Mr. New Pop---Wang Lee-Hom

--Day & Night,November2-8,1998

By Leslie Loh

流行乐坛新声音—王力宏

Despite his good looking, Wang Lee-Hom simply hates to be labeled an “idol” singer, “I’m not going to sing idol songs; I’m not going to put the emphasis on packaging. Some people think that I’m good looking, which I don’t think so, and if they don’t like my music because they think good looking singers can’t sing, that’s their problem,” asserts Wang Lee-Hom, 21, the handsome all-rounder Taiwan based musician from New York.
拥有绝佳的外型，但王力宏就是不喜欢被贴上「偶像歌手」的标签：「我不会唱那些偶像唱的歌，我不会把重心放在包装上！有人说我长的帅，但我不这么认为，如果他们因为『长的好看，歌一定不好听』的误解而不喜欢我的音乐，那是他们的问题。」这位２１岁出生于纽约、在发迹台湾的帅气全能歌手如此声明。

In a recent interview, with the musician, it is obvious that despite his good looks, Lee-Hom simply hates to be labeled an idol singer. “Of course, I worry about the fact there are these terms in Chinese pop music－idol singers and substance singers. An idol singer means you can’t sing and that bother me! They have this categorisation only in the Chinese market. I mean, why would you assume somebody who is not good looking is a good singer and vice versa?”
最近一次专访这位音乐人，可以明显发现即使拥有俊秀的外表，力宏还真是不喜欢被贴上偶像歌手的标签，「我当然会担心华语歌坛有偶像歌手和实力派歌手这样的称谓，偶像歌手就表示不会唱歌，这真的很困扰我！只有在华语市场会有这样的分类，为什么大家不去假设有歌手即使长的普通但歌可以唱的很好？」

Lee-Hom is not your ordinary musician. A look at his impressive biodata will literally blow your mind away. Lee-Hom is this music prodigy who picked up several musical instruments as early as six. He started writing music at 15 and was actively involved in the school choir, participating in almost every musical organised by the school in his secondary and high school years. He received a host of High Honour Awards for his musical and academic achievements. Lee-Hom studied music at the Eastman Music School and later the Williams College, both of which are reputable music conservatoires. During his varsity days in Williams College, in which he pursued a music degree with a major in composition, he was a music director for Williams College Acapella Group, and he directed, arranged and composed several musicals there. We couldn’t possibly exhaust his list of achievements, but this is enough to illustrate our point.
力宏不是一般的音乐人，光是看他令人惊叹的丰功伟业就足以让你惊讶地合不上嘴。力宏是自６岁起就开始学习数种乐器的音乐神童，１５岁开始写歌并积极参加学校合唱团。中学时参与多场校方主办的音乐剧，凭着音乐和学业上的优秀表现，毕业时力宏领到了最高荣誉奖。力宏早先到Eastman音乐学校学习音乐，后来到威廉斯学院就读，这两所都是音乐学校中的翘楚。在威廉斯学院多采多姿的生活中，力宏选择主修词曲创作，同时身兼学校美声社团的社长，他也在学校指导、编写和制作多场音乐剧。我们不能在这为您一一细数力宏的经历，但相信光是这些介绍，就足以说明我们的重点。

When Lee-Hom entered college, he had a hard time to deciding what to major in. Although he is good in musical violin, Lee-Homs heart is firmly in music composition. “‘Do I want to be a professional violinist?’ I asked myself. I looked at my wall with posters of all the great violinists; I have hundreds of CDs of all the best violinists in history and I said to myself: even if I do become a great violin player, there are another great players who are so good that I could commit my life to perfecting the skills and still be one of them – those who make a living out of playing the violin, playing pieces which were composed hundreds of years ago by other composers. That’s not my idea of being a really influential musician. And, my real idols aren’t the players but the people who write the pieces. I want to be somebody who has something to leave behind,” said Lee-Hom with a lot of conviction.
力宏就读大学时，曾经因为选科系而挣扎过一段时间，虽然他很擅长小提琴演奏，但力宏对音乐创作的心意很坚定，他很有自信地表示：「『我真的想当职业小提琴手吗？』我问我自己。看着墙上贴满伟大提琴家的海报，也拥有数百张历史上最有名的小提琴手ＣＤ，我告诉自己：即使我真的成为一名伟大的小提琴手，还有好多琴拉的更好的人。我可以花上一辈子的时间磨练琴技，却只能成为他们的一份子---那些靠几百年前别人的谱而拉琴维生的人，这并不能帮助我成为真正有影响力的音乐人！况且，我真正的偶像并不是乐师，而是那些写歌的人。我希望留给后人一些东西。」

“My final thesis was a musical called The Bite That Burns; the name tells you that it has something to do with vampire! It is like a Leonard Bernstein musical, a Broadway musical. I had wanted the experience of writing music for an orchestra; not just keyboard and stuff like the Andrew Lloyd Weber kind. I have always wanted to write symphonies and concertos; doing a musical like this is like middle ground for me.” Not unexpectedly, Lee-Hom got a distinction for his thesis and he graduated with top-class honours.
「我的毕业论文是一出音乐剧The Bite That Burns，看名字就可以知道是和吸血鬼有点关联的！它有点像是Leonard Bernstein的百老汇音乐剧。那时候，我想写些给管弦乐团的东西，而不是键盘伴奏或韦伯（Andrew Lloyd Weber）音乐剧那种。我一直想写交响曲和协奏曲，所以做音乐剧有点像是种妥协！」果不期然，力宏以这个论文作品获得极高的评价，最后拿到毕业生最高荣誉。

“One of the reason I joined Sony Music is due to Sony’s vast resources worldwide. Sony is very connected; each station like Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore has its own established team of professionals. The biggest reason is that Sony gives me a lot of support with my music production. I’m able to have enough time and money to do albums that are representative of me. I don’t like to be rushed while I’m working. This is music, and to me, as a producer, arranger and a performer, music is not something that I could manufacture overnight, I need a company that understands me and is willing to support my “addiction music!” says Lee-Hom.
力宏表示：「我加入新力音乐的原因之一，是因为新力在全球有很庞大的资源！新力的公司彼此间是有联络的，在台湾、大马和新加坡的公司都有各自的专业团队。最大的因素是，新力在音乐制作上给我很多的支持，我可以有足够的时间和经费制作属于我自己的专辑。当我在工作时，很不喜欢被催赶。这是音乐，我是一位制作人、编曲者和歌手，音乐是无法一个晚上就制作出来的，我需要一家公司能了解谅解，并且愿意支持我对音乐的痴狂。」

“Being a big star isn’t my cup of tea. I just want to be an influential musician. I want to have creative and inspiring compositions. My role as a performer is to introduce my work to the people. Though I could develop my singing career in the States, I’m focused on the Mandarin market in Taiwan.”
「当位巨星并非我的目标，我只想做个有影响力的音乐人、谱写具创造性和启发性的作品。我身为表演者的角色是介绍我的创作给大众，虽然我也可以在美国发展音乐事业，但是重心仍会摆在台湾的华语市场。」

In his final year at Williams, Lee-Hom was nominated as the Class Musician, an honour accorded by his peers to the most talented musician in the entire class. “There are a lot of honours to be conferred at the graduation ceremony, the Class Musician is not the highest honour,” Lee-Hom explains. “As a class musician, I’ve to compose the graduation song. That was really cool! Williams has been having this tradition for 200 years. Most class musician do like choral work or symphonic mass for the graduation song. I did this hard-core blues stuff, and I’ve got this best player in the school to co-write with me. We formed a really tight band to perform the song which is really rough and hard. I got up the stage in my gown, and there were thousands of people there with their parents. I was like this (Lee-Hom gestured to mimic a rock guitar player playing wildly) and the crowd was just stunned! The kids loved it! It was really unorthodox.”
在威廉斯学院的最后一年，力宏被提名为年级音乐家，这是经由同侪一致认可的荣誉，只给整个年级中最出色的学生。「毕业典礼有很多奖项，年级音乐家不是最高的殊荣」，力宏接着解释道：「身为年级音乐家，我必须负责谱写毕业歌，那真的很酷，这项传统在威廉斯已经有２００年了，大部份的年级音乐家都写些合唱歌曲或交响作品。我做了首超难的蓝调，和学校最好的乐手合作，大家组了个很棒的乐团一起演奏这首特难的歌。然后我穿着礼服（睡衣？）上了舞台，就像这样（力宏模仿摇滚吉他手很狂野的表演动作），观众吓了一大跳，可是学生们都爱死了！实在是有够反传统的！」

Of all the musical instruments, Lee-Hom prefers the piano the most. He reasons, “I used to like the violin the most because it is closest to the human voice. It has vibrato, and it has the bow, the air; it’s very natural, very organic. I used to hate the piano; I used to think the piano is as stupid as the typewriter—you have this keyboard, you press the button and the note comes out. Now, I too find the piano useful. It has harmony and it’s a great instrument for music composition and arrangement. Like, I’m playing a chord and I can give the part to an oboe or clarinet or any other instruments.”
在所有的乐器中，力宏最钟意钢琴，他这么说明：「我之前最喜欢小提琴的原因是因为它最接近人的声音，它能拉出颤音，也有弓和曲调，它很自然、很有人性。但我之前并不喜欢钢琴，那时候我觉得它和打字机一样蠢--它有键盘，按个键就出来一个音符。现在，我发现钢琴很实用，它可以有和声，对作曲编曲来说很便利。好比说，我按了个弦，可以把这个部分给双簧管、黑管或任何乐器弹奏。」

It is always interesting to find out what a gifted musician like Lee-Hom listens for inspirations. “I like Leonard Bernstein and Bartok a lot. As for pop musicians, it is Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Sting, George Michael and Prince for me,” Lee-Hom says. How about Taiwanese singers? “The Taiwanese music market has changed tremendously over the last couple of years. Whereas in the past Taiwanese music is considered stale—always sounding sad and melancholic—Taiwanese music today has progressed a lot. Using western influences, it sounds a lot more vibrant and invigorating.” Lee-Hom says, “I like David Tao (Tao Gertz); I like Shunza; we’re really good friends too. I think we really have some kind of bond with music. I really think Taiwanese music is leaping forward. People think David, Shunza and myself really work hard to do this; there are others too who help to shape the music in Taiwan. Three years ago, when I released my first album, my goal was to be able to influence someday what was considered as pop music. I remember turning on the radio and listening to all this, slow and pathetic music, which all sound similar; very KTV style of songs. All this has changed tremendously. That’s really exciting for me and for other aspiring musicians. There is more variety now; the music scene has really flourished.”
了解像力宏这么有天赋的音乐人，靠听什么来找到灵感是很有趣的事。力宏表示：「我很喜欢Leonard Bernstein和Bartok，流行乐手中我最爱Stevie Wonder、Peter Gabriel、Sting、George Michael和Prince。」那台湾歌手呢？「在过去几年的时间里，台湾音乐市场改变非常大，过去这里的音乐让人感觉沉重，到处都是悲伤和忧闷的声音，但现在已经有跳跃式的进步。在西方影响下，现在听起来比较有生气、有活力。」力宏指出：「我喜欢陶喆、我喜欢顺子，我们也都是很好的朋友，在音乐上我认为我们有某种联系。我真的觉得台湾的音乐在进步，大家会觉得陶喆、顺子和我都在为这件事努力，其它也有不少音乐人在帮忙塑造台湾的音乐。三年前我推出第一张专辑，我希望自己有朝一日能影响那时所谓的流行音乐。还记得当时打开收音机，里边都是慢节奏、很哀伤的歌曲，听起来都差不多，很像ＫＴＶ里面的歌。但如今一切已经改善很多了，这对我或是其它有抱负的音乐人来说是很振奋的事，现在比较多样化，整个歌坛很活跃！」

If recent sales figures are anything to go by, it is apparent now that those tagged with Heavenly King or Queen titles are no longer commanding astronomical sales as they used to. Is it because the listeners are becoming more discerning? Is it because there are more choices in Chinese pop music today? Lee-Hom echoes these sentiments, “Ya, like I said, the music is getting varied and a lot of singers are coming out with a lot of really talented stuff, not the packaged thing in the past. It is a good sign. Pop music is forever changing. You just can’t have your one act and sell it for the rest of your career. Maybe the era of Heavenly King and Queen is changing, that’s exciting.”
从最近的销量研判，很明显地，现在那些拥有天王天后头衔的歌手并不见得能有之前庞大的唱片销量。这是因为现在的听众对音乐比较有鉴别力了吗？还是因为现在华语流行乐有比较多的选择呢？力宏附和这些观点，「是的，就像我之前讲的，现在的音乐比较多元，有很多新人带入歌坛一些很不错的东西，再也不是以往那些包装。这是一个好现象，流行音乐是永远都在变的，你不能只有一种表演，并希望在往后的生涯都靠它卖，也许天王天后的时代在改变，而这很令人振奋！」

On the subject of girlfriends, Lee-Hom is still available but interested ladies have to wait. “I have had girlfriends, of course,” Lee-Hom admits, “but it is really hard for me to have a girlfriend now because I’m always on the road. I go to Taiwan for two weeks; then to the States for another week; Singapore for another. I would never be able to spend time with her. Now is the time to concentrate on my career first, to work on the music. I would only consider having a girlfriend much later.”
提到女朋友的话题，力宏还没有对象，但有兴趣的女士们可得等上一等。「我当然交过女朋友」，力宏坦承：「但我现在很难谈恋爱，因为我总是四处旅行：在台湾待两星期，飞到美国一个礼拜，再到新加坡过另一周，我不会有时间和她在一起的。现在还是先专注在事业和做音乐，以后再谈交女朋友这件事吧！」

With looks like his, would Lee-Hom consider having a career in the silver screen? “I would definitely consider acting. I’ve done so many plays and musicals on the stage. I’ve lots of acting experiences on the stage but I’ve never appeared in front of the camera. I wouldn’t mind if it’s a Hollywood or Taiwanese production, as long as the director is good, the script is right and the role is good.”
拥有这么得天独厚的外表，力宏会不会考虑在银光幕上演出呢？「当然是有想过要演戏，我在舞台上参与过很多戏剧和音乐剧，有很多舞台演出的经验，但是还没有演过电影。只要有很棒的导演、适合的剧本和不错的角色，我不排斥参与好莱坞或台湾电影。」

As a parting shot, Lee-Hom tells us his philosophy of life. “I know that there are too many things I don’t know which I do not have the capacity to make a judgment. But I do know that I appreciate communicating with a lot of people who are in the same boat, and we all don’t know what the hell is going on. Life’s a learning process; it is about sharing, experiencing and communicating with other people.”
专访最后，力宏谈论到他的人生哲学。「我知道还有很多事我不懂，也不够能力下判断，但我相信，我喜欢和大家沟通，我们都不知道这是怎么一回事，但生命就是不断学习的过程--学习分享、经历、与他人沟通。」

Photo: StarEast
Special thanks go to Homland!

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