Taitung’s pride and spirit
An important promoter behind Tiehua’s successful linking of music with local culture is senior music producer Cheng Chieh-ren. He has been a producer for the Aboriginal singers Kimbo Hu, Samingad, Purdur and Panai, and has won the Golden Melody Award numerous times.
His passion for music has kept Cheng constantly on the road, traveling weekly between Taitung and Taipei.
“I’d like to set down roots here, allowing different musical elements and crossover artforms to intermesh, to see what naturally emerges,” says Cheng, who not only wishes to see more tourists flock here, but also to see Taitung’s music scene gain a new lease on life and continue to grow.
With their innate musical gifts plus the rich inspiration provided by Taitung’s “pretty as heaven” mountains, rivers and sea, Taitung’s Aborigines have always enjoyed their rightful place in Taiwan’s music scene.
The Taitung band Matzka, Best Band winner at the 22nd Golden Melody Awards, is made up of Paiwan and Puyuma members, and is one of Taiwan’s few reggae bands. The combination of Aboriginal enthusiasm and close-to-nature lifestyle plus the peace-and-love-advocating reggae music form a natural combination. They have performed many times at Tiehua Music Village, always drawing crowds of spectators.
Hao-En and Jia Jia, Suming, Purdur, Panai, and Kimbo Hu have all performed at Tiehua Music Village. Ilid Kaolo, who won Best New Artist, Best Aboriginal Singer and Best Aboriginal Album this year at the 23rd Golden Melody Awards, is also a regular.
In addition to these successful singers, Tiehua Music Village is a great place for rising stars to debut themselves. To give undiscovered performers the chance to emerge, Tiehua allows very few repeat performances on its program schedule. No matter what their connections are or how great their celebrity standing, the same performers will not be allowed to play for at least six months between gigs.
Aboriginal music is a part of life, but because the languages have become disconnected from modern life, there are few opportunities to use them, and they’re gradually being forgotten by the younger generation. “Some youngsters are starting to write music in their tribal languages,” says Tiehua’s “village chief,” Fong Cheng-fa. Most young people are not very fluent in their tribal languages, but they still try hard. Despite often forgetting the lyrics or not being able to express themselves freely, they still insist on composing in their tribal languages.
Tiehua Music Village passionately promotes the transmission of Aboriginal music and culture, but within the village there are no Aboriginal totems or traditional garb to be seen: the reason for this is to avoid being seen as a place just for Aborigines. Non-Aboriginal performers such as Deserts Chang, Cheer Chen, F.I.R. and Won Fu have also been honored guests at Tiehua, and Mandarin, Taiwanese and Hakka performances are all welcomed with open arms here.
Matzka’s reggae music, loudly proclaiming peace and love, always evokes smiles and applause.