It's a hazard of reporting on rock bands that interviews take place after late-night rehearsals in the back rooms of studios strewn with beer cans and cigarette butts. Not so with Aadia (阿弟仔), who cuts a remarkably clean image despite the serrated edge of his music.
Happy with the progress made in rehearsal, Aadia calls it an early evening and steps over to a cafe adjacent to Huashan Music House (華山音樂館), where he'll be performing this Saturday evening. His guitarist Chen Chien-wu (陳建武) and drummer Q-mao (Q毛) tag along for a glass of pearl-milk tea and an interview with the Taipei Times. They stay long enough to make sure their names are printed correctly then leave Aadia to fend for himself.
It's his show, after all. With the release last August of his third album, Balance (平衡), Aadia has secured himself a firm place in Taiwan's small pantheon of hard-core rockers. Chen and Q signed on just before Balance, creating an album that's a distinct departure from Aadia's earlier works, though he's still the one writing the songs.
"I did all the work on my first and second albums. When Chen and Q joined, it made for a much harder sound. They're into old-school metal. ? I'm more into hip-hop, rap and new metal," said Aadia, who with a cherub face and fashion frames doesn't look the role of the hard-core rocker.
Joining them on the album is Joe, formerly know as XL, a rapper whose English-language lyrics can bite the ear of first-time listeners; "The world tastes like a box of expired milk/ Take it back cuz the world is ours/ We chinky-eyed slants are getting' up, standin' up/ Fight the power till we see the victory hour/ I speak your language don't mean I'm your slave/ I speak your language cuz I'm about to invade." Joe has since gone to invade America and Aadia picks up the lyrics in his stead.
The hybrid sound they've created juxtaposes English and Chinese rap against Aadia's smoothly sung choruses and lays it all on top of standard metal guitar riffs that provide as much percussion as Q-mao's drumming. Traditional Chinese opera instruments jam along on several tracks to give the sound flesh; an erhu lends a bouncy riff to Map (地圖) and Chang (
Perhaps the best description of the sound is found on the cover of the album, which Aadia designed himself. His pen-and-ink drawing depicts an ancient Chinese god angrily shredding on a guitar. "There's a lot musically that we call traditional, but that shouldn't consign it to history, " he said.
Aadia will perform tomorrow at Huashan Music House starting at 9pm. Tickets cost NT$350 and are sold at the door. Huashan Music House is located on the second floor of the building adjacent the parking lot at the Huashan Arts District (北市華山藝文特區), 1 Pate Rd., Sec. 1 in Taipei (八德路一段一號二樓). Look for the green neon sign that reads "2F."
Separately, after the show, a party has been planned for anyone wanting to support global peace. Entertainment will be provided by a host of DJs and organizers will provide interested parties with information on how to "think globally, act locally." Attendees will light a candle for peace. If you're unable to attend but would like more information you can contact Sean at 0953956631.
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