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Seeing through the music

By Gavin Phipps
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Nov 09, 2002, Page 16

Wu Bo-yi, far right, and the Touch Band, which is composed of blind musicians, play backup for indie singer Hsiao Dao, front left, at Underworld in Taipei. PHOTO: JEROME FAVRE

With the exception of the King of Kinmen, the late Wang Ying-tan (王英坦), who lost his eyesight at the age of 14 when he accidentally stepped on a landmine, the number of blind or disabled musicians who have made it into a recording studio and become household names are few and far between.

This is something that the annual Disabled Arts Season (台灣視障藝術季) hopes to change. Organized by the Arts Promotion Association For the Disabled (APAD,中華民國身心障礙者藝文推廣協會) and now in its sixth year, the festival brings a host of such musical talents to stages across northern Taiwan.

This year's event, which kicks off at Taipei's Huashan Music House on Nov. 24, will see blind and disabled musical acts taking to cultural center stages in Hsinchu, and Keelung as well as Taipei's Tai-Cement Building and the capital's Novel Hall.

Although APAD's event is not the only festival to celebrate blind and disabled musicians and give them the opportunity to show off their musical prowess, it is considered the most prestigious such event in the nation.

Chun Wan-hua, right, performing at Taipei's Novel Hall during last year's Disabled Arts Season, which she sees as a venue for promoting the rights of the blind and handicapped. PHOTO COURTESY OF APAD

The musicians invited to perform not only get the chance to play at some of the northern Taiwan's larger venues, but also get the chance to reach a wider audience, one that doesn't consist solely of friends and family.

"Sure we get a lot of support from family and friends, but the Disabled Arts Season is one of the few times when at least half of the audience is comprised of people we don't know," explained Wu Bo-yi (吳柏毅), keyboard player with the Touch Band (全方位盲人樂團).

"As recently as ten years ago the only industry where blind people could make a living was the massage industry. ... It is now accepted that we are no less capable than those with the gift of sight." --Chu Wan-hua, singer

According to APAD secretary, Lin Hsin-yi (林欣怡), the most important factor in the event's ability to attract large audiences is the professionalism exhibited by the acts invited to perform.

"While there are plenty of regional concert series for blind and disabled musicians, this is the only national one, which is something that enables us to draw on talent from all over Taiwan," Lin said. "And in so doing it enables us to ensure that the concerts are of a high standard and the musical content remains very diverse."

Taiwan's multitude of blind musical groups now includes classical Chinese ensembles such as the Kangguo Ensemble (妙音樂康國樂團), rock and jazz oriented combos such as the Black Door Band, (黑門樂團) and even indie bands.

Indie success

Surprisingly, it is one of these latter acts that has not only succeeded in bringing the blind music scene to the attention of large numbers of Taiwan's younger generation, but has also gone on to capture the hearts and minds of audiences overseas.

Formed in 1995, the Touch Band became one of the first blind groups to enjoy moderate success on in Taiwan upon the release of its debut album in the late 1990s.

Signing with the now-defunct indie label Local Music (頭角) -- now Taiwan Colors Music -- in mid-1997, the band recorded Give Me a Gun (給我一槍) for the label's Aiguo Compilation Album (ㄞ國歌曲) -- an album that also featured pop band Mayday in its garage-oriented infancy.

"Working with the Touch Band was always a pleasure. They had, and still have in fact, a very professional outlook towards their music and the way in which it is performed," said Johnson Hsiao (蕭福德), record producer and a pioneer in the local indie scene. "When we were recording the tracks for the album, I noticed immediately that they were tighter and more talented than other bands whose members were of the same age."

Becoming a regular feature on the local pub/indie scene shortly thereafter, the Touch Band has also gone on to become one of the most sought-after backing bands in Taiwan.

Along with its many gigs with indie scene names such as anti-nuclear protest singer Small Knife (小刀), the Touch Band has become a mainstay at performances by local folk legend Cheng Ming-chang (陳明章), and has even represented Taiwan at international music festivals in Japan, the US and Europe.

"I guess we have achieved quite a bit over the years considering our limited exposure to different styles of music," Wu said. "After all, being blind gets in the way of our going out to catch a show whenever we wish."

Wu and the Touch Band will be veering away from their standard folk/rock sets later this month, however. As the opening act for this year's Disabled Arts Season, they will be brewing up an evening of swing and jazz at Huashan.

Overcoming prejudices

Another of the nation's blind musicians that has gone on to achieve a degree of stardom is Chu Wan-hua (朱萬花). Along with the popularity of her live CD Symphony of Life (刻畫生命的樂章) -- an album featuring her performance at last year's Disabled Arts Season at Taipei's Novel Hall -- Chu has also enjoyed success as a writer.

Her autobiographical book, Using the Heart to See the World (用心看世界), which was published earlier this year, continues to prove hugely popular.

Although she won't be appearing as part of this year's performances, the blind singer remains convinced that the annual event is a crucial step in the improving the status of blind and disabled people in a land where they were once considered outcasts.

"As recently as ten years ago the only industry where blind people could make a living was the massage industry," Chu said. "And while some vestiges of this line of thinking remain, for the most part it is now accepted that we are no less capable than those with the gift of sight. And I feel that the continued support of our annual concert series will only strengthen this argument."
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