ECG -Chapter 109 Rock on the New Long March Road

All along, every band had its own style. A band that played jazz was labeled as a jazz band; one that played punk was labeled as punk. There had never been a band that simultaneously possessed many different styles, carrying several different labels at once.

Of course, some bands would adjust their style as they grew older, broadened their horizons, or because of market demands, but those changes happened gradually rather than all at once.

Because someone who liked one style might not necessarily like another. Besides, a band’s abilities were limited—how could they possibly focus on and master several completely different styles at the same time?

Lin Hao understood their doubts.

“When I say three styles, I’m mainly talking about singing styles. I’m the lead singer, so I’ll have my own style. Old Cui is a trumpet player and suona player, and he’s also a lead singer. He’ll have his own style as well. And besides…”

As he said this, he looked at Chu Xiaomei.

“Xiaomei, you’re the guitarist, but you’ll also be one of the band’s lead singers. You’ll have your own style too!”

Chu Xiaomei’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“Me? I’m also a lead singer?”

Lin Hao nodded.

“Do you remember what I promised you before?”

“Yes, during last summer vacation, you said that by next year at the latest, you would give us a surprise!” Chu Xiaomei said blankly.

Lin Hao burst out laughing.

“Isn’t this a surprise?”

Nobody laughed. They were only feeling shocked. The “surprise” part had not arrived yet, because they still had not fully digested everything he had said.

Yan Xiaoqi frowned slightly, feeling a little doubtful.

“Haozi, a seven-person band with three lead singers… I’m afraid it’ll be hard to find venues to work at in the provincial capital.”

Gao Laoda and Fatty Meng also shook their heads.

That was right. This lineup was too extravagant. Even if a venue wanted them, they probably wouldn’t hire other singers anymore. Wouldn’t that just exhaust them to death?

Lin Hao looked at these worried faces and chuckled.

“Why do you always only think about finding venues at night?”

Yan Xiaoqi was stunned.

“If we don’t make money, how can a band survive?”

“Release an album!”

This time, nobody in the room started loudly arguing. They knew Lin Hao’s abilities. Whether it was graduating early, getting into graduate school, or the songs he wrote and composed winning major awards, including helping Bai Zhitao win an award…

Many people at the Academy of Arts might not know about these things, but the people around him certainly did. However, releasing an album was still something that seemed too unrealistic. They had no fame at all right now—what record company would take such a huge risk and release an album for them?

Some of the songs Lin Hao sang in bars, such as Friends, The Outside World, The You of the Past, Blue Lotus, The First Snow of 2002, and others, had already spread throughout the various nightlife venues in the provincial capital. They had even heard that people in Beijing were singing them now.

If Lin Hao released an album by himself, the possibility would actually be quite high, because every song he had sung before was a classic. They had even privately discussed it before, thinking that Lin Hao probably wouldn’t even need to wait until he finished graduate school before becoming famous across the entire country.

They had also guessed before that he wanted to form a band. But the idea they considered most likely was that he simply wanted to have his own band, so that when he performed or made CDs in the future, he wouldn’t need to trouble other people.

Actually, that wouldn’t have been bad either. It wouldn’t interfere with their future performances at night venues, and while helping Lin Hao, they could also earn some extra money.

But they never expected that Lin Hao actually wanted to form a rock band.

Rock had been declining for so many years already—could it really still work?

Except for Wu Xiaozhou, everyone else had some concerns in their hearts.

Lin Hao noticed their worried expressions.

“Releasing an album isn’t some impossible dream either. We can take it step by step! First, we need to hurry up and practice. Second, we’ll participate in Beijing’s Fangcaodi Rock Music Festival!”

Gao Laoda and Yan Xiaoqi exchanged a glance.

They hadn’t expected that Lin Hao even knew about this music festival. During winter vacation, the two of them had even researched it together and planned to ask for leave to go there, to observe and learn from rock bands from all over the country.

The two of them had studied music since childhood, and as young people, they naturally liked rock music as well.

However, the overall environment was not good. All this time, apart from a small number of cassette albums, they could only search online for live footage of rock bands that had once been extremely popular, or look for videos of foreign rock bands.

“How is it? Does everyone have confidence?” Lin Hao looked at everyone with a smile.

Old Gao thought for a moment and said, “The [Fragrant Grassland Rock Music Festival] starts on June 20th. It’s only early March now, so we only have three and a half months. Isn’t the time a bit too rushed?”

Fatty Meng also said, “Yeah, and what about a rehearsal room? What about the amplifiers?”

Little Sister Chu’s face turned slightly red. “I only have one effects pedal, and it broke during winter vacation too!”

Lin Hao knew that her family’s financial situation was not good. For her, an effects pedal was an expensive item that she couldn’t afford, so he said to her, “You don’t need to worry about that.”

Little Sister Chu’s expression still dimmed slightly, and she didn’t say anything else.

The others continued talking over each other. If they wanted to rehearse, it wasn’t something that could be solved by just saying it. At the very least, they needed a place.

Old Gao raised his hand. “Haozi, my guitar isn’t good either. If we were performing in a nightclub, playing pop music would barely be enough, but for rock, one guitar definitely won’t cut it!”

After two years, Lin Hao naturally knew everyone’s family situations. He smiled and said, “Except for Xiao Wu’s KS guitar, all of your instruments are no good.”

Fatty Meng curled his lips. “This drum kit of mine was bought when I was still in school. It should be okay, right?”

Lin Hao shook his head. “Your YAMAHA set is too low-end. It’s barely enough for small gigs, but for a large performance or recording a CD, it definitely won’t work.”

Everyone’s hearts sank again.

They only had a little more than three months. There was no rehearsal room, and the instruments weren’t good enough. What… what were they supposed to do?

Besides, what were they going to sing?

If they performed old rock songs from other bands, even if they rehearsed them, they’d still be doomed!

“I’ll handle the rehearsal room and the instruments,” Lin Hao said.

After that, he walked over to the desk by his window, pulled open a drawer, and took out a thick book of sheet music.

Fatty Meng, Old Gao, and the others were all stunned again. A rehearsal room probably wasn’t too difficult for Lin Hao. After all, there were plenty of empty classrooms at the arts college, and with Lin Hao’s relationship with Teacher Fan Gang, it shouldn’t be a problem.

But him saying he could solve all the instruments was a little too unbelievable.

Although they all knew Lin Hao had made some money selling songs, they didn’t feel comfortable asking how much exactly he had earned.

But instruments were not cheap.

If they bought cheap ones, they might as well not buy them at all. Yet high-end instruments were extremely expensive.

For example, a drum set could range from two or three thousand yuan at the low end, to more than ten thousand yuan for mid-range ones, and even tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand yuan for high-end sets. That was completely normal.

Synthesizers, electric pianos, electric guitars, amplifiers, guitar effects pedals, microphones, and so on were all the same. This was not a small amount of money.

Of course, Lin Hao understood all of this.

He had been thinking about this matter for nearly two years already. He had carefully considered every step and knew exactly how he wanted to proceed.

Making money by selling songs had been within his expectations from the beginning.

The rock music festival was simply an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Lin Hao walked up in front of Cui Gang and pulled out two sheets of music, handing them to him.

Cui Gang felt his heart pounding violently, and even his breathing became a little difficult.

He took them and looked down.

“Rock on the New Long March Road,” “False Monk.”