Matthew Lien is at home. He's sitting in his comfy chair, framed by flat screens and computers. There's a rack of keyboards and on either side of his desk are two speakers, on top of which are statues of Guang Yu (關羽, representing righteousness) and Buddha. Perched just above eye level are Lien's Golden Bell and Golden Melody awards.
Taipei Times: You seem busy, what are you up to?
Mathew Lien: I've got three big projects on at the moment: A TV series, four live shows next month and an LP release. And they're all on deadline.
TT: The concerts are celebrating the release of your first record in Taiwan 10 years ago. How come you made a home for yourself here?
ML: When I completed the album Bleeding Wolves (1995) my manager said it was a disaster and my career was over. But it was sent off to MIDEM (a music trade fair held annually in Cannes, France) and one of the labels that picked it up was in Taiwan, Wind Records. Much to their surprise and mine it took off like wildfire.
TT: Did you know much about Taiwan then?
ML: I had no idea about Taiwan at all. I had a toy when I was a kid that said, "Made in Taiwan," and because of that I never thought Taiwan was part of China. All I knew was that we were selling a lot of records and making money.
TT: Is Taiwan independent?
ML: Taiwan is. Actually, there's a flaw in your question. The point is not whether Taiwan should be independent but whether it should unite.
TT: The album was about the slaughter of wolves in Canada, right?
ML: Wolf kill in the Yukon territories changed my life. The government decided to kill wolves to benefit big game hunters from the US, that's when I thought this is a huge injustice and lobbied against it. I was hotly political and became a well-known personality at this time. When we lost and the wolf kill program went ahead it was like a sucker punch to the gut. I went from angry to hurt and suffering and put that into music. That's where Bleeding Wolves came from.
TT: Was there a happy ending?
ML: We toured Bleeding Wolves and because of the title I got a lot of press, which publicized the plight of the wolves and eventually led to a tourism boycott of the Yukon territories. This eventually made the government reverse its policy.
TT: When did you first visit Taiwan?
ML: That was for the 1998 Da-an Park Concert, to promote Confluence. We hoped 3,000 to 4,000 people would turn up but 15,000 came. Then my passport expired and I had to go to Hong Kong, but the vibe was so different, it was so emotionally cold. I guess I had already fallen in love with Taiwan and I wanted to return immediately, sit at a roadside stall and drink Taiwan Beer (which he endorses).
TT: I know you were deeply affected by the 921 Earthquake in 1999. Where were you at the time?
ML: I was in Yukon by the radio, listening to the death toll go up by the hour. And because I had done this road show going around Taiwan to record music for the album Voyage to Paradise, I was very affected and wanted to do something about it. We held a benefit concert and this brought out 30,000 people and raised more than US$600,000 for the recovery efforts.
TT: The next year you held a concert to establish Earth Day in Taiwan. It was celebrated everywhere but Taiwan this year, what happened?
ML: Yeah, the famous concert in the rain. Getting Taiwan to synchronize with the rest of the world on environmental issues is like pulling teeth. It's not easy to do. It's difficult for Taiwan to look at issues like global warming, so rather than push a mule where it doesn't want to go I try to work in the direction of a flow. It's not been the best use of my time.
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