"Taiwan chose me"
People who have come into contact with Matthew know that whenever he's asked why he likes to come to Taiwan so much, his most frequent reply is, "Taiwan chose me." But the more often he comes, and the longer he stays, he often adds an extra clause-"But now I've fallen in love with Taiwan."
The way he puts it is reminiscent of the old Chinese saying: "Fate is its own master." Living in the city of Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon territory, not far from the North Pole, Matthew Lien had never dreamed that his first double platinum album would be made on the little island of Taiwan in the west Pacific. He also never expected that one day he would make music in Taiwan, using the sound of Taiwan's wind, birds and running water, and classical Chinese instruments such as the guzheng, the bangdi and the suona, carrying on the nanguan and beiguan traditions of musical intonation that began millennia ago, and incorporating the singing voices of Taiwanese indigenous people, as resonant as the sounds of nature.
It all began in 1996, when Ken Yang, the president of Wind Records, began to make his "foreign crusades."
Having achieved success in Taiwan over the last several years with their meditative music and ethnic music, Wind Records have chosen to feature alternative artists. The marketing philosophy of Ken Yang is also very different from the mainstream music industry. He believes that precisely because Wind doesn't make pop music and doesn't compete on the vast Chinese market with Chinese-language lyrics, it isn't limited to the Chinese market, and can sell overseas. That is why, five years after he started Wind, he went forth single-handedly on his "foreign crusades" to international record exhibitions. He even rented an entire booth to introduce his products, searching out industry insiders, and at the same time hunting for foreign talent to bring to the Taiwan market, in such genres as nature music and health music that fit well in the Wind product line.
Matthew Lien's first album, "Bleeding Wolves" was published in 1994, and Yang discovered the CD at the Midan record festival in 1996, feeling very moved by its creative concept of "calling out to save the wolf." And after giving it a listen, he was drawn to its exquisite production, the purity of its music, its sincerity and its richness. He decided to introduce it to Taiwan.
"I never expected it to be so popular. It's something Wind never encountered before," says Yang, who himself was stunned by its tremendous success. "As soon as we put out the CD, we sold 5,000 copies. And in the past, our listeners would only fill out our response questionnaires with a few words, like 'I liked it,' 'I didn't like it,' 'It was okay' and so on, but this time many respondents wrote a whole lot. Some people even said, 'This is the best music I've ever heard in my life' or 'If I don't hear it every day, I can't go to sleep.'" To this day, "Bleeding Wolves" is their best selling CD. He notes, "We have a sales volume of 3,000 or 4,000 every month." Just before the concert at the end of October, sales had reached 150,000,which would be a remarkable number even in the mainstream music market.
The excellent sales achievements of this CD, strictly speaking, are not beyond what they should be, because its songs are so stylistically bountiful, and the environmental sounds-of melting glaciers, brooks, animals and even trains and church bells-are extremely natural and harmonious. The CD's ten songs go from light jazz that depicts the vast, serene Arctic wilderness, to the lightning fast Celtic centerpiece "Flying Squirrel Creek," to a moaning chorus of flutes, saxophones and other wind instruments that convey the sorrowful desolation of dying wolves. As the album approaches its finale, one track, "And Then There Were None," presents itself in two distinctly different sections. The first flows along a leisurely, impressionistic current. Then the second shifts to an explosion of electric guitars, portraying human feelings of hopelessness. Lien's gentle, resonant solo voice on another song, "Bedtime Stories," portrays a father singing to his daughter. Its beautiful lyrics are filled with tearful sorrow:
Don't make me tell bedtime stories/ 'Bout how it was when the Earth still had trees/ Don't make me tell bedtime stories/ Livin' in a world of why and might have been/ Tellin' all about how I remember when. . ./ You can see it everywhere, we're adding color to our atmosphere. . ./ Think it's time we recognize, we've got a problem in paradise/ Angels fall from troubled skies, wolves lay bleeding out upon the ice . . .
When they buy "Bleeding Wolves," most music fans in Taiwan probably do not know the stories behind the album. But when they read the leaflet included with the CD while listening to the music, they find that every song tells a vivid tale. Under a hail of bullets from a helicopter-borne hunter's gun, a wolf frantically flees, but does not forget to look back for a glimpse at its dying mate, lying in a pool of blood. Thick and viscous crude oil blackens the once sparkling wilderness. Lien's music is so gentle that it leads one on a journey to a distant land of dreams. Yet the powerfully accusatory tone of the music sets hearts racing on faraway Taiwan, where people shed tears for the bleeding wolves of the North Pole, and also mourn for the disappearing mountain forests of their own island.
When Matthew Lien heard that his "Bleeding Wolves" had sold 100,000 copies in a distant East Asian island nation, he couldn't help but wonder, exactly what kind of a place is Taiwan? And what kind of music do Taiwanese people usually like? Why were there so many people there that seemed to appreciate his music? He was determined to go see for himself, but before he went, he wanted to understand a bit about the Orient, and especially Oriental music.
At the beginning of 1997, Lien took the initiative to contact Wind Records and propose a joint project. He wanted to produce a recording that combined Chinese and Western musical instruments. Wind Records had been active in mainland China for many years, producing meditative music and health music based on traditional Chinese forms, designed to nourish the body and foster well-being. So they arranged for Lien and his ensemble to go to Nanjing and work with local musicians. The result was "Confluence," produced with 50 performers and 45 different instruments, both Western and Chinese. Many critics find this CD a little "unbelievable" when they hear it. Some songs use a dozen or more instruments. Yet they do not seem to be hampered by the problem of who will take the lead and who will "play second fiddle" that is so often encountered when Chinese and Western instruments play together; rather, a harmonious and vibrant "dialogue" wells up.
Tapestry
When David Mulroney, director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and a music aficionado, first heard "Flail" from the CD "Confluence," he was astonished. Mulroney feels that Lien's magnetism derives from his personal character. "He's really visionary. He seems to be able grasp what's special about different cultures and find the connecting patterns that draw them together." On the track "In the Canyon of the Peel," the famous mainland guqin master Cheng Gongliang conveys the mood of murmuring waters rolling from high mountains down to deep valleys. The xiao and the flute join in. Then as the Uilleann pipes, mandolin, cello, violin, acoustic guitar and percussion instruments make their appearance, the magnificence of converging waters rushing down a canyon to the Arctic Sea seems to appear before our very eyes. Describing the title track of "Confluence," Lien himself points out the beautiful synthesis of the two musical traditions, the "dialogue between Chinese instruments and their western siblings: xiao (Chinese flute) and Irish flute, guzheng (Chinese dulcimer-harp) and dobro, erhu (Chinese violin) and fiddle." And his music faithfully conveys his world music vision that "threads of different colour and texture" weave together to form a "tapestry."
After "Confluence" was released in Taiwan last August, Lien came to Taiwan to promote it, and held a "Dear Earth" concert in Taipei's Ta-An Forest Park, drawing around 15,000 people. This was his first time to visit the land where his music is loved, as he had long hoped to do. It was also the first time that Taiwan music lovers could really meet Matthew, the writer and performer of the music they had listened to for so long. They also discovered that he was not quite the same as the international "idols" they were used to-he was approachable, friendly and ready to listen. During a CD-signing session, one lady said happily, "No one has ever looked at me like he did when I was talking. It made me feel like I was important."
In fact, Lien's first tour of Taiwan not only made him long to get to know Taiwan, it also had quite an impact upon his future life plans. Yukon News senior correspondent Richard Mostyn, who followed Lien on his latest visit, says, "Matthew is well-known in the Yukon, but of course, he's not that big in the rest of North America, mainly because the music industry there is very commercialized, and the genres are clearly separated. But Matthew's music is very hard to categorize. So it's not that easy to break into the mainstream music system and achieve big sales." On the other hand, his success in Taiwan is completely due to the music itself, and therefore even more precious.
Amazed at Taiwan
When Lien visited Taiwan for the first time, he took a trip around the island after his concert. Even though he had come from the wide-open lands of northern ice, Taiwan was still indescribably lovely, and all along the way he exclaimed, "Wow, incredible, beautiful." And what really moved him was not the magnificent, precipitous Huatung Valley, the endlessly rising peaks of Taroko Gorge, the serpentine curves of the Central and Southern Cross-Island Highways, or the year-round tropical greenery of Kenting-it was the rich cultural voice of Taiwan's people. In Gangshan Park, he stopped for a long time at the side of an old man playing the three-stringed lute, and then came up and chatted with him. He also recorded the songs of the Ami people of eastern Hualian, Taiwanese opera in Ilan County's Toucheng, and a yueqin (Chinese banjo) performance in Hengchun, Pingtung County. He took them back and listened carefully to them in Canada. And because of this experience, the seeds were planted for what became his Taiwan album, "Voyage to Paradise."
Not long after, Lien and Wind Records developed a music plan for his Taiwan album. During November, he returned to Taiwan to formally begin production. This time, Lien and his crew carried a full set of recording equipment to Penghu's "Wind Cupboard" cave, "Whale Cave," and the mouth of the Hualien River to record the natural sounds of the wind, waves and river currents. He also captured the songs of the Kavalan indigenous people. What's more, he visited a writing class at Penghu's Tingwan Prison, where he performed for the inmates. Before he finished his Penghu excursion, he also went to Penghu Elementary School and sang for the kids. The entire musical process was full of nature, relaxation and sincere concern, the very concepts that he always tries to convey in his music. This album went a step beyond "Confluence." Taiwanese music was not just an element within his score and a partner in dialogue with Western music-in terms of melody, voice and many other important aspects, it became the main feature, manifesting the cultural spirit of Taiwan. Magically, whether it is Bunun aborigine Hu Tien-kuo's war whoops, the nanguan and gezai opera performances of You Yuan-keng of Lanyang, the music of the famous beiguan master Chuang Chin-tsai, or the adaptation of a Taiwanese folk song, "Grasshopper Flirting," they all harmoniously weave together with Lien's high-pitched, powerful Celtic minstrelsy into one song after another filled with familiar Taiwanese sounds. No wonder David Mulroney is so generous in his praise: "He is able to combine many different cultures into a single entity. It's a really rare talent."
Cultural representative
The cultural interaction that Lien so fully expresses in his music has been recognized in official circles. Before his recent benefit trip for the Taiwan earthquake, he was named "cultural representative" by the Yukon Territory government. David Mulroney adds, "Because of Matthew, cultural and artistic exchange and understanding between Taiwan and Canada will constantly increase." In April of this year, Lien was invited to Taiwan to perform at the "Golden Melody" Awards, becoming the first international artist to play alternative music at the annual event. Tai-gu Tales dancer Lin Hsiu-wei, who also performed at the awards ceremony, said more than once, "Your music is so good. You just have to keep creating."
Perhaps Lien is not especially prolific, but he is endlessly productive. Besides visiting Taiwan twice last year, he spent eight full months, from spring to autumn, crossing the Yukon with renowned nature photographer Ken Madsen and a group of like-minded environmentalist musicians and artists, recording in image and sound the migration and breeding of North America's largest caribou herd. In the spring of this year, Lien released "Caribou Commons" and did a North American concert tour, communicating in music and images the possibility that the caribou, just like the once-thriving American buffalo, may be in danger of extinction. He hopes to focus environmental awareness, so that the caribou that have flourished in the Arctic for tens of thousands of years may be able to survive.
The price for 200 days
Indeed, this herd of tens of thousands of caribou multiply and nurture their young every year in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a 20-mile-wide stretch of verdant, lush Alaskan wilderness. But a petroleum corporation believes that there are abundant quantities of crude oil hidden underneath it, and has applied to explore and develop the area. In actuality, experts estimate that the park's oil deposits can only meet US consumption for 200 days at best, but it will require destroying the home that tens of thousands of lives have depended on for generations. A series of songs in "Caribou Commons"-"A Mirror to the Past," "The Gathering," "The Calving Grounds," and "Dead Calf Lament"-depict this caribou paradise, and the sorrows and fears of the ancient Gwich'in people who have lived next to the caribou for thousands of years. Addressing the petroleum plant with its oil spilling all over and its smoke blackening the sky, Lien speaks on behalf of these speechless creatures and asks: Just for an uncertain 200 days, do you want to destroy the countless lives that stretch back to antiquity?
The "Caribou Commons" CD was released in Taiwan this April, at the same time that he came to take part in the Golden Melody awards. For the people of Taiwan, the album's allure may still be Lien's warm, delicate style. But in North America, "Bleeding Wolves" and "Caribou Commons" had major political impact. Firstly, Lien observes that the government that established the policy of massacring wolves lost the election, and had to step down. Furthermore, Richard Mostyn of the Yukon News who also went to report on Lien's North American tour said that President Clinton is rather sympathetic with the requests of Matthew Lien and other environmentalists, and may refuse the petroleum company exploration rights.
Children of the open spaces
David Mulroney, who has been in Taiwan about two years, roughly as long as Lien has been well known here, says he is deeply moved by Matthew's "choice to make Canada's Yukon his permanent home, because of his love for the beautiful and abundant nature there." With a tone of deep reflection, Mulroney affirms, "Because of him, we've come to see a beautiful home that we never noticed before, and we've become aware that it will easily be destroyed if we aren't careful, just like in Nebraska, where tens of thousands of buffalo trod the plains as far as the eye could see, and the native Americans lived by following the buffalo herds that spread out like a sea between the earth and sky. Today, the buffalo and the Indians have both been fenced off in reservations. The last remaining buffalos have red tags punched in their ears. . ." And Mulroney also offers this reminder: "Matthew also saw many beautiful things in Taiwan. Will the people of Taiwan recognize in his music the beauty that they did not notice before, and watch out for their own environmental problems?"
As his 90-minute concert was drawing to a close, the packed audience seemed entirely absorbed, as if hypnotized or intoxicated. Encouraged by the concert's hostess, the total of the audience's charity purchases combined with donations from concert sponsors Kinpo Electronics and Compal Electronics surpassed NT$6 million. And Lien offered a new rendition of his song "When the Earth Calls Her Children Home" to console the wounded spirits of the September earthquake:
One child, in a mother's embrace/ Such a sweet smile, at the sight of her face/ Night falls, with an elegant grace/ When the day has come to an end
"Hush now, as I turn out the light"/ "Sleep tight, everything is alright"/ Come day break, I'll be here by your side"/ "I'll see you again"
Yes, we thank Matthew Lien for his reminder. We know that one day we will see each other again, as long as the mountains and the seas remain. As long as we have the earth, heaven is not far away.
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Matthew Lien has released four albums in Taiwan: "Bleeding Wolves," "Confluence," "Caribou Commons," and " Voyage to Paradise."
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Matthew Lien held benefit concerts in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Ilan for victims of the Sept. 21 earthquake. The first performance, at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, gathered more than NT$6 million in donations.
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Many of the aboriginal musicians that played for Wind Records live in areas devastated by the earthquake. After the tremor, the company's general manager Ken Yang (first on the right) and colleagues took donations and supplies to mountain areas most lacking in provisions. Yang also took Matthew Lien to quake-stricken areas twice.
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Matthew Lien loves kids. Every time he goes to an elementary school, he will perform for them or make them laugh. The photo shows him making a video. Just about all of the school's 70 students were in attendance.
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Matthew Lien's music often features the voices of indigenous people. He believes that indigenous people, whether in Canada's Yukon or in Taiwan, can inspire us, because their life is so close to nature. The picture shows Lien singing with Atayal people at a bonfire in Hsinchu's Chienshih Rural Township during his August visit.
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In the remote high mountains, Taiwan's beauty fills Matthew Lien with a meditative calm.
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Deep in the mountains, early morning is a wonderful time to listen to nature. Lien teaches his partners to curl their hands around their ears to pay close attention to what the mountains are saying.
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"Big Bearded Uncle, don't go, okay?" "Don't worry, I'll take you all back with me!" Matthew Lien's visit to Hsinchu's Chienshih Rural Township was full of many sad farewells.
Matthew Lien held benefit concerts in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Ilan for victims of the Sept. 21 earthquake. The first performance, at the Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall, gathered more than NT$6 million in donations.
Many of the aboriginal musicians that played for Wind Records live in areas devastated by the earthquake. After the tremor, the company's general manager Ken Yang （first on the right） and colleagues took donations and supplies to mountain areas most lacking in provisions. Yang also took Matthew Lien to quake-stricken areas twice.
Matthew Lien loves kids. Every time he goes to an elementary school, he will perform for them or make them laugh. The photo shows him making a video. Just about all of the school's 70 students were in attendance.
Matthew Lien's music often features the voices of indigenous people. He believes that indigenous people, whether in Canada's Yukon or in Taiwan, can inspire us, because their life is so close to nature. The picture shows Lien singing with Atayal people at a bonfire in Hsinchu's Chienshih Rural Township during his August visit.
In the remote high mountains, Taiwan's beauty fills Matthew Lien with a meditative calm.
Deep in the mountains, early morning is a wonderful time to listen to nature. Lien teaches his partners to curl their hands around their ears to pay close attention to what the mountains are saying.
"Big Bearded Uncle, don't go, okay?" "Don't worry, I'll take you all back with me!" Matthew Lien's visit to Hsinchu's Chienshih Rural Township was full of many sad farewells.
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