Hi Nocturnes, can you introduce yourselves and your music?
Hey, we’re Nocturnes曳取, an Indie-Electronic band based in Beijing. Weidu sings and Dave plays some instruments. We’re really interested in the idea of combining live music with a more electronic DJ-like setup, bringing a more performative element to electronic pop music. If you like Coldplay, Bonobo or Foals then you’ll probably see elements of those bands in our work. In Beijing, we’re probably most similar to Nova Heart or Da Bang’s newer material.
Nocturnes曳取是一支来自中国北京的独立电子乐队，乐队有两名成员：萎度，主唱/作曲/作词；大卫，吉他/编曲/制作。他们的音乐动情迷人，氛围感和沉浸感极强，将现场音乐和DJ set融合在一起，被乐迷认为兼顾了Foals的情怀力道，Bonobo的灵动迷幻，以及Coldplay的流行张力。
Why is your band called Nocturnes? How did you two meet?
Dave: I came to China in 2015, and had a short-lived band called Palaces that broke up soon after I arrived. I needed to find someone to work with, but I had grown a little jaded of playing in bands and wanted to take a more commanding role with music in terms of instrumentation. Vocals were a weak point of mine so I posted an ad on Douban.com to find a singer. I had tons of replies, despite how terrible my Chinese was at that time, but one voice in particular stood out, Weidu’s. While everyone else was striving to have that high Mandopop style voice, Weidu had her own very unique tone. She had never written a song at that point, but I still knew she was the one I needed to work with.
大卫：我2015年来到中国，当时自己有一个叫做Palaces的乐队，但是很快也解散了。我需要继续乐队的生活，但这次不想要传统意义上的乐队，而想在编曲和器乐上做更多突破。于是我在豆瓣上发帖想要找一位主唱，萎度的声音很特别，不同于主流/流行女声，所以在第一时间吸引了我。那时萎度还没有原创作品的经历，但我就是知道这就是我要找的人。
People talked to me about your band and I listened to your album on bandcamp and liked it, what is the album about? Can you tell us more about it?
Dave: Our album is called Lines Written in Code, our debut LP. We spent a super long time on this, really trying to make everything consistent, and to give the album its own distinct sonic signature. Having a cohesive set of songs was very important to us, and we were still making changes up to the very last minute. In fact, one of our favorites on the record, Free Falling, was added about a month after everything else was finished and sent for mastering. I just knew it was the perfect addition to the album.
大卫：这张专辑叫做《密眸》，是我们的第一张正式专辑。我们花了很多心思在上面，想要为大家呈现一个属于曳取，有辨识度，同时调性又非常统一的整体声音感觉。专辑中我们最喜欢的一首歌是Free Falling《自由落体》，这首歌是最后一刻加入专辑的，当时直觉告诉我它属于这张专辑。
Weidu: I’d like to say I’m very proud of this album. It’s our first LP that we dedicated so much, maybe over one and a half years? Every time I listened to it, I was trying to think about where we were and what we were doing at that time when that song was born, haha. Lyrically, the whole album, I mean every song delivers a specific thought of mine, what I’ve been thru, and what I’ve learned from that experience. So yeah, it’s like a secret message for every song, such a valuable gift from last year, something to remember when I get old, haha.
萎度：我为这张首专感到很自豪。所有歌陆续完成也花了一年半的时间吧，确实放了很多心血在里面。每次听每首歌，都能想起来当时创作时的情景，当时的我在干嘛，我在想什么之类的。歌词上来说的话，每首歌都代表了一个我自己的想法，当时我的经历，以及我从中的收获。总的来说，每首歌都是一条密讯，是去年给自己最棒的礼物，老了以后可以回忆青春用啊，哈哈。
What’s your favorite music to listen to? What was your favorite album in 2018 so far ?
Dave: I listen to quite a wide range of music, so picking a favorite album is pretty hard. In terms of Chinese releases, I’m a big fan of Hiperson’s new album. They recorded the whole thing on an 8-track apparently, and it just gives it this really cool, punk aesthetic. As a producer, I am incredibly guilty of listening to cheesy mainstream music and taking it apart to study and learn from. In that regard, Charlie Puth’s VoiceNotes, which just came out, is amazing. It has this really cool throwback R&B sound and it gives his music this nice edge versus his first album, which was way too sickly sweet for me.
Listen to the album here.
https://nocturnes-china.bandcamp.com/
大卫：我听得挺杂的，所以选一首最爱的专辑太难了。中文的话，海朋森的新专挺好听的。8首歌一气呵成的感觉，有朋克的真和美在里面。但作为一个制作人来讲，我不得不承认自己很喜欢听主流的，甚至被认为很俗的流行歌，比如Charlie Puth新出的VoiceNotes就很好听，我觉得比起他的第一张专辑来说，这一张偏复古的R&B感觉很酷很潮。
Weidu: I don’t have a specific genre to listen to, usually I just browsing personal recommendation song list from Xiami.com, that could range from electronic music, to indie rock, to rap, maybe. Personally, I think the album, I, from WAV, it’s Canadian indie band, really stands out.
萎度：我没有钟爱的某一种风格，随心听歌，虾米个人推荐就够。2018年刚刚过去一半啊，非要说比较喜欢的专辑，WAV的《I》，很出色。
Are you planning to record an album in 2018?
Dave: We just released our album in December, and I think the process aged me about 10 years, so we’d like to take a break from albums for a bit! That being said, we’re always writing songs, and we’re putting the finishing touches at the moment to a new single, and a new EP. I’m pretty excited about this new EP, it’s a lot groovier (not in the Austin Powers sense) than our album, probably inflected a bit from Charlie Puth’s album like I mentioned earlier. My partner refers to the new single – called Any Kind of Mood – as the perfect soundtrack to a Kung Fu movie, so if Jet Li happens to be reading this, get in touch.
大卫：刚在去年12月发了专辑，感觉老了十年，想缓缓。但其实我们一直都在写新歌，为每首歌找到属于它们的位置。下一张EP我很期待，会更groovy一些（这个单词无法翻译哈哈），估计是受到了Charlie Puth的影响。我女朋友说我们的下一首歌Any Kind of Mood《私人情绪》，简直是功夫片的绝佳配乐。所以李连杰先生，如果您看到这篇文章了，和我们联络一下，谢谢您！
Weidu: We’ll release a new single in this July, and a new EP next year. The new single is called Any Kind of Mood, probably the best lyrics coming out from me, a lot of fans like it when we test play it live, during the tour. And for the EP, we really tried to put in the groovy songs that are different than the previous album, so I’m really looking forward to it.
萎度：我们会在7月发一首新单，在明年发新的EP。新单叫做Any Kind of Mood《私人情绪》，恨不得是我写过最满意的词了吧，哈哈。在巡演和很多现场试着演了一下，很多人喜欢。对于下一张EP来说，我们尽可能把手上最优质的作品放在一起，所以我满怀期待。
How did you start music and why? Which instrument did you start on?
Dave: I got into music a little late, picking up the guitar at 16, and heading to music college completely unprepared at 18. For me, it was the only thing I never got bored of. I tend to flit from thing to thing pretty quickly, but music has captivated me from the start. I realized soon after I began that I was never going to be the most technical, so since then I’ve tried to pursue individuality in sound instead. I started with guitar, which is still the only instrument I really consider myself any way proficient in. I took up piano a couple of years later. This year marks 10 years since I picked up an instrument in fact. I’m not sure I would ever have imagined myself playing this kind of music on the other side of the world 10 years ago!
大卫：我在16岁才学的吉他，应该说比较晚了。18岁去大学学音乐的时候，也没有完全准备好。我做很多事情都没长性，但吉他是我无论如何都不会烦的事情。从一开始，我就知道我不会是那种技术流人士，所以更想从创作方面找到自己的声音。虽然之前也学过钢琴，但是弹吉他已经十年之久。确实在一开始的时候，完全没有想过有一天自己会在中国继续音乐生涯。
What’s your favorite thing about playing music in Beijing, how does it compare to other countries in the world?
Dave: Beijing is unlike anywhere else in the world for music. Back home in Ireland, music so often is in the background, a complement to a night of drinking, instead of the main focus. Here, people are so much more willing to give their attention to bands, even completely new ones. I’ve been at school bar where new, objectively terrible, bands have taken to the stage, and people still give them their time. That was the case with us 2 years ago, when we were super super shit, and it’s something I still hold dear to me now. China has the best music audiences in the world.
大卫：北京当地的独立音乐和世界上任何一个国家的都不一样。在爱尔兰，音乐尤其是独立音乐是不被人重视的，但这里很多年轻人愿意买票去看一些哪怕是很新的乐队。我去过School看过很烂的乐队，但是观众还是给他们鼓励和掌声。我们自己两年前的现场也不堪入目，但是现在进步了非常多。中国的观众是最棒的！
What’s your favorite Chinese band/artist/song you would like to introduce to the rest of the world?
Dave: I truly believe the stage is set for the first Chinese bands to become globally famous in the near future, especially with the achievements of bands like Re-tros recently. I think the most accessible bands for foreign audiences would be Nova Heart, Future Orients and Glow Curve, and I’m endlessly badgering my friends back home to listen to all three. One of the reasons we hope to be more successful in the future is to shine a light on the great scene here. China often has this perception of not being cool, and that’s something we’d really like to break.
大卫：我认为第一批成功的中国乐队，会在国际舞台上越来越耀眼。就国际化程度来说，重塑雕像的权利，Nova Heart，Future Orients，发光曲线都是非常厉害的。我不停地向自己家里的朋友推荐这些优秀的乐队，让他们知道，中国，真的很酷啊。
Anything you want to add?
Dave: We’re really looking forward to playing with Swarrm on the 20th! It’s been quite a while since we’ve been in Temple, and we’re looking forward to getting back there.
大卫：我们很期待20号与Swarrm同台！距离上一次去Temple已经有些日子了，所以甚是想念。
