On August 30th, Han Le, Shang Hongzhi, Hou Xiaohui and Michael Qi (from left) were rehearsing in a conference room at the bus station of No.387 Road in Beijing Asian Games Village.
On August 14th, the band "Blue Walkers" took a group photo in front of the bus in the bus station of No.387 Road, Beijing Asian Games Village. From left: Michael Qi, Shang Hongzhi, Yu Liang (front), Han Le, Wang Bojun and Hou Xiaohui. In the motorcade, their roles are trade union chairman, dispatcher, security administrator, league branch secretary, flight attendant and driver.
The lead singer Hou Xiaohui is debugging the effect device.
Guitar scores and picks for band rehearsal.
Usually, the microphone in the meeting room is also the microphone used by the band during rehearsal.
Keyboard player Michael Qi is playing.
On August 16th, Shang Hongzhi sang impromptu songs at home, and his daughter sang together. On the bed are Beyond tapes collected by Shang Hongzhi for more than 20 years. He is a loyal fan of Beyond.
On August 16th, Hou Xiaohui was ready to leave the bus parking lot of No.625 Road, Jianshengmen Arrow Tower, Beijing.
On August 14th, at the bus station of No.387 Road in Beijing Asian Games Village, Wang Bojun practiced his guitar in the staff lounge. China Youth Daily China Youth Network Trainee reporter Kong Siqi/photo
In the late summer afternoon, in the bus station of No.387 near Beijing Asian Games Village, the bus of this "National Youth Civilization" line left and entered the station in an orderly manner. In the conference room of the office building on the other side, there were faint songs, guitars and drums. Every two weeks, six members of the "Blue Walker" band gather here to rehearse. They are all employees who have worked in the bus company for more than 10 years. Rehearsals usually start at one or two in the afternoon, just when the early drivers and flight attendants in the band get off work.
This band, with an average age of about 35, is composed of lead singer Hou Xiaohui, guitarist and harmony Shang Hongzhi, lead guitarist Wang Bojun, bassist Han Le, keyboard player Michael Qi and drummer Yu Liang. In the motorcade, their roles are drivers, dispatchers, flight attendants, league branch secretaries, trade union presidents and security administrators.
Speaking of rock and roll, six people can talk for a long time. There was a very popular band variety this summer, and Hou Xiaohui chased it from the first issue to the last issue. "The heart of rock and roll is always young. I liked it when I was a child, but I still like it now when I am 40 years old."
Yu Liang, the youngest, is 30 years old. In 2008, he and Wang Bojun both worked as ticket sellers on the No.387 bus, and a partner at the motorcade party gave them the idea of forming a band. Later, in a performance inside the unit, they met Shang Hongzhi, who sang well, and the three of them hit it off. The next year, Han Le, the same age as Yu Liang, joined the band, and the band’s "technical director" Wang Bojun taught him to play the bass with the music theory of guitar.
Keyboard player Qi Xiao joined the band in 2014. In order to improve his level, he spent nearly 10,000 yuan to configure a professional arranger keyboard. His wife didn’t understand at first. "Isn’t it an electronic organ? Why is it so expensive?" Later, when I saw Michael Qi’s devotion to music, I slowly supported it. This year, Michael Qi also found a teacher to study professional arranger, one-hour 300 yuan. "The band is getting better and better. Don’t lower the overall quality of the band because of me." Michael Qi said.
Yu Liang is the only one with a professional foundation in the band, but he only learned drum sets for more than a year in junior high school. His music enlightenment is a little different from others. He especially likes traditional culture and "old Beijing" things such as Jingyun drum, Beijing opera, cross talk and Beijing minor. When he first started working, his monthly salary was only more than 3,000 yuan, and he spent more than half on buying drums. When I first practiced with the stereo at home, my neighbors always came to me to "complain". Gradually, his drumming skills became better and better, and later he moved the drum set to the conference room of his unit. One day, the neighbor’s grandfather knocked at the door again and asked him why he didn’t play drums. Every day after dinner, the drums disappeared, and he was somewhat unaccustomed.
The bus system is usually busy, so music-related things can only be squeezed out. On the morning shift, Wang Bojun, a bus attendant, will ride to the station for more than half an hour at four or five in the morning, put the guitar and speakers in the dispatching room in advance, and rehearse together after everyone gets off work. Shang Hongzhi’s dispatcher’s job is to rest for 48 hours in the last 24 hours. Some time ago, in order to finish the band’s original song "Blue Walker" before the performance, Shang Hongzhi could only stay in the team to write songs after work at ten o’clock in the evening.
When he is not too busy with the car, Wang Bojun always sits on the flight attendant’s seat and looks out of the window, thinking about music in his mind. "Sometimes a scene on the road inspires a feeling and a melody comes out." He can’t use his mobile phone at work. He repeats the melody in his mind over and over again until he gets off the bus. Now, I do crew work with the car at four or five in the morning, go home to sleep after work in the afternoon, and practice guitar for two hours after waking up — — This is the rhythm of life that Wang Bojun keeps every day.
Every time she writes a song, Shang Hongzhi’s 14-year-old daughter is always the first listener. He will also give auditions to people from the post-70s to the post-00s, and ask them how they feel. "If you can pass the exam, it means that this song can pass the exam."
More than half a month ago, the band boarded a prime-time variety show on CCTV and sang their first original song "Blue Walker". On the day of recording the program, an aunt in the audience never believed that they were real bus workers, thinking that they were actors found in the program or "music talents" recruited by the bus company. The propagandist of the bus company who went to the scene told her that tomorrow morning, you should go to the bus station of No.625 Road in Erbozi New Village to see if the driver is the master with the yellow guitar, or go to the dispatching room of No.380 Road in Deshengmen Arrow Tower to see if the dispatcher is the master singing in the middle … … After several explanations, the aunt didn’t believe it.
The performance gave them a lot of encouragement. After the program was broadcast, colleagues, friends and neighbors came to greet. "I was really busy for two days after the performance." Shang Hongzhi said that many people didn’t know they could still play music. Han Le’s father is reluctant to use his mobile phone to turn on traffic at ordinary times, but he watched their whole performance in the car with traffic that day.
The band has been rehearsing classics for 10 years, and only this year did it officially have its own band name and its first original song. "‘ in the band name; Blue ’ It symbolizes the sky and the sea, and it also symbolizes the uniforms of bus employees and the colors of new energy buses that have been replaced recently. " Han Le said, and the "walker" means that the bus people have been on the road. Their first original song was the same as the name of the band. Han Xiao wrote the lyrics in two days and polished them with the band for more than half a month. Among them, there is such a lyric: "On the bustling streets in the city, the blue walkers bravely move forward." It is about dreams and hopes, and it is also the voice of bus people. "Everyone’s hard work and Dai Yue is to let passengers enjoy better public travel services." Michael Qi said.
Although their favorite music styles are different, six people have reached a consensus on writing songs — — Write catchy simple melodies and common feelings of the people, so that everyone can hum them after listening.
Regarding the future, the wishes of the band members revolve around "holding a special concert". Some people want to perform "unplugged" and show the most authentic sound; Some people want to pay tribute to the idol band and sing those classic songs; Others want to sing for bus workers … … Outside of music, they will always be on the road. (China Youth Daily China Youth Network trainee reporter Qu Junyan photo report)