Sing from the city, sound of the valley

Xiao Juan performing at the 2012 Shanghai Jazz Music Festival.[Photo/IC]

Do you still write songs? Where do you get your inspiration?

Xiao Juan: Yes, I have kept writing since my first original piece come out. Recently I wrote Love In 1980, for the upcoming movie Love of the 1980s. Usually, when I'm reading a poem, I would think to myself, what would it be like if I sang it out, and then I will try to compose a melody. I will also try to depict through music what I have felt in a movie or something.

How did you get the name for your band?

Xiao Juan: It comes from a song I wrote. We were about to sign with a music company, and then we use this name as our band's name. And we grew fond of the name, because we think it’s very much our style. Our music is rather introverted, and we want to share with people the feelings we feel deep down. So the "valley" here refers to our inner world, which is beautiful and well-protected. We live in buildings, like most people. But we feel very peaceful. You have to have a peaceful heart to feel all these, otherwise, even though you are in a beautiful land like a valley, you can't feel that.

It's seems easy to say "you should have a peaceful heart". The question for many more might be, how?

Arai Soichiro: I'm pretty busy and I will get very tired sometimes. I travel more by plane than by taxi. But I never feel upset, nor do I frown. Because I'm doing what I like to do, and I think I'm very lucky I'm also get paid doing that. Also, my wife is excellent, and we love each other. So I don't have rules for people to follow. If any, I think we have to be tolerant and optimistic. And in love, I think we have to be willing to give, to sacrifice. I think I get more than what I have given.

Xiaoguang: I think my life is assimilated into the band, and I have been deeply influenced by Xiao Qiang and Xiao Juan in the past seven years. I think it is the same for people who know them, including their fans. They are the kind of people who can buckle down and do their own music. Their music is their life, they are intertwined, which seems very natural for me.

You four have all been married, I wonder, what is the most romantic thing that you did for your partner?

Xiao Juan: I would say most of the romantic things are done by Xiao Qiang. Like, every year, he will buy me 99 roses. It has become a habit that he kept all these years, that if I didn't see the roses when I woke up on my birthday, I will probably get angry (laughing).

Xiao Qiang: I felt happy that she once cooked a bowl of noodles for me.

Arai Soichiro: I'm not the romantic type. Well, in fact, I tried to give my wife birthday surprises, and she will be like, "Oh, thanks. I'm very happy." And when we get back home, she will be like, "Not again!"

Xiaoguang: I'm also not the romantic type because I feel obliged and responsible to do things for my wife.

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