Category: zusi

In terms of where Citymemo is in their creative process, well, they’re right in the thick of it. Four out of eight singles completed for their upcoming album, multiple tour dates including live shows and festivals, and all the scrappiness this roughly one year old not-so-pop-rock band can muster…listen closely for a tale as old as indie music itself. 

城市被忘錄正如火如荼的準備他們的LP，已經完成的四個Single之後還要再發布四個，同時不斷地在live show和festival演出。這個一歲左右的“不很流行的流行龐克樂隊”很賣力，仔細聆聽這個樂隊的來龍去脈吧。

It all began on Facebook, responses to a simple call to form a band issued by drummer Roger, who was moving genres to rock from R&B. This attracted the attention of lead singer Katree, who with guitarists Samuel and Tangtang attended Zhongyuan University’s music program and who had an overlay of previous music experience harkening back to middle school cover bands and writing music from high school onwards.  

故事從鼓手Roger在臉書上發出想組樂隊的號召；他當時正從從R&B遷移到搖滾。這個號召由主唱Katree接單 – Katree 曾與吉他手們Samuel和Tangtang念過中原大學的音樂系，Katree更早在國中和高中年代有組樂隊跟寫歌的經驗。

The band is too pop to be punk, too emo to be pop, and not emo enough to be emo – in other words, it straddles the line between different genres while still catering to the crowd. Citymemo has performed to friends, other acts’ friends and bar regulars at Riverside in Gongguan and Revolver near CKS Memorial, both in Taipei. They’ve also graced the stage at the Taiwan Music Festival in Kenting, playing with PAPUN BAND and KST, and have performed overseas at Vancouver’s Jade Music Festival as well. 

這個樂隊說它龐克又太pop，說它pop又太emo，但是emo的話也未必夠emo – 反正扮演了很多不同的角色，不同的genre，為了讓聽眾更喜歡。城市被忘錄已在台北的Riverside和Revolver演出過，還有在墾丁的Taiwan Music Festival, (PAPUN BAND和KST也有表演的那個），另外也在溫哥華的Jade Music Festival表演過。

Touring and performances in of themselves become high risk investments: “We need to cover our own transportation, lodging and practice space fees besides often having to make a ticket sales threshold in order to make money,” Katree says, “and we hardly get a thousand [NTD] per person when we go to festivals.” 

巡演和表演本身就是高風險的投資：“我們必須cover自己的車馬，住宿和彩排的費用除外，常常還要meet一個賣live show門票的門檻，” Katree說，“而且我們去音樂祭都是一個人分一千的。”

For the singles, bassist Steven and the guitarists can record their parts at home, but specialized recording space is still needed for the drums before the band gets a break with a friend doing the mixing. Indie music is hard anywhere, but livehouses in Taipei have been going out of business “left and right” as well, due to increases in rent and the impact of COVID-19. 

對於單曲，貝斯手Steven和吉他手們可以在家裡錄製他們的部分，但在樂隊的朋友進行混音之前，鼓仍然需要專門的錄音空間。獨立音樂在任何地方都很難，但由於租金上漲和COVID-19的影響，臺北的livehouse也“左右”倒閉。

The band counts My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Blink-182 and Avril Lavigne as its main influences, with a couple stories already from their live performances. First dates gone to see Citymemo perform have resulted in multiple relationships, attributable perhaps to the band’s triste but romantic lyrics. “We’re not mainstream, but not super indie either,” says Katree, “we want to encourage everyone to believe in themselves and not be afraid.”

樂隊的主要影響者是My Chemical Romance，Paramore，Blink-182和Avril Lavigne。他們的現場表演已經有幾個故事：比如說第一次約會去看Citymemo的人常常會變成伴侶，這也許歸因於樂隊的陳詞濫調但浪漫的歌詞。“我們不是主流，但也不是超級獨立，”Katree說，“我們希望鼓勵每個人相信自己，不要害怕。

If one side of the Citymemo coin is what the band likes to sing about when they’re feeling down, the other side is warmer, sweeter, not as depressing and built for their target audience of 20-30 year olds. The band’s single “Leave, But I Will Stay” shines a light of hope in an otherwise moment of despair. When Katree performed the band’s songs at a summer camp for children, she felt validated when the kids asked how she knew about how they felt inside – going to show the universal messages inside Citymemo’s music.

如果說Citymemo硬幣的一面是樂隊成員在情緒低落時喜歡唱的歌，那麼另一面則更溫暖，更甜蜜，沒有那麼令人沮喪，並且是為20-30歲的目標聽眾而打造的。樂隊的單曲“走吧，但我會留下”在絕望的時刻閃耀著希望之光。Katree在兒童夏令營表演樂隊的歌曲時，孩子們問她如何知道他們內心的感受時，她感到得到了認可 – 將展示Citymemo音樂中的意義。

So what’s next for the band that wants its music to be a companion to your loneliness? More touring and shows, with Citymemo eyeing international gigs after early success in Vancouver. “Follow our instagram!” Tangtang says. Roger closed out our interview with this to say: “Don’t pay attention to what other people tell you to do, do what you want to do, choose [the advice] you want to listen to.”

那麼，對於希望音樂成為你孤獨時的伴侶的樂隊來說，下一步是什麼？更多的巡演和表演，Citymemo在溫哥華取得早期成功后，著眼於國際演出。“關注我們的Instagram！”Tangtang說。Roger在結束我們的採訪時說：「不要管別人告訴你做什麼，做你想做的事情，選擇你想聽的[建議]。