Chapter 638: Chapter 40: A One-Person Band
Chapter 40: One-Man Band
After Li Yan made up his mind, he seriously asked, "What’s your friend’s name, and what works do they have? I’ll discuss it with the production team later."
"Her name is Dejay, and she’s the only member of the band The Pancakes."
Upon hearing Nian Yufei’s words, Li Yan was a bit speechless. Why call it a band if there’s only one person? "Uh, honestly, I haven’t heard of it. Some time ago, I looked into film scores and checked out past Golden Horse Film Festival materials. The ones I remember are the likes of Luo Dayou, Huang Zhan, and James J. Kim, Chen Guangrong. As for this... one-man band, I’ve never heard of it."
Nian Yufei wasn’t embarrassed but earnestly introduced her. It was clear she respected Dejay a lot. "It’s a solo music group. Although it’s called a group, it’s just her. Initially, she self-funded her first album in an international language, managing all the singing, composing, lyric writing, arranging, playing, recording, production, and distribution. Then she sent the album to an independent label in Cloud Island, which got her a record contract. By now, she’s released over a dozen albums, mostly in international languages, and toured abroad. But many are personally published, and she also rents venues for small concerts on Cloud Island."
Li Yan was speechless once again. Nowadays, if a young pop star can come up with lyrics and a melody, they’re celebrated as musical prodigies or creative talents, appearing very capable. A person managing not just singing, composing, writing, arranging, and playing, but also recording, producing, and even distributing! This reminded him of Li Ao, who handled writing, proofreading, editing, typesetting, and designing all by himself.
"Sounds impressive! Why isn’t she famous?"
"Not mainstream enough, probably lacks entertainment value. She once said, it’s not about being alternative or chasing musical ideals, just that the record company isn’t something she can choose. Maybe, in their eyes, she doesn’t hold value, not the type they need. They might need someone visually appealing or someone with star charisma, but not necessarily someone who can both play and sing. Grooming a newcomer like a blank slate might make it easier to achieve their goals.
So, actually, it’s not that she deliberately stays low-key, she just doesn’t have the support of a big company, thus lacking opportunities. But she’s always been into independent music, so even without a record deal, she can release albums by herself and has kept at it. By the way, didn’t you mention looking into songs from the Golden Horse Awards? Aside from her international language albums, Dejay has done many commercial songs and created the theme songs for McDull movies. She made ’Gang Gang Gang’ for McDull and the Pineapple Bun Prince, which won the Best Original Film Song at the 24th Cloud Island Film Awards. She also performed and created the Wu Dong version and Mandarin children’s version theme songs for McDull’s Ding-Dong, which were nominated for Best Original Song at the 29th Golden Horse Awards."
Nian Yufei was usually a bit reserved around Li Yan and never talked much, but this time she spoke quite a bit to promote her friend.
Having heard this much, Li Yan got a general impression. "OK, I understand. I haven’t watched any McDull, but being able to be nominated and win an original film song award on Cloud Island suggests a level of talent. If someone can handle an entire album solo, scoring a film should be no problem. I’ll contact the producer now and check if they’ve got anyone for the music score."
"Alright, thanks."
Li Yan hung up the phone and dialed Qiao Pan’s mobile.
"Mr. Li, is there anything wrong?" Qiao Pan was busy and didn’t bother with pleasantries, asking directly.
"Old Qiao, have we decided on the people for the film’s score and theme song yet?"
Li Yan entrusted the specific affairs of the crew to Qiao Pan, and this inquiry made him realize Li Yan’s attention to it. "To be honest... our budget isn’t sufficient to hire big-name musicians. And even if we wanted, they’re fully booked and need to be scheduled in advance. We’re just a urban love story, we’re not looking for a timeless classic theme song, ..."
Li Yan interrupted him, "Just say if you’ve made a decision yet or not?"
"Not yet, but I have plenty of friends in this field who can do it anytime, and the effect won’t be bad, just not big names..." At this point, Qiao Pan caught on, "Mr. Li, have you got someone in mind?"
"Yes, a friend contacted me asking if we found someone for the music score. If not, they can do it."
The mention of Li Yan’s choice made Qiao Pan wary! Not that he doubted Li Yan’s taste, but because Li Yan wasn’t very knowledgeable in this area. Any musicians he knew must be relatively well-known, thus likely more expensive than underground musicians.
"Who is it? Mind telling me?"
"There are two options. One is the band The Pancakes, consisting of just one member who can handle all aspects of an album and has released over a dozen albums."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Pan was reassured. Someone so accomplished yet unheard of must be an independent musician, definitely not at big-name prices. "Seems quite capable, but what works have they produced? Over a dozen albums without a single hit?"
"Some are sold abroad, personally released by her, due to funding issues, only sold on a small scale in Cloud Island. Speaking of recognizable pieces, she’s done theme songs for McDull films that were nominated for the Golden Horse Awards several times. One even won Best Original Film Song."
"Okay, got it. What about the other one?"
"The other one is a free bonus. Have you heard of a girl piano prodigy named Nian Yufei? I know she’s performed concerts in many places, and tickets sold quite well. She’s not very mainstream, but she said she could help play piano pieces for free."
Qiao Pan immediately cheered, "This is great! I’ve heard of her. Though not mainstream, she’s still more famous than the previous one. After all, our main market for the film is the mainland. Ha, ha, the key is it’s free, can we just take the free one?"
Li Yan was genuinely impressed with his audacity, "Dammit, it’s buy one, get one, and you just want the freebie! You’ve got nerve."
"Haha, just joking, joking. Spending money to get double the effect, I’ve got no problems with that. Have her contact me, and for specific requirements, I’ll have the director talk to her, and I’ll negotiate the fees and schedule."
"Okay..."
After talking to him, Li Yan sent Qiao Pan’s number to Nian Yufei, asking her to have The Pancakes contact Qiao Pan.
For himself, he didn’t want to rely solely on personal favors, so he went online to listen to this one-man-band’s work, including international language tracks and Wu Dong language ones. He also looked up the 24th Golden Horse Awards videos to watch her live performance and acceptance speech. He found that although she was a serious talent, she wasn’t unattractive either; she was a decent-looking girl with short hair, though probably a woman by now.
Yet the words said by this lone member, Dejay, after winning an award left Li Yan a bit emotional. Whether it was Best Film Score or Best Original Film Song, the yearly nominees were usually some big shots. When they accepted awards, there were thanks here and there, but aside from thanking McDull’s director, she particularly said: if I win an award, I won’t raise prices, feel free to hire me.
This sentiment was a bit bittersweet; independent musicians don’t just embrace freedom and romance without constraints, they face the pressures of making a living too.
He picked up his phone, intending to call Qiao Pan to ask him not to be too harsh on the pricing. But he felt it wasn’t right to interfere; Qiao Pan had his pressures too, and economizing isn’t just being responsible to the investors but helps allocate more funds into film production!
Reality is just that realistic, everyone has their pressure.
Li Yan was about to call Nian Yufei, planning to personally promise a bonus as an investor, regardless of the price Qiao Pan offered. He wasn’t short of money; even as work-related expenses, earlier he got a ten-thousand-dollar commission for including an actress he suggested, so it still counts as film expenses!
Just then, Nian Yufei called first.
"Brother Li Yan, thank you. I’ve given my friends the number and also shared my suggestion with her, she promises that if the negotiation goes well, she’ll write a piece for me to perform. But, there’s something else I’d like you to help with..."
"Go ahead! I also have something I need you to do; you go first."
"Well, she’s not a big star, and often, whether releasing an album or organizing concerts, she just about breaks even, sometimes even suffers losses because she always has to front her expenses in advance, and recouping them isn’t easy. So, sometimes she still has to work at the library. I’ve thought of helping her, but since I’m a classical music performer, it’s not really appropriate to invite her as a guest, and if I help her out directly, she wouldn’t accept it. So...
I was thinking, since both of us are involved this time, and I’m not charging a fee because of our friendship, you might feel embarrassed, so could you give us a bonus in your name once the work is done? Of course, I’ll provide the money; it just has to be in your name. Is that okay?"
Listening to Nian Yufei speak rapidly, Li Yan couldn’t help but laugh, since she unknowingly echoed his own thoughts! Moreover, by her tone, she probably had rehearsed this idea several times before daring to tell him.
"Of course, no problem! Do you know what I was going to ask you to do? It was to give her a bonus! Because my film’s producer tends to be a bit stingy, but it’s also to make the film better, so I figured he might negotiate hard and not give that much money. So I wanted to give her an extra ten-thousand-dollar bonus myself, hoping she could do her best."
Nian Yufei breathed a sigh of relief, "No need for you to pay, I’ll give you twenty thousand first, then you give us each ten thousand, how about it?"
"No way, that’s too fake. Although this is about scoring an entire film, not just creating a song, but the work time at most would be two months. I don’t know how much they’ll negotiate, but it definitely won’t be that high, around ten thousand seems about right. Twenty thousand is too unrealistic! I’ll give her ten thousand, and you give yourself ten thousand!"
(Only two Chapters today, keep working hard tomorrow! In mid-month, if any friends have a second Monthly Pass, please consider giving it to Mixed for support. Thank you!) (To be continued, to find out what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com, where there are more Chapters, support the author, and legitimate reading!)
