Going global
With their bright, cheery style, Won Fu have already had invites to perform in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Canada, and in October 2009 they also received a massive US$90,000 sponsorship from the Government Information Office for a "foreign offensive," playing shows in four cities on the US west coast-Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle-in a month-long tour.
On this tour, the band traveled with their instruments in a bus, accompanied by local indie band agent Daniel Lee. While they joke that they started off their 2,000-mile trek with the carefree happiness of the cast of a road movie and ended it run ragged, they nevertheless all say they learned a lot from the experience.
While in the US, Won Fu played at 10 clubs and campuses. Playing at UC Berkeley and UCLA, particularly during lunch breaks, was a far harsher test for the band's appeal than the clubs they were more used to, but fortunately the response was quite enthusiastic. "After we finished playing at UCLA, even the old Mexican lady who'd been cleaning nearby came over and said she wanted a copy of our CD," recalls Twiggy.
Twiggy says that she found the whole indie scene in the US much tougher than Taiwan's due to the large number of bands and the fierce competition. In Taiwan, for example, it's taken as a given that clubs will provide their own drums, soundboards, and so on, and band members only need to bring whatever instruments they need, but in the US, things are completely different.
"We got to one venue and opened the door to find out that not only was the stage on the second floor, the eight of us had to haul a soundboard and heavy drum set up the tall, narrow staircase ourselves. My legs turned to jelly just looking at it!" jokes Xiao Min.
Won Fu were accompanied on the tour by local indie band United States of Electronica. Xiao Min says that USE, unlike Won Fu, had hauling gear down to a fine art, without even breaking a sweat, and even settled down for an hours-long drive home for work in the morning just as easily after finishing their gig. Even more, they accepted the whole thing as no big drama.
The band's visit to the famous Rock and Roll Camp for Girls in Portland was also a shock for Xiao Min. The camp, which is for girls between the ages of eight and 18, began as something similar to camps held by cram schools in Taiwan, a week-long summer camp, but since then has expanded, now running courses up to a year long and with sister camps in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.
At the start of each new course, signs for different music genres-punk, funk, folk, metal, etc.-are set up, and students can freely choose which genre they want to work in. Once there are enough students in a genre, they then quickly set about forming bands, practicing, and performing.
"I was completely blown away when I saw the place," says Xiao Min. "If they were Taiwanese kids, there wouldn't be many who even knew most of those genres, or even about Asian music for that matter." On top of the musical knowledge gap, the biggest difference is that parents in the West gladly encourage their children to embrace and develop their interests. If these kinds of educational elements don't change, Xiao Min says, "If they were Taiwanese today, even The Beatles would probably starve to death."
Hard rock, Middle Eastern, painted-on eyebrows and facial hair, British-Invasion-style retro.... Won Fu's looks have been just as creative as their music.