Chen Hao (陳顥) has been living the rock 'n' roll dream. Eight years ago, he was "just a fan" when he first attended the Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival (海洋音樂祭) - he vividly remembers watching punk rockers 88 Balaz (八 十 八顆芭樂籽) win the battle of the bands competition. The group's performance was "shocking," he said. After the show, he was determined to learn the guitar.
Today, he shreds mad riffs as a guitarist in two bands: 88 Balaz and Children Sucker (表兒), which won the festival's competition last year. Chen, 25, will appear on stage with both groups this weekend as Ho-Hai-Yan enters its ninth year.
As usual, Ho-Hai-Yan takes place at Fulong (福隆) beach over three days, with more than 50 bands scheduled to play, among them Taiwan's top independent bands as well as groups from France, Switzerland and Japan.
The festival's battle of the bands competition is in the spotlight this year, occupying Saturday's prime-time slot. Dubbed the Taiwan Indie Music Awards, the event features 10 finalists that passed a first round with a demo submission and then a second round of live performances. The bands get to test their mettle in front of a crowd that is expected to top 400,000 people this year, a Taipei County Government spokeswoman said.
The winner walks away with NT$200,000, and a shot at big-time success. Past victors include folk-rock group Sodagreen (蘇打綠), which won the Golden Melody Award for best band on Saturday night, the second time in a row, and now plays for stadium-capacity crowds, and indie-rock group Tizzy Bac, which enjoys a loyal following in Taiwan's alternative scene.
But no matter who wins, all of the finalists benefit from playing on the big stage. "It's the best possible experience for a young band to have," said Chen.
This is one reason why scores of bands enter the competition, which along with the festival is co-organized by Taiwan Colors Music (TCM, 角頭音樂) and the Taipei County Government. This year 132 bands submitted demos, from which judges chose 30 to participate in semifinal live competitions.
While many bands see the competition as a chance "to get their name out there," the events are relaxed and free of pomp. At one of the semifinal events at the Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館) several weeks ago, there was a spirit of camaraderie and genuine interest among the bands. Many cheering audience members were themselves from bands, who also congregated backstage to chat with fellow musicians.
At the outdoor event, there was a diversity of rock styles, ranging from quiet acoustic folk to eardrum-bursting heavy metal.
"I think [this competition] gives many different kinds of underground bands an opportunity," said Obiwan Chen (陳正航), after his folk-rock band Zenkwun (神棍樂團) finished its set in Yingge. "I feel that [Ho-Hai-Yan] is very tolerant … whatever you want to do, you can try it at this competition."
The bands are also getting better - many of the acts in Yingge sounded polished. Overall, the quality of Taiwan's rock scene has improved as "society has become more open over the past 10 years," said Pei Pei Lee (李佩璇), one of the competition judges and a past organizer of Spring Scream and Formoz.
"More young people are doing what they want to be doing," which is playing rock 'n' roll, Lee said. Many of the competition finalists already have years of experience playing together, and many have already released CDs, she added.
But quantity doesn't mean quality to Chen Hao, 88 Balaz's guitarist. He fears that originality and creativity among Taiwanese indie bands is deteriorating. The groups that inspired Chen in the earlier years of the festival had a stronger "Taiwanese" flavor music; nowadays bands tend to emulate more "European or American styles," Chen said.
Change seems to be one constant for Ho-Hai-Yan. Following last year's high-profile appearance of Chinese rock legend Cui Jian (崔建), this year's headline act on Sunday is the relatively unknown Zombie Zombie, a French electronica duo that consists of Etienne Jaumet, who plays an array of synthesizers, and CosmicNeman, who plays a standard drum kit. The pair describes their music as "like in a horror movie when the car won't start, you give it one last try." Another noteworthy band is Queen Sea Big Shark (后海大鯊魚) from Beijing, which plays an interesting mix of surf rock and 1980s dance music.
The festival has experienced growing pains in recent editions, but its legacy endured a tug-of-war in 2006 when the Taipei County Government chose Formosa TV (FTV, 民視) to run the event instead of the festival's founder TCM.
TCM returned last year as the festival's organizer.
The Taipei County Government is keen on keeping its finger on the nub of youth. "We're probably the only government in the world that supports a private event for non-mainstream music," said Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠), director of the Taipei County Government's Travel and Tourism Bureau (台北縣政府觀光旅遊局).
But 23-year-old Philip Wu (吳翰文) isn't likely to notice, as his mind will be on other things - his band Havens (黑凡斯) qualified to play in Saturday's competition.
"It's a dream to perform on the big stage, with thousands of people there," he said at the semifinals in Yingge. "We enjoy the competition … because it's music for life – that's the rock spirit."
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