Interview with Rowens

What can you tell us about the track “Pink Rain”? What was your inspiration?

Pink Rain is a love song about a dreamlike fairy tale. A gloomy rainy day can be a pink fantasy world in the eyes of children. When I was a child, I loved listening to the sound of rain and imagining myself playing with my lover in a pink fairytale world. But as I grow up, I seem to have lost this ability to perceive the surrounding environment, so I hope to find that simple beauty through this song. The musical arrangement was inspired by the guitar style of Radiohead, using guitar arpeggio to lead the progression of the song. The inspiration for the lyrics comes from Zhuangzi’s butterfly dream, in which I compared my lover to a butterfly flying away in the pink rain, metaphorizing the elusiveness of love and the dreamlike nature of life.

How has living in Taiwan influenced your style of music? 

I grew up listening to Chinese pop and Japanese pop. After joining the guitar club in high school, I became hooked to Western rock music and began to experience the wonders of Western music. I like both American and British music, but when it comes to guitar, I prefer the touch of British guitarists, such as Kevin Shields, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and recently Nilüfer Yanya, etc. I think my guitar arrangements are more influenced by British guitarists. But when actually making music, I still attach great importance to the melody of the music. The tone of my music is not as gloomy as that of the UK, and the emotional expression is not as direct as that of the US. Maybe Chinese and Japanese pop music still have a deep influence on me. After all, Asians’ emotional expressions are more reserved than Westerners.

When did you realize this was the life for you?

Well, when I was in the guitar club, I just covered other people’s music. After I left the guitar club, I didn’t have any special ideas about music. Later, I joined a band as a lead guitarist. Although I hadn’t started composing my own songs yet, I began to learn to make up my own musical phrases. I don’t know at what point in time I started writing my own songs. Sometimes I write songs while holding a guitar, sometimes I sing while riding a motorcycle, and sometimes I sing in my head while sitting at my desk at work. Now that these melodies have taken shape in my head, it’s my responsibility to complete the recording of these songs. I feel like if I don’t finish these songs, I will regret it the moment I die. Making music is somewhat like giving a justification of myself, and I will keep doing it until the end of my life.

Who are you often compared to? why? How do you distinguish yourself from those artists?

I’m not well-known, so I don’t know who people will compare my music to (laughs). I consider my music to be similar to that of Advantage Lucy, a guitar-led Japanese indie band. The same thing is that we both use simple guitar accompaniment to create sentimental music. The difference is that my emotional expression is more direct, not as subtle as the Japanese. Guitar rock/pop seems to be declining now, but I still prefer the acoustic sound to digital music. 

What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future as far as new projects?

I am currently working on my fourth single. If the music production goes well, it is expected to be released in the fourth quarter. It’s a song about autumn.

Any shoutouts?

I am especially grateful to Jeff for his arrangement and production. This song would not have such rich musical imagery without his drums and organ. I am also grateful to my English poetry professor in college, who led me to appreciate British and American poetry, which gave me the idea of writing English lyrics for this song.