Who is Mr. Turtle?

First of all, Mr. Turtle has a pretty cool-sounding name.

In June 2004, Li Hongqi and Jiang Han huddled in a public class classroom at Guangxi University of the Arts, eager to name the band that was about to be born. At that time, they didn't listen well in class, and they didn't play musical instruments well enough. They even thought of a name called "Heng Mei Leng Dui Qian Fu Zhi". Finally, Li Hongqi said, "I like big turtles." Jiang Han shook his head, "Big Turtle is not a good name. Call him Mr. Turtle to be cooler."

So Mr. Turtle Band was born. It's been ten years now since Mr. Turtle.

Not only are their names cool, but their looks are also cool.

Between bassist Jiang Han’s long and unkempt hair, exaggerated black earrings the size of military buttons flashed, and his arms were covered with colorful tattoos that climbed to his sexy Adam’s apple. Drummer Zhang Haoliang is just the right amount of restrained. He plays the drums shirtless and hunched over, wearing a black hat and sunglasses. Beautiful tattoos spread from his arms to his chest. Lead singer Li Hongqi has a slicked back hair, a decadent and aged beard on half of his face, and a loose black and white plaid shirt, giving him an authentic retro look.

On May 23, 2014, Mr. Turtle’s performance at TU Convex Space in Guangzhou was calm and controlled. There was no POGO or diving at the scene. Most fans just swayed naturally and slightly following the rhythm. Compared with other hot and fierce rock scenes, it did seem a little less lively. A young man next to them who liked their songs said softly: "They are very conceited!" The audience was somewhat unsatisfied.

This band, which looks like a rock star, is deliberately trying to antagonize the fans.

“We hope that no matter what state we are in, we can just show our own state. We are still fighting now, and sometimes we can’t resist the fans. They all want to be irritable, so why should I be irritable? Huh? Like today's performance, some people must be disappointed. I have to tell myself that I am doing the right thing and I have to persist." When the lead singer Li Hongqi said these words, he spoke slowly and straightly.

Mr. Turtle's new album has undergone a big change from his original style. The underlying root of this is that Li Hongqi believed in Christianity. He began to make music with a religious attitude. Apparently, the audience wasn't familiar enough with Christian's Mr. Turtle.

“They came here because they felt that they had something in common with us, and they came here to find this compatibility point, but in the end they found that the compatibility point was not here.” Li Hongqi said.

A reporter from another media next to him was a little unwilling. He asked: "Why do you think they haven't accepted the new Mr. Turtle yet?"

"They should still accept it now." I didn't accept it. They came here to see themselves, not us." Li Hongqi added, "You need to defeat yourself in every game. This is what I want to express. It is difficult."

Sad Comedian

When it comes to Mr. Turtle, "relaxed" and "cheerful" are the most frequently used adjectives in early music reviews. People compare Mr. Turtle's songs like this, "It's like participating in a full of sunshine." and the beautiful Jamaican beach party.”

Indeed, Mr. Turtle eschews the harshness, hardness, and intensity of traditional rock music. The melody of their songs is light and clear, the lyrics are short and simple, and the voice of lead singer Li Hongqi is charming and charming. Even the enunciation and singing are round and have no hard edges, so it is difficult to smell preaching and preaching in their music. The smell of anger. They always seemed to be humming to themselves carelessly, and when your eyes collided with his, he just turned his head away slightly.

People like to dance in their music, and are willing to accept this kind of light rock that sounds a little fresh. They think their songs are "full of positive energy" and even "make them feel happy when they listen to them." Be bright."

However, behind Mr. Turtle's superficial joy, there is a dark hole of despair that cannot be seen to the end.

When Li Hongqi was very young, he saw some elders gathering together to watch pornographic movies, and they also told him earnestly not to do so, which aroused Li Hongqi's disdain. So, he chose rock music, thinking that awesome rock music could negate authority. These elders only lived a few years before him and actually committed as many crimes as him.

As time passed, he had new ideas.

He thought, "I am them too, and they are me too. They can't fight against themselves, and I can't fight against myself. At this point, I am just as bad as them. What qualifications do I have to speak to the outside world?"

He saw it before his eyes. As rock music has become a tool of collective resistance, you resist, and he resists, but neither of them examines themselves. "Such resistance is too deliberate. Resistance is a very passive thing. People can easily be raped by resistance in the end."

So, Mr. Turtle decided not to say anything from the beginning. They chose Sing happily, sing those songs about "the sun is shining high and everyone is happy". For some of the more melancholy songs, there are no lyrics at all, just humming, and the songs are neither in English nor Chinese.

Simple fans did not hear Mr. Turtle’s inner struggle. Instead, they fell in love with this simple, warm and cheerful tune. "Most of our fans now are born in the 1990s. Because we expressed our desperate state wrongly, we ended up attracting a group of very young listeners by accident." This made Li Hongqi feel a little embarrassed.

The upcoming new album "Where Are You Going" was written by Li Hongqi after she converted to Christianity. Half of the songs come from her faith. The huge changes in content and style forced them to reposition their audience, believing that the audience in the future will mainly be a group of people who have been hurt, overcome the hurt in some way, and then continue to be hurt. "The age group should be between the 50s and 70s. They have experienced suffering and know that the true nature of life is suffering. After hearing this, they may feel that there is some childlike innocence in it. If they are humble enough, they may like us. ’s new song.”

The content of this new album comes from “criticism and confession of the darkness of one’s own humanity.” In the song of the same name, “Where Are You Going,” Li Hongqi repeatedly hums “ Where are we going?" In this song, he asked his mother, his lover, his brother, and finally the Lord. Now, he had found his way, and the answer was told to him by the Lord.

The new album is no longer just a cheerful warm tone, in the melodious moans you can hear a sadness that is not sad. "In the past, we sang cheerful songs, but we were desperate in our hearts. Now we have hope. Without despair, there is no hope."

Li Hongqi used an easy-to-understand metaphor to explain, " Have you noticed that many masters of comedy are very serious when they are off stage? This is already the case, how can it be worse? "This reminds me of a concept I like very much, the sad comedian.

“When people reach the bottom of despair, that is the beginning of God.”

For Li Hongqi, when he fell to the bottom of despair, he was lucky enough to see God. Hence, the Mr. Turtle that we hear now.

Three cities in ten years

Nanning in Guangxi, Chengdu in Sichuan, and Beijing, the capital.

This is Mr. Turtle’s ten-year trajectory. What draws them is nothing but music.

Choosing music is an unavoidable choice for Mr. Turtle. "We know nothing but music."

Leader Li Hongqi and bassist Jiang Han are both from Nanning. Because it is close to the sea and Guilin is the first open tourist city in China, many foreign music resources have entered relatively early. In Guangxi, they were exposed to music types such as Grunge and reggae at a very young age. But there was no way to support themselves by making music in Guangxi, so in August 2007, they moved to Chengdu. Mr. Turtle, who likes the sea, went to a city without sea.

They took the songs they wrote in Nanning and ran to Chengdu to perfect them. Chengdu is a very laid-back place, where everyone curls up comfortably and does not have a high desire to create. If they want to release an album, they need a larger platform, and Beijing is China's cultural and artistic center, so Li Hongqi and Jiang Han went all the way to Beijing, which is drier, and finally signed a contract with domestic record giant Modern Sky about.

"If we want to make money, we may go to Shenzhen, but if we want to make music, we can only go to Beijing. There is no other choice." Li Hongqi said.

In August 2010, they found a reliable drummer Zhang Haoliang. All three of them are unemployed and live in Beijing. I just rely on making music to support my family.

Until now, they are still not used to the city of Beijing. "It's impossible to get used to it, because Beijing is a place with a very low happiness index. It's a kind of exchange. Everyone who goes to Beijing knows that they have to exchange some things they have seen before and sell them at a good price. , Why not go there?”

The purpose of their exchange in Beijing is that they can support themselves through music without choosing another career or job. If you ask them if they are doing well, they will tell you, "It's enough to make a living."

So, Mr. Turtle, who relies on music to make a living, pays more attention to the feedback and recognition of fans than other bands, because it is very important. The reality is related to the rice in their bowl, "If fans don't come to our show, how can we drink the northwest wind?" However, they chose to take a risky move and risked the fans' failure to accept it. "La Ba Ba Ba" "Hula" suddenly talks about the original sin of human nature.

“Others may think my life is terrible, but I feel good about it because I am fighting against myself. I may not spend my energy to make money, but to forgive my own sins. ."

Mr. Turtle has changed a lot in these ten years. Looking through the old band photos, Jiang Han didn't have cool tattoos back then, and lead singer Li Hongqi seemed to have suddenly changed. The fresh look before had completely disappeared, and you couldn't even recognize it if you didn't look carefully.

They only rely on music to make money, but they do not rely on prolific production to generate income like Chinese TV dramas. In fact, Mr. Turtle has only released one EP and two albums in ten years, which is definitely not very productive. In November 2005, they independently recorded and released their first EP "Pogo Better to Dance". At the end of 2012, the band released their first album "Mr. Turtle". Now their latest album "Where Are You Going" is about to be released.

Li Hongqi used Guo Jing as an analogy. Some people may dabble in different martial arts, but Guo Jing has always only practiced one set of punches. Some people may think that Guo Jing is too lazy and just does a set of punches. In fact, they spend the same amount of effort.

"If you are willing to repeat, we can release an album in a week. We also need to set up a memorial arch. Although everyone is selling, don't be too naked." Li Hongqi said.

However, they claimed to be very lazy people. When asked how often the band rehearsed, Li Hongqi's answer was three times a week. At the end, he quickly added, "It was only three times recently. We are relatively Lazy.”

Many bands go to Beijing because there is a larger circle to join, but the reason why Li Hongqi went to Beijing is that he is too lazy to join the circle.

“Because many places are small, there will be messy things. Others want to talk about me, and I want to talk about others. Beijing is a big place, and it is inconvenient to go out. People only focus on career matters, which is not good for us. It’s very simple.”

Li Hongqi’s daily life is very simple. Except for rehearsals or particularly good performances, he usually doesn’t go anywhere else. Either in church or at home, I read books and practice the piano. I read some books about life and death and listened to very few songs.

Except for music, the three members of the band rarely interact with each other on weekdays. The status of bassist Jiang Han and drummer Zhang Haoliang is quite different from him. The two of them like to go out and have fun in Beijing. They like to throw themselves into the big environment and make themselves faint. After the performance in Guangzhou, Li Hongqi stayed alone for an interview.

In Li Hongqi’s words, “They don’t need to agree with my religion. Now our music is written by me, and the band basically uses my expression as its expression, so there is no problem. If our band If it is the Little Tiger Team, our band will have a problem, because everyone in the Little Tiger Team must have equal expression, so we have to use the average words of the three of us to express."

Converted to Christianity. Mr. Turtle, regained the expression that he had deliberately lost before. From now on, the joy people hear in music will no longer be escape joy, but will become real joy.

"It's the joy after my sins are forgiven, the joy after my burden is borne. Joy and joy are two different things." Li Hongqi said.

Christianity learned to sing

The relationship between Li Hongqi and Christ was a coincidence, but every coincidence is inevitable.

At that time, Li Hongqi was about to get into the music school. He found a church where they sang together, and the pastor happened to know some music, so he walked into the church and got to know Christ.

"People are born lonely. I can't find comfort from my parents, so where can I get comfort? Unless there is a person who has no sin and is qualified to judge me." Li Hongqi said this The person without original sin is none other than Christ.

On September 11, 2011, Li Hongqi was officially baptized and became a Christian.

In the church, he slowly learned to forget himself and worship another object devoutly. He no longer centered on himself and learned to consider problems from the perspective of others. At this time, he found that singing was different. It turned out that he didn't know how to sing at all before.

Even if he sang out of tune in church, he gradually felt that there was no problem. He began to be able to accept that he was not a good singer, instead of focusing all his attention on, "Oh my God! How can I Can it be out of tune?"

A while ago, Li Hongqi and his wife watched a movie in which the pastor of an American church said, "Do you like James Brown? We are all James Brown here, because he is from here. "Go out." Soul music went out from the church, and now the joy in music is packaged by people, turned into carnival, and sold in the market.

Mr. Turtle's new album has a single called "Acceptance". One of the lyrics in it is, "No one would be willing to accept and bless a sinner." It discusses the original sin of human nature and repentance. and acceptance.

Li Hongqi believes that no one can fully accept anyone. If a person likes another person, it must be because the other person has the characteristics that he likes. If these motivations are removed, there will be no pure love. Love, in essence, people are lonely.

After experiencing this despair, he chose to get married. His faith told him that those who betrayed their marriages did so because they were not desperate enough for marriage. Any two people who were together were in conflict, so he got married because he was completely desperate for marriage. The other end of despair is connected to expectation, so Mr. Turtle, who has experienced despair, weaved the golden thread of expectation into his new album.

"People need to be redeemed, people are limited, and people have to die. This will definitely be the theme that Mr. Turtle will express in the future. The previous theme was not clear, it was just to vent."

Nowadays, it is rare to see the rebellious attitude of a rock musician in Li Hongqi. His tone and speed of speech are extremely calm, and he will stutter slightly when talking about exciting issues. He would deliberately ask himself to abide by some rules. During the interview, he suddenly pointed at the recorder and asked if he could say the word "pornographic film." After receiving a positive answer, he still used the vague word "bad stuff". concept instead. Only when your eyes fall on his stylish outfit, you realize that he is a rock musician. Then you ask him whether he dressed like this on purpose, and he will answer honestly: "Of course it is on purpose!"

He will also guard Christian doctrine in his life, going to church and Reading became the only thing he could do to find some sense of belonging in Beijing. “I may be the worst Christian in our church,” Li Hongqi suddenly told me.

In the Bible, Paul once said, "I am the chief of sinners." Li Hongqi believes that judging others is God's business, so if you want to understand the darkness of human nature, you must do it through yourself. And not through others. "I can pretend in front of others, but only I know the ghost in my heart best."

This leads to the theme that Mr. Turtle will sing in the future, confession and acceptance.

However, who can predict whether Mr. Turtle will be accepted by the market again after being baptized by Christianity?

From a small town in Guangxi, to Chengdu in the southwest, and then to the capital Beijing, Mr. Turtle is like a migrant music worker, migrating northward along the development trend of the music market, from the chicken feet on the map to the distant chicken neck. superior.

What embarrasses Li Hongqi now is, what if there is a bottleneck in Beijing? Then he might go abroad to take a look, but countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have lost their faith and have almost become anti-Christ countries. He is still debating whether to go out as a Christian. Li Hongqi said, "I am a Christian first and a musician second.

”

“Is music part of your faith? "I asked.

"Music is nothing, it just so happens that we only know music. ”

“Will you continue to use music to express your faith? ”

Li Hongqi only answered in 10 words: “I will do the same in the future. There is no turning back.” ”