This article comes fromWeChat official account: VOXLIVEHOUSE Changsha author: pears, title figure from Changsha idol girl group “transparent classroom and parallel girl”, the original title of “alternative idol: rooted in the scene, with a full body resistance”
Livehouse VOX Changsha celebrated its third birthday in November, and it has been closely cooperating with VOX and won the most active local award in the 2019 Changsha VOX inventory with almost weekly performances. “Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls” has just passed its first anniversary and launched the “Shared Stage Project” to openly recruit co-star guests.
While wishing them a happy birthday, this VOX post-view column also invited kitashin, the producer of “Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls” and six members, to share with us this alternative idol group that has never been seen before in China The story behind the scenes.
INTERVIEW
Transparent classroom and parallel girls
Producer: kitashin (Zhao Beichen)
Members: Salt Seven, Shredded Pork Powder, Crayon Head, Moore, Ma Lu Wan, Jean Albert Heidegger
Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls will start activities in October 2019
As the producer of this alternative idol group, kitashin began to come into contact with idol culture at a very young age, and accidentally understood the existence of Japanese “underground idols”. Driven by her interest, she went to Japan to study and research “underground idol culture”. After experiencing the transformation from a music fan to a behind-the-scenes worker, she finally decided to start her dream of making an alternative idol group in her hometown!
The road of producers to study underground idol culture
The opportunity to get in touch with the “underground idol” culture
Since I was twelve or thirteen years old, I’ve been keen on listening to rock music and watched many Japanese idol groups such as Berryz Kobo, Morning Musume, Momoiro Clover, etc. , The university also chose the Japanese major in accordance with interest. When I was in college, I chased after a Japanese drama called “Sea Girl”. There is a character called YUI(played by Hashimoto Ai), which is a passionate dream A country girl who went to Tokyo as an idol. At that time, I was attracted by this role, and then I fell in love with the actor. In one episode, she played Omori Yasuko’s work in the song recommendation section of her radio program.
I have never heard such a lively song. The emotional voice, the smooth guitar, and the lyrics themselves all shocked me. At that time, I had a strong desire to “see this person’s scene in the rest of my life”. It happened that our school had an opportunity to go to Japan to exchange for a year, so we seized this opportunity and went to see the show in the name of studying abroad. (laughs) .
When I arrived in Japan, I just went to school and finished reporting. I checked her recent performances and rushed away without knowing anything. The venue of that performance, Shinjuku LOFT, is an old LIVEHOUSE in Tokyo. Dance because it is oldThe stage was also very low, I squeezed to the third row and didn’t see her face from beginning to end! But I was still moved to a mess.
From then on, as long as she has a performance, she will go to see it. She hadn’t made a mainstream debut at the time, maybe because she hadn’t seen fans from abroad, she treated me very well and often communicated with me. Coincidentally, she also likes watching idol groups! Later, we went to see the Tokyo Idol Music Festival together.
Omori Yasukiko often plays with some underground bands/idols, so I followed a lot. Among them is a girl named BELLRINGハート(Translation: Zhongling Girl’s Heart)‘s underground idol group impressed me deeply.
The first time I watched their performance, I didn’t understand the scene at all. The girls on the stage dressed like crows and yelled, and they sounded basically out of tune; the fans under the stage were frantic to an intimidating degree, all kinds of diving and surfing. This is a different world to me, but I feel that the strong vitality displayed by all this shocks and excites me, just like listening to rock music for the first time as a child!
BELLRING Girlハート< rt class="katakana-terminator-rt" data-rt="heart">Live performance video
Taking/kitashin
I was very fascinated by the underground idol scene during the year of exchange in Japan, and I have been watching performances. After returning to China, I finished my professional essay, but I was still thinking about seeing the scene. I scratched my head and decided to go to Japan for the postgraduate entrance examination. span>. Fortunately, I found a professor in Japan who was interested in idol culture and was admitted to Meiji University’s art and media major. The research topic was about underground idols.
Character transition: from music fan to behind the scenes
A BELLRING girl in 2016ハート At the performance, the producer announced the news that the group would disband without warning.
After crying bitterly, calm down and think that I should think a little further: What I don’t want is not to watch performances like this crazy in Japan, and want to return to China after graduation, because I love Changsha very much. (laughs).
But when I think about returning to China, I don’t see such a strange thing. I don’t think it works. I have to let the land where I live also appear such an interesting scene. I contacted the producer Koji Tanaka and wrote a long paragraph to him, to the effect: I have always liked their watches.In the current state, I really want to do similar things in China, can I learn it?
A few days later, Mr. Tanaka asked me to go to the coffee shop and said that I thought I had a good idea. It just so happened that they were short of staff and could go to their company to work and study. So I entered this underground idol office called Aqbi.Rec.
Because of BELLRING girlハート is disbanded, and the firm plans to start a team from the beginning. Mr. Tanaka said that he could just teach me how to recruit people, how to judge people, and how to look at qualifications from the beginning. I have been watching and learning next to him.
After I became a behind-the-scenes worker, Aqbi.Rec has produced idol groups from scratch: THERE THERE THERES featuring psychedelic rock, MIGMA SHELTER, Psychedelic Trance style グーグールル(Translation: Gu-Gu LULU), these two years of work experience have taught me a lot of experience in making underground idol groups.
Farewell & Restart
It may be because I am a Chinese, and my personality is a bit strong. Whether it’s a fan period or after the turn of the scene, the friends in the underground scene in Japan take good care of me, let I feel very lucky.
Before I returned to China, they even hosted a performance of “China-Japan Friendship Kitashin Farewell” and invited many idol groups.
At that time, Shinjuku LOFT performance promotion tickets sold out
I even invited me to go to Japan, Yasuko Omori. She was already the singer of the Japanese music company Ai Hui (Avex), and also became the producer of the idol group(group name is ZOC), usually performances are in very large venues. But that day she came to Shinjuku LOFT for me (which is where I watched her performance for the first time) and sang a good morning with me Girl group song, super happy!
kitashin and Omori Yasuko
At the end of this performance, my friends who came to see off promised: I must be an interesting and different idol group in my hometown!
From “underground idol”, “music idol” to “Alternative-Idol”
When I was conceiving the team I wanted to produce, I found that I couldn’t find a suitable label to summarize it. The term “underground idol” that I used to use in Japan made me feel a little offensive.
Underground idols refer to those whose main activities are live performances and will not (or no conditions) appear on mainstream media such as TV , An idol who operates in the name of a small office or an individual.
I believe that “above ground” and “underground” are separated by “whether they are operated independently or not”. Therefore, underground idols also have many groups that sing popular songs and orthodox idols like mainstream traditional idols. And the idols that I often watch performing various types of music other than pop songs are called “music idols.”
This classification does not involve the issue of operation style. Many idols cultivated by large firms can also be classified as music idols(For example, BABYMETAL, the internationally famous metal music idol group).
I think that the audience of music idols may be attracted by a particular music style, but the focus is still on “idols.” The impact formed when the charm of music and the expression of idols collide is truly attractive.
The idol group I want to do should emphasize the independent operation of “underground idols” (with resistance to mainstream idol industry) , And also emphasize the personalization of the music style of “Music School Idol” (with resistance to the pop music industry). After thinking about it, I used a new label: “Alternative-Idol(alternative idol)“.
About “Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls”
After graduating in April 19, I came back to conceive the details, released the recruitment information in May, confirmed the members in July, and premiered on October 19. In less than half a year, kitashin completed the formation of the alternative idol group “Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls“.
group name idea
Transparent classroom: It is a metaphor for a live scene constructed by the audience and performers together. This “field” is like a transparent classroom, and everyone in it is in the youth. This “field” is part of the team and needs to be formed together on stage and off stage.
Parallel girl: The first level means that the girl who appeared in the youth of everyone who is like a parallel line will not really intersect with you, and will not walk away from your mind. The second meaning is that in order to bring the concept of a parallel idol, the relationship between the audience and the performer is completely equal, interactive, mutual influence, and common growth.
Performance track copyright source
I worked at Aqbi.Rec for two years. Before I returned to China, I told the producer Mr. Tanaka: I didn’t have money to make songs when I started, so I would like to borrow a few songs. I am acting! He readily agreed. This is how our “Alternative-Idol”, “Orange Dreamland” and “Long Live the Girl” came from.
There is also おやすみ which I like very muchホログラ< /ruby>ム(Translation: Late Safety Rest Image), producer Akira Ogawa has taken care of me since I was a fan, and he is also very Generously released the sound source for us to sing.
“Bounce” is a cover song of ゆるめるモ! In the works of (Translation: Youlumei Lumeng!), I used some Changsha dialects when I refilled the words. The producer is Dazhi Tian, and our original single “Sugar-Free Playground” this year was also asked for him to compose.
In addition, there is a large part of the song from a fellow I knew when I was a fan, called メロン(melon). After watching underground idols for a few years, he independently produced a shoe-watching idol group called…(Dots Tokyo).
At that time, the group was disbanded for various reasons, and he suddenly announced a copyright disclosure plan on the Internet ( Public Domain): It is stated that these songs can be used by everyone, and they can be changed without even signing his name.
I don’t know what he was thinking about, but I think this move is tragic and moving. Although I didn’t want to make the style of staring at the shoes in the beginning, I always felt that he wanted his works to be sung in a foreign country, so I took a few songs to refill the lyrics.
Interview with members of “Transparent Classroom and Parallel Girls”
1. The origin of the name of the member
Yanqi: I originally wanted to create a feeling of being a representative of liberal arts students, so I took the concept of seven words in poems, but the seven words were too serious, so I called them Yanqi upside down, and the birthday performance was postponed. . (Money deduction!)
Shredded pork powder: That day I said that we must take the name that doesn’t look like a name, and then I said such as shredded pork powder. Kitashin said that I would just call it shredded pork noodles. It felt very appropriate. In the end, I called shredded pork noodles! Although the decision was random, this name felt like it was born for me. (Note: I changed my profile picture to a bowl of shredded pork powder on the same day)
Moore: I used to like chemistry classes very much. What I don’t understand most in chemistry is the amount and concentration of substances, and then its unit is mole, so I’m called mole, and I also like “MoleManor”!
Crayon head: I originally had a nickname called “Tootou”, so I wanted to call it something. Then everyone thought I was very like a rabbit. The English word for rabbit is rabbit, and the Japanese pronunciation is crayon head. (The essence of a transparent classroom is a homophonic stem?)
Ma Lu Wan: I think my face is round, and I think of balls, but it’s too easy to take only one ball. The Japanese pronunciation of Maru is 麻露(丸:まる), and then combined together is called Ma Luwan.
Jean Albert Heidegger: It is composed of the names of three of my favorite philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Martin Heidegger.
2. Summary of first impressions among members
Salt Seven—Official (because it was the first appointed member, I participated in the member interview as an interviewer), business (always on the phone)
Shredded pork powder-such a beautiful beauty, I didn’t expect to be a lunatic
Moore—the reality and the Internet are in great contrast, two dimensions(I firmly deny it)
Crayon head-super cute and cute girl, I didn’t expect to be a big sister
Maru Maru——Idol House, the Second Element
Jean Albert Heidegger-shy and unimpressed (until he named himself an existentialist member)
3. Favorite performance song
Salt Seven: “First Love Soda”. Because it is the song of the little idol I like.
Shredded pork powder: “Alternative Idol”. Because I like songs that are a little more tiring, compared to “Alternative Idol” the most tiring, the tired songs will have the sense of fullness and unity of working hard together.
Moore: “You are the universe”, “Blueprint”. First of all, it is nice, and then the lyrics are also quite like.
Crayon head: “Long Live the Girl”. I prefer songs with a strong sense of dance.
Ma Lu Wan: “I’m your MANAGER! ! ! “. It’s also because it’s the song of my favorite little idol.
Jean Albert Heidegger: “Sugar-Free Playground”. I think it sounds very good and very touching, especially the part of Moore’s solo. When I first listened to the kitashin version of the demo, I was crying!
4. One thing I feel happy recently
Salt Seven: The happiest thing recently is to sing “I’m your MANAGER!” at the first birthday of Crayons. ! ! “When I thought of a little idol I liked, I cried and felt that I was released. Because I had always regarded myself as my sister before and felt that I must not cry, but when I cried, I found it was pretty good. When I was crying, the crayon head looked at me, and then that glance made me very happy.
Shredded pork powder & crayon tip: I bought a brand of cosmetics of 300 minus 100 for the members, and I picked a lot of cosmetics that I can’t normally use.
Maru Maru: I drew a landmine makeup for Rang. (Member comments: A person who can’t make-up puts makeup on another person who can’t make-up. Okay. Touching).
Moore: I’m a person who often grows lumps. Every time I get a face, I get very frustrated. As a result, I came to VOX and found that Jean also got a face.
Jean Albert Heidegger: When rushing from school to Changsha to perform, the train was not late!
5. Three words to describe the transparent classroom in your heart
Transparent classroom rehearsal room
Salt Seven:Yellow (my representative color, and everyone I love to talk about yellow paragraphs), light (light on stage), package (packaged by the producer and presented to the audience)
Shredded pork powder: youth, happy hometown(Talking and singing), goo (a cry in the belly)
Moore: Sparkling(When you are in a transparent classroom, you will have a different brilliance than usual in life), heartbeat(Although you may feel weird and shameful when reviewing previous videos and performances, you will feel very excited, excited, and moved no matter how you do it now), Mr. Rice(? It looks ordinary but always surprises people inadvertently)
Crayon head: unknown (direction of the group), helpless (right Member), anxiety(for future development)
Maru Maru: Black Hole(I can’t think of what novel things will be shown to you in the future), forest (like coming to another world), lightning rod (transparent classroom is my lightning rod, in I can escape all my pain here)
Jean Albert Heidegger: Moved (Every performance touches me a lot. Unrelated strange girls gather together, Established feelings, and performing together on stage, it’s very touching), happy (seeing the students off stage is very happy and can be with everyone I’m very happy), special (It is the most special thing in my life. This is the first time for me, and it should be The only time)
6. Looking forward to the future
Salt Seven: I want to go on tour! I want to go to different places with everyone and do all kinds of interesting performances.
Shredded pork powder: buy a villa (live in with members).
Crayon head: Co-act with the band. It would be better to add some improvisations in between.
Moore: I watched “I’m your MANAGER! ! ! “The video originally sang performed at the Academy Festival, when I heard the lyrics “You don’t have to be frivolous, even the smallest things can be very desperate”, I feel very touched when it comes to middle school students. I especially want to play once in school.
Ma Luwan: I hope it rains suddenly during an outdoor performance. Even if it rains and the audience does not leave, everyone will continue to perform on stage with all their strength .
Jean Albert Heidegger: Be liked by more people, on a bigger stage!
About the production of alternative idol groups
Is it difficult to be an alternative idol group?
As long as you want to do it, have the courage to explore, and do not change your initial assumptions and beliefs in order to cater to the so-called general environment, you can do it. I guess there are other people in the country who want to do this, but it may be difficult to imagine: there is no soil, no time and energy to do it, and no money. But I don’t think it is that difficult. It can be used as a side job, and it can be done in spare time without affecting the main job. Many underground idol producers in Japan are like this. Compared with the band, the investment in doing this is much smaller. Alternative idols as a form of expression are relatively low-cost and very viable.
I hope that everyone who is interested will have the courage to do it, because it will only become a niche culture if someone does it together, otherwise it will just be a mess of one person.
As a niche culture, Japanese “underground idols” have developed very prosperously and are even close to saturation. There are almost 1,000 underground idol groups in Tokyo alone, which are disbanded and reborn every year.
Not only in Japan, but also in Thailand, Vietnam and other countries, the underground idol culture has begun to sprout and develop rapidly. These places hold music festivals dominated by underground idols every year.
I have a theory that may not be reliable: The development process of the Japanese showbiz and entertainment culture is exactly 20 years away from China. The budding of Japanese underground idol culture was around 2000, when TV idols flourished. It’s almost time now! It’s time for such an interesting scene to appear in the land where I live!
How to understand the vitality of alternative idols?
First of all, idols themselves are the performers of musical works, not the producers. In our group, the members themselves may not even listen to this style of music at all. But precisely because of this, they will have another understanding of these songs, and they will have new colors when performing them.
For example, if a punk band does punk because of their love of punk music, they will make cool and pure punk, which is expected and relatively standard to some extent; if one If a girl who doesn’t know anything about punk plays a punk song, her way of performing it will be unexpected. She may try to get close to the requirements of the producer, but the result is a little bit different from the standard; or she may completely abandon the framework and go in another direction. But whether it’s the posture of not reaching the standard but trying to get close to the standard, or completely abandoning the standard of self-expression, I think it is cool and moving, and it is new to this kind of music.
The magic of this form is that what the producer wants to do, what the idol wants to do, and what the audience finally receives may not be the same thing, but it can be established.
This form of expression can be used in many music types, and it will bring new vitality to music. Many Japanese underground idol producers used to be in bands, but now they continue to make music in this new and vibrant form.
Sora tob sakana, the producer of Japan’s very acclaimed mathematical rock idol group, Shunzheng Terui is also before ハイスイノナサ, a member of siraph.
What kind of success do you envision about being an alternative idol?
Speaking of underground live and indie music in China, everyone can think of various forms of expression: rock bands, folk musicians, rappers, electronic musicians, etc., but no one thinks of idols. People always think that idols are another thing, a commercial thing in mainstream culture. I hope to completely break people’s inherent recognition of idols, and hope that one day there will be idol groups in the field of independent music. This is the “big success” I envision.
If you just talk about “transparent classroom and parallel girls”: you can continue activities based on the scene as it is now, can make interesting songs, and maintain vitality and resistance. Whether it’s resistance to the mainstream idol industry, or resistance to established concepts and prejudices in people’s minds.
To do this, we need to be more integrated into the local independent music scene. Since the resources that I have accumulated over the past few years are concentrated in Japan, I might be misunderstood that I want to be a “Japanese girl group”, but it is not! I did the Changsha Women’s Team! I look forward to cooperating with local Chinese musicians and bands!
The goal a little bit closer is to let people who watch the indie music scene in Changsha come to see our performance.
What is the difference between an idol and a band?
I said before that the focus of “music idols” is still on “idols” because I believe that idol culture is not a culture of music or dance, it is ultimately a culture of “people”.
For a singer or band, the music made is the work; for the idol, the “person” is the work. Some people think that “Idols must be good-looking and capable of singing and dancing.” I think this is a prejudice. Everyone has their own place that can move and shock people, so everyone can become this work and become an idol.
I think the current practice of many people is to remove the “human” part of the idol, which makes me feel very wrong.
As a producer, I often think of the team as a work. At this time, every member, every performance, and every song are part of this work. Uniqueness is very important. You can’t just imitate and learn something. How to show their own characteristics is the members’ own subject, and how to establish and show the personality of the entire group, the general direction is the responsibility of the producer.
Performance costumes, performances, or copywriting… Personality can be displayed in all aspects, so you can’t take it lightly. Take singing as an example, there are many ways to achieve style uniformity, (for example, the producer of BiSH will require members to strictly imitate their own singing and biting words, bells and bells. In order to pursue the overall sense of instability, the producer will deliberately send the demo to the members the night before the recording…) And I sometimes ask the members to throw away some “techniques” as much as possible. I often say that I sing with the “big white voice”, with my original voice,Words to sing. Many popular songs must have good singing skills and skills to perform better, but some songs must be sung in the most primitive and direct way to be more touching.
When they devote themselves to the performance, some people will cry out when they are emotionally high to a certain extent (even broken sound), People will have uncoordinated but almost barbaric movements. These are moving scenes full of “human touch”. I think we have to stick to it. It is something suitable to be displayed in the form of an idol group.
This article comes fromWeChat official account: VOXLIVEHOUSE Changsha author: pear