Chen Huiting 陳惠婷
WWC-045 Chen Huiting 陳惠婷
After a long absence imposed by circumstances beyond my control, I’ve decide to take another kick at the cat. The inspiration for this program came from a new friend in China that I recently met online. Here is his Substack which I highly recommend to anyone with a deep interest in world affairs, economics and the markets. So this one’s for you ChinArb. Although most of this music is 10 years old or more, I’m guessing you probably haven’t heard it before as it’s a little off the beaten track.
Long before I thought of doing a feature site on post-Soviet music I was exploring various foreign music scenes with an emphasis on indie or “underground” artists, where such could be found. My first exploration was Japan, followed a bit later by India with an emphasis on Bhangra which was starting to get some traction in the West. Later on I happened upon the Taiwan indie scene which circa 2000 was just beginning to bloom, centred around the clubs and cafes of the Riverside district in downtown Taipei. One of the first bands I discovered was Tizzy Bac, formed in 1999 by Chen Huiting 陳惠婷 (vocals keyboard) Xu Zhe-hun 許哲毓 (bass) and Lin Qianyuan 林前源 (drums).
Up to that point Taiwan indie mainly consisted of young guys thrashing away on electric guitars, more or less emulating their western idols. Tizzy Bac was a major departure from that milieu, being female led and based on the piano as a lead instrument - no guitars other than the electric bass. Group leader Chen Huiting used the term “piano rock” in reference to their style and may have actually coined the term, although I’m pretty sure the original piano rocker was Elton John. Piano rock wasn’t the only new feature to appear around that time. Inspired by Tizzy Bac, a number of female led bands magically appeared, notably Hello Nico, Astro Bunny, Frandé and Chocolate Tiger.
Part 1: Tizzy Bac
Tizzy Bac wikipedia article (Chinese) Tizzy Bac discography
Part 2: Chen Huiting 陳惠婷
Tizzy Bac went on hiatus from 2013 to 2017. Meanwhile Chen began a solo career in 2014. Her music is more electronically oriented, has a softer edge and is more introspective than Tizzy Bac. Chen is one of my all-time favourite singers and composers. The fact that she sings in a language I don’t speak simply illustrates that you don’t need to understand the language to appreciate the depth of emotion in her lyrics, especially when delivered by such an amazing voice. Her talent was certainly noticed at home where she won many awards for her work and became a major influence in the Taiwan music, art and fashion scenes.
Chen Huiting on YouTube - Wikipedia (Chinese) - Elle magazine interview (Chinese)
Making this program was a lot of fun. It took me back to some happy times, and since I already knew the material it wasn’t that hard to produce. Most of the tracks are from the 2007-17 time frame. Chen and Tizzy Bac (now with an expanded line-up and guitars!) continue to produce new music but I haven’t listened to much of it yet. I’d almost forgotten about them actually, having moved on to other things since those days. So it was nice to revisit, and it might even inspire me to do another program featuring artists from that time. Some really great music came out of the Riverside scene back then.
Original piana rocker....Art Tatum