festival, he visited some local artists, hoping to shoot a documentary on the art, which is regarded as old-fashioned and struggles to survive now.
Before he moved to Beijing to pursue his music dream in the early 1990s, the self-taught musician used to spend time in the countryside, listening to farmers singing folk tunes.
So far, his band, featuring guitarist Yao Lan, bassist Li Ziqiang, traditional instrumentalist Wu Zekun and drummer Sun Quan, has released four studio albums, including the latest one, in November 2018.
Speaking about the band, music critic Huang Liaoyuan, an influential promoter on China’s rock scene, who helped launch the band’s career about two decades ago, says: “Second Hand Rose is unique and their style is distinctive. They have no competitors. So, the only people they need to surpass is themselves.”