Chen Ming-chang

Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) (, born July 4, 1956) is a Taiwanese folk singer, guitarist, Taiwanese yueqin player, composer, and producer born in Beitou. He is known for writing scores for the Hou Hsiao-Hsien films Dust in the Wind and The Puppetmaster (1993), as well as for songs such as "She Is Our Darling" (伊是咱的寶貝, 1993) and "Wandering to Tamsui" (流浪到淡水, 1995). He is stylistically known for singing primarily in Taiwanese Hokkien, incorporating traditional styles and instruments into his music, as well as songs that represent the Taiwanese underclass.

History

Early life Chen Ming-chang was born in 1956 in Beitou Village, Yangmingshan Administrative Bureau (now Beitou District in Taipei). Chen Ming-chang's first musical instrument was his older brother's guitar, which his mother bought for 2700 NTD as a reward for his high school admission. His brother barely used it and left it for Ming-chang, then in his 2nd year of middle school, to play with.

In his youth, Chen Ming-chang hoped to become a baseball player. He was not very studious and in 1972, he was admitted to Fuxing Senior High School in Beitou and played first base for the high school team. He dreamed of going to the United States to play in the MLB. Neglecting his homework to practice baseball, it took him four years rather than the usual three to complete high school.

Music was just a hobby for Chen Ming-chang until his third year in high school, when he realized that despite being slow at reading music, he had a particular sensitivity toward sound and in particular could quickly transcribe any song that he heard. To make a living, he worked as a merchant selling a variety of goods, such as clothing, watches and pianos.

Rise of Taiwanese consciousness (1980s)

In 1982, at age 26, Chen Ming-chang's father suffered from a stroke, and he went back to Beitou to help take care of him as well as help his mother run their jewelry store. Two years later, when his younger brother finished his military service, Ming-chang decided he would try his hand at music again. His supportive mother and sister bought him a piano and a four-track recorder. They converted the fourth floor of their house into a recording studio, where Ming-chang would teach guitar in the evenings after working in the family shop. Hearing Chen Da's music made Chen Ming-chang realize that his music lacked "a feeling for this land and a reflection on our local culture" Later, Chen Ming-chang would say: "We were prepared to be arrested or taken away but we still wanted to see whether the lifting of martial law was real or not." He also participated in a free public concert in Liberty Square that November in support of the Hong Kong protests.

Influences and associated acts

Chen Ming-chang's music was deeply influenced by that of Chen Da, a Taiwanese folk singer from Hengchun. In particular, it was Chen Da's music that caused Chen Ming-chang to decide to primary sing in Taiwanese Hokkien, his mother tongue. In the liner notes to his album An Afternoon Play, he recalls a time when he saw Chen Da perform in a Western-style restaurant in Taipei, and noted the contrast between the musician's loose-fitting suit and the lifestyles of the steak-eating audience members.

He has also cited influences from various traditional operas, such as Taiwanese opera, which his father would often take him to see as a child. He has been cited for inventing a style of guitar playing that mimicked the sounds of the beiguan, nanguan and Taiwanese yueqin. Chen has also cited aboriginal influences in his music from when he spent time in aboriginal villages in Taitung and Hualien.

Awards

In 1987, Dust in the Wind became the first Taiwanese film to win an international prize for film score at the Three Continents Festival in Nantes, France. In 1993, Chen won the prize for best score for The Puppetmaster at the Film Fest Gent in Belgium. In 1995, he would write the score for the Hirokazu Koreeda film Maborosi, which won the Best Music Award at the 1995 Mainichi Film Awards in Japan. In 1998, he won the Best Composer award at the 9th Golden Melody Awards in 1998 for the song "Wandering to Tamsui". The Taipei County Government deemed that the song was representative of the unique qualities of Danshui (Tamsui), and installed the lyrics on a plaque on Tamsui Lover's Bridge on Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf. In 1999, he wrote the score for the Lin Cheng-sheng film March of Happiness, which won the Best Music Award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival and was nominated for the Best Music Award at the 36th Golden Horse Awards.

Discography

Blacklist Studio (黑名單工作室), 1989 Live Works 1 (現場作品(1)), 1990 An Afternoon Drama (下午的一齣戲), 1990 Live Works 2 (現場作品(2)), 1991 We Are Not A People Without Feeling (阮不是一個無感情的人), 1995 Do Not Ask Our Name (勿問阮的名), 1999 The Last Car From Su'ao (蘇澳來ㄟ尾班車), 2002 "She Is Our Darling" (伊是咱的寶貝), single, 2004 Beloved Old Station (心愛的老車站), 2005 Lin Cheng-sheng's Film, Chen Ming-chang's Music (林正盛的電影‧陳明章的音樂) 2005 Hou Hsiao-hsein's Film, Chen Ming-chang's Music: Dust in the Wind (侯孝賢的電影‧陳明章的音樂：戀戀風塵), 2005 Hirokazu Koreeda's Film, Chen Ming-chang's Music: Maborosi (是枝裕和的電影‧陳明章的音樂：幻之光), 2005 The Whales, Paulonia Flower Bride (海尪·油桐花新娘), 2006 A Pile of Guitars (一堆吉他), 2006 Shaking the Mountains and Rivers (撼山河), 2017 "Freedom! Hong Kong" (香港！自由), single, 2019