Interview: Life Journey treks here from Guangxi

You've been together with Banana (keyboardist Wei Wei) in junior high school. What were things like in the early days?

Yann: It was crazy. We enjoyed it a lot because we were doing something we loved to do. At the very beginning, we rehearsed in my parents’ home. The equipment in my place was very poor and we eventually broke the stereo. When we moved to Beijing [several years ago], we didn’t expect we would sign with a record company. We just wanted more people to know about us. But we were lucky and got signed.

You were at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing for the May holiday last week. What was the festival like?

Yann: We played at 5 pm on the second day of the festival. Because it was twilight, the setting was very romantic. When I sang the lines, “the golden light on the high hills,” the setting was just like in the song.

[A video from Life Journey’s performance can be seen here]

I understand at the festival you also branched into the luosi fen business with a noodle soup booth. How did you come upon that idea?

Yann: We wanted to promote the style. We think it’s good stuff and other people should like it. Local food is sold from other cities. We want luosi fen (rice noodles in winkle soup) to be famous. We prepared everything carefully the same way we do with our albums. We wanted to bring out the most authentic flavor for this kind of snack. A lot of raw materials came directly from Liuzhou, the rice noodles, the pickled bamboo shoots. We even had a cooking staff brought from Liuzhou.

What bands have been the most influential for you?

Yann: The Beatles, Blur. Alfie, Tahiti 80, Wilco.

If you met (Wilco singer) Jeff Tweedy, what would you say to him?

Yann: Hey, I love your music, I'm a big fan of yours. Then I will show him my CD and let him listen to it.

Tell me about your songwriting process?

Yann: Usually I will find a quiet place. I stare into space and think. I record the things I see and hear in the form of music and words. Most of the songs are formed the first time I have the feeling. I don’t want to change the first impression I have of the songs. The first impression is usually the most original and authentic.

When you and the other band members go to KTV together, who is the maiba (microphone hog)?

Yann: Everyone will sing, but me and Mali (guitarist Huang Zi Jun) and Paul (bassist Xiao Yi) sing the most. We love to poke fun at different songs. We often sing Wu Bai and Mayday and many other people’s songs.

What can people expect from your show on Friday night at Yuyintang?

Yann: We played some of the songs from the new EP in Shanghai before, but this time we hope we can play them better. We’ve improved on the details a lot.

Will you be biting the heads off of any chickens on-stage?

Yann: I can’t do that.

Life Journey’s music can be previewed at Neocha