Archives
All articles are translated exclusively by Ho@multistars.com
Please do not copy and paste onto any other website.
Sina Full Interview (long)
by kelvin@multistars - 28th November 2007Source: Sina
Jay: Hello to all net friends from Sina, nice to see you again!
Presenter: Just before we were talking about this necklace you wear?
Jay: Yes, it's a tiger.
Presenter: What meaning does it have?
Jay: It's quite special, because most necklaces are particularly small and quite shiny, this one is closer to this album of mine, it's a bit naughty.
Presenter: The first time I saw you, you were wearing a very big shiny crystal, like a crystal, do you like wearing big things?
Jay: If I wear big things people will take notice of it, if it's small people won't see it. It's the same for the clothes I wear, this shoe is this gold shoe, just for show.
Presenter: Just from this point everyone can see Jay seeks detailed things. This album has given everyone a fresh feeling.
Presenter: Are you scared of being measured up by people?
Jay: Yes, that's why I make everyone feel it's diverse.
Presenter: In this album there are some songs that give everyone a fresh feeling, but it still maintains some continuation of the old styles in it.
Jay: Like the Chinese style, this is something that must be in every album, also R&B cannot be neglected.
Presenter: Is this kind of persistence for maintaining your own style, right?
Jay: Because musicians are very persistent and stubborn. I didn't want everyone to keep gossiping so I just went ahead and put the big change as the title track. It makes people happy when they listen to it. This album is very suitable for kids to listen to, because it's like a kids' song, lots of people think it sounds like one, I think so too, I'm not avoiding it.
Presenter: I think that maybe this melody was on everyone's lips not too long ago. We see that there are 4 songs in this album that are written for commercials, is this topics for work?
Jay: It's more like if what I write out is suitable for them then they can take it for their commercial, it doesn't affect my writing.
Presenter: Have you come into contact with commercial writing?
Jay: Yes, for example My Territory.
Presenter: Is this writing different?
Jay: No, I think the pressure is a bit bigger, because I have to write the lyrics, to me, I think I have a lot of room to try things out.
Presenter: You have written lyrics in this album too.
Jay: In this album I wrote "Rainbow".
Presenter: The last song on the album is composed and written by Jay.
Jay: The last one is a love song, before I was mostly good at writing rap songs.
Presenter: You have to have experience to be able to write love songs.
Jay: Most of the time I will have, then I just need to add a bit extra, make it a bit more dramatic. Some did happen, some I made up with my imagination.
Jay: Yes, things that happen in life can give some enlightenment in music. Look at "I'm Not Worthy", lots of stars have things people don't know about, they live an exhausting life, even more so than normal people, but they gain a lot as well, so it's a very contradictory life.
Presenter: Continuing on from contradiction, we'll say one more thing, I think there are a lot of contradictions on Jay, because not long ago a fashion magazine talked about the dream goddess, you thought Eastern and Western, a combination of the two for the girl you admire, right? We guessed, in your heart a contradictory combination of youthful and sexy, the same for music, a combination of Western and Eastern.
Jay: Two completely different elements and colours combined together, combining the strong points. Of course it's something unique.
Presenter: That's why Jay Chou cannot be copied, you are thinking of ideas to make everyone discover things that make you different.
Jay: I'm thinking of ideas to surpass myself.
Presenter: That's why when this album came out, Jay said he hoped everyone won't feel he hasn't changed, why do you feel everyone is always emphasising that you haven't changed, is this pressure other people give you or something you feel yourself?
Jay: Because every album has a different sound, everyone thinks I'm standing still. It's very hard to retort when other people talk about you like that, so why not just write a song to retort. There's also lots of voices of support, of course I could have messed up here, I only wanted to tell everyone, that I can actually change, I'm not like a musician who isn't creative. It's the media who don't want to be seen, sometimes they go online with nicknames and leave criticism, of course I go online to read. I want to take this to shut them up.
Presenter: When you see some bad press and reviews, do you mind?
Jay: All I can say is that I feel a bit helpless. Why do lots of musicians have to change at the end, fans become less and less, the main culprit perhaps is the rumours online, some people think changing a bit is good, but it's not suitable for everyone. That's why I haven't really changed, I've only written a special song.
Presenter: Do you face some difficulties, perhaps the stuff you completed is your own stuff, do you feel you are doing things you like, some people think I'm writing for my friend's friend?
Jay: I'm writing for all my friends, not only that but it's something that I feel is very important, I have to take care of both. Firstly what I like, after I write it out I'll ask for everyone's opinion, I'll change places that aren't good. So it's actually quite hard to listen to other's opinion and take it in.
Presenter: Has this kind of tendency ever happened, something you like but lots of other people don't like it.
Jay: No, all the friends by my side have a very high level of music, songs that I think are diao, they can accept it.
Presenter: Because if it has the three words Zhou Jie Lun then it's a gold sign.
Jay: It's hard to say about this one, because everyone sees it from a different angle now, everyone is a bit more strict now, they have very fine requests for everything. Perhaps I think this song is generally liked more by old people, I never would have thought kids would like it too, you can't decide in this market.
Presenter: I've discovered lots of girls like "Cowboy Is Very Busy".
Jay: This is something I didn't think of. Like how "Listen To Mother's Words" was written for kids, in the end lots of adults liked it. "Beyond A Thousand Miles" was written for adults, in the end kids 5-6 years old know how to sing it. So it's not just about being good if whoever it's for likes it.
Presenter: I really want to know, with Jay's current position in the music industry, you don't need to persist with one album per year.
Jay: I think my originality is very plentiful, I might have an endless amount of things to write about, I've got lots to do. When I concentrate on doing something else, maybe someone will think of the same thing so you can't put that out. So why do I insist on one album per year, first to do it wins. it's just like when I film movies, like this one I filmed, if I was 35 or 36 and filmed it, but maybe by that time someone might be filming this topic, if you film it again it won't be diao.
Presenter: Can you describe your current life, happy, blessed, satisfied?
Jay: It's probably satisfied and also very lucky. God's given me inspiration, just as well I can use it, and also the people I have met are just right, the producer I met, the cameraman I met. If I met a wrong person, perhaps this movie would have been scrapped. It would have been useless to have great creativeness and a very good script so it's very important to meet the right people. Making movies and music are different, I make music on my own.
Presenter: After holding the concert, they said they would stop for a while and go on holiday or something, do you have plans like this?
Jay: Of course I have plans, but I won't be idle for 1-2 years, because I'm the kind of person who doesn't stop, just give me a month and it'll be enough. Not for recharging or anything, just for taking my family out, to somewhere with paparazzi, concentrate on playing.
Presenter: Has your view on the paparazzi changed now?
Jay: I'll change when Jacky Cheung changes, because even Jacky Cheung with such a good temper gets angry at the paparazzi, I just won't be as impulsive as I was in the past.
Presenter: In your scale of time, is 30 years old a water divide, very important?
Jay: Yes, after 30 I'll feel old.
Presenter: Do you have plans for after 30?
Jay: I don't have some great plan, or going to plan, it's all just about letting things happen naturally, one step at a time, this is one. The second one, how the future will turn out, I don't know right now. However much effort you put in, you don't know you'll get the same back. My attitude of wanting to win the most helps me out a lot, I have to work hard.
Presenter: In your position do you feel urgency? Do you feel you are under attack from behind?
Jay: I'm not talking about other artists right now, sometimes it's about surpassing yourself, having a conscious worry like this, it's not about finding an imaginary enemy, it's not like this. Of course I have a target, you have to have your own target. But is it about following Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, they've been in the industry for so long, their music is good, their movies are good. I've only been out for 8 years.
Presenter: No matter in Taiwan or Mainland China there are a lot of shows about selecting people, pushing out a lot of newcomers.
Jay: I think a lot of newcomers now are very amazing. Actually the competition in the market is becoming more and more strong, some markets have withered, you can't actually blame the artists, you should blame the people who buy pirated stuff. I think the people who buy pirated stuff will make some musicians slowly disappear, especially now there are so many newcomers who need encouragement, there are so many newcomers coming from the selection shows.
Presenter: Apart from this, how do you see those newcomers?
Jay: That's why the industry still needs newcomers, I can't still be singing Nun-Chuks when I'm 38.
Presenter: I can imagine, hair not done up, wearing very uninhibited clothing.
Jay: Just being purely a musician of course you don't have to wear very gorgeous clothing, when you are already a trend, everyone looks at what you wear, every word and move, how you handle the paparazzi, you have to take note of, because you've already become someone's role model. That's why I will write many things about feelings between family. Because after this stuff has been released, it's a good model for kids. Before 80 it was still very big for a lot of people to compare themselves, only their style of clothing, of course the speech and actions have improved a lot.
Presenter: Included this album is the cowboy look, it really surprised everyone, was this your own design?
Jay: Actually in my own albums I stress wearing comfortable clothes, in fact before I've done the look, the response was good, the only thing was I played too many roles, as the artist, the producer, and the look, I would go crazy, so I just got someone else to do it, I temporarily stopped making clothes for myself.
Presenter: Did this album come about because of your very busy lifestyle you have right now?
Jay: Because when you know too much, you want to do everything yourself, sometimes when you get too much it's not a good thing, like when you know a lot of instruments, you have to play the guitar yourself, it's very tiring. I'm still more willing to believe myself more, so I do everything myself.
Presenter: I think in our short interview today, we've discovered a lot of contradictions in you, you are someone who believes in themselves, but yet you need to go and work with some friends?
Jay: Sometimes I'm a real perfectionist. It depends on what the matter is.
Presenter: The programme is ending soon, lets move on. Every time you film an MV you'll cause a rumour, but this rumour will be used by people, yet you will invite the female lead to participate in your concert, etc.
Jay: I'm really grateful to these media, I only have these excuses from their reporting on these rumours to invite these girls to my concert, or to perform together. Because I'm a bit introvert, I know very few female friends, you have to have a start to make friends, the media start it up, then I can get to know these female friends. Recently I haven't looked on rumours as being very serious, in the past I thought why do they write this, I didn't do it, it's not true, I was very agitated. Now even if it's a rumoured girlfriend, I'll invite her to my concert. Now only if the media go over the top will I step out and clarify, it's always been a circle like this. This kind of circle didn't start only from this example. Lots of artists have to find their own way of surviving, if not they will be easily taken down.
Presenter: When you are at what you think is a very important 30 years old, will you be dating and getting married?
Jay: Because I still haven't got to that marriage age, just let things happen by themselves, of course I hope to date, I won't deliberately not date, firstly I have to have something. I think it's hard on us, because I don't have time, I'm very busy, I have to face the paparazzi, so it's very tiring. So it's not a very suitable to get a girlfriend at this time.
Presenter: I hope everyone listens to Jay's album more.
Jay: I've written especially more happy songs in this album, for instance "Sweet" and "Cowboy Is Very Busy" are very happy songs. Take a listen to them when you feel sad.
Presenter: I hope you'll continue to give us surprises in terms of music, thank you!
Jay: Thank you!
Discuss and comment on this article
Loading comments...