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around the globe
sunset rollercoaster
The reunited six-piece shoegaze outfit is at the frontline of Asia’s booming music industry.
“Playing Sunset Rollercoaster is even bigger than a job,” clarifies Sunset Rollercoaster frontman Kuo Hung. Enjoying a craft beer in an isolated park somewhere in Hong Kong, the singer is taking it slow after a long night at Gluestick Fest. “It makes me even more anxious about the future because it’s my own career, and I have to be responsible for the crew, my bandmates and my management team as well. It’s more exciting,” he continues.
It’s been a busy three years since the Taiwanese band’s reformation. After resurfacing in 2016 with the JINJI KIKKO EP, they dropped CASSA NOVA — the followup to their 2011 debut studio album BOSSA NOVA. There was an evident shift in the five-piece outfit’s sound, although Hung largely credits the change to the addition of two members. “During the BOSSA NOVA era, we were only a three-piece and we would play garage rock,” he notes. “We got a new bassist and keyboard player after the hiatus, so we were able to assess these synthesizers with jazz and soul.”
Looking back at their four-year hiatus, Hung doesn’t see the break as a waste of time. “[I learned] to enjoy my life,” he says, noting that his idea of enjoyment came in the form of attending graduate school and touring with a local pop star as a guitar sessionist. “You still play music as sessionist but the attitude is more professional and responsible, so it’s more like a job. It’s kind of easier, but it also makes me feel like I’m using my skills to survive,” he mentions, comparing it to his role in Sunset Rollercoaster. While he identifies his stint as a different mindset, he also considers it as an additional factor to the change in their sound. “My time as a session player also helped me play more than just garage rock, so those were probably the reasons.”
Sunset Rollercoaster most recently dropped their new EP VANILLA VILLA and Carhartt collaboration. The band just won a Golden Melody Award — Taiwan's equivalent of the Grammy's — for the video for "Slow" off their 2018 album CASSA NOVA. To accept the award, the band invited their dads, which was a hit.
essentials
Name: Sunset Rollercoaster
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Members: Tseng Kuo-Hung (vocal / guitar), Chen Hung-Li (bass), Lo Tsun-Lung (drum), Wang Shao-Hsuan (keyboard), Huang Shih-Wei (drum pads / percussion) and Huang Hao-Ting (Saxophone)
Projects: BOSSA NOVA, JINJI KIKKO, CASSA NOVA, VANILLA VILLA
BACKGROUND
“During the BOSSA NOVA era, we were only a three-piece and we would play garage rock. We got a new bassist and keyboard player after the hiatus, so we were able to assess these synthesizers with jazz and soul.”
music
Sunset Rollercoaster is heavily influenced by shoegaze, but shoegaze isn’t a prominent genre among Asian musicians. Which bands or albums from this genre helped shape your sound?
I would say Deerhunter. My first bands in college were called Boys and Girl, and the other one was Forests with a female singer. We played a lot of indie shoegaze and we got a chance to warm up for Deerhunter when they were touring Asia. During that time we were all really into their stuff so it was more of shoegaze and art rock. You can still hear this sound in Sunset Rollercoaster as well, like with my guitar tone or effects.
Touching on your other projects, Forests is still active today. What’s the balance between your work with Sunset Rollercoaster and Forests?
The first thing is time, because 2019 is a really busy year for Sunset Rollercoaster. Every January or February, we’ll figure out our year plan and we separate the time so our calendars don’t clash. Another thing is that I’m not the brain of Forests, it’s Jon [Du]. I think my role in this band is more of just a bassist and a creative supervisor or something, so I don’t have that kind of burden.
You handle everyone in Sunset Rollercoaster, but you’re not necessarily the lead in Forests. Is that freeing for you in some way?
[Forests] is a vacation for me. Playing bass and touring with Forests, I don’t really have to think about anything. It’s just playing the music, partying and having fun on tour. With Sunset Rollercoaster, I need more awareness.
Speaking of your new EP, you guys are currently transitioning from CASSA NOVA to VANILA VILLA. What are some of the things you did differently in your latest project?
During CASSA NOVA, it was more like we laid down tracks and recorded separately. It was kind of like a track-by-track process from the ‘80s that’s super clean. This time, we were recording live in the studio together. You can hear more of the air in VANILLA VILLA; you might hear instruments bleeding through different microphones. Like, the drum microphones could have sounds of the synthesizer, or my vocals could have some of the drums. You feel like everything’s more together. We still do a lot of dubbing on the tracks, but that was probably the main difference.
Now that you’ve tried this new technique, do you see yourselves carrying it over to your next full-length album?
I think so. It’s also a bit of an Asian thing, because when we all play together, it’s really difficult to get a perfect take. Some people might fuck up during their tiny fills or something, but it becomes part of the music. During CASSA NOVA, we had this mindset that every take should be perfect, but for me it’s not that organic. With VANILLA VILLA, you can hear people really playing music. So maybe we’ll follow the same concept in the next album. I kind of want to do stadium rock, like easy riffs and AC/DC kind of stuff, but still messing with the jazz chords and soul groovy.
In your opinion, what do you think is the one thing the entire Asian music scene has in common?
I would say bands in Asia are more safe. We don’t really like doing dangerous stuff, but I can tell that the bands in the West do some weird shit. Here in Asia, we don’t wanna cross the line. We just wanna make people happy and we don’t wanna cause any trouble. I think it’s also because Asians are a little bit too smart about things. It’s cultural. They don’t think too much about it in the West — if they wanna do, they’ll do it. They won’t care about the consequences, but we will. Even though we have a rebellious mindset, we keep it quiet.
FUTURE
You’ve added two new members since you reformed. With more of you in the band, can you describe the group’s creative process?
Sunset Rollercoaster is basically a jam band. We spend a lot of time in the studio basically playing nonsense, but we’ll record everything we play. Then I’ll go home and check the footage we got and maybe pick out the good parts for lyrics or melodies. We don’t have a certain process, we just go with the flow. Sometimes I’ll pick up a guitar and write a verse or chorus, take it to the band to jam and see how it goes.
We just released a new EP in May, and the process for that was jamming in the studio for three days in a row then chopping down parts with potential to become a song. I listened to it all day then just put down lyrics and melody. That was the process of VANILLA VILLA.
You’ve toured the West before, and you’re about to hit up Europe in June. What do you think is the main difference between an Eastern and a Western crowd?
I think Sunset Rollercoaster in Asia, especially in Taiwan or China or Hong Kong, our audience has been more into romantic vibes. They think we’re just a romantic band, maybe because of the lyrics, so a lot of couples go to our shows and enjoy this type of music. In the West, they can really tell where the influence in our music is from. When we play certain chord changes or tempo drops, they really get into this musical language.
I also think American crowds are close to European crowds. Sometimes, the European crowd will show up at your gigs but they’re not your fans at all, they’re just there to have fun. In Asia, people show up because they’re our fans and they want to hear the music live.
Is there anything about tour life that gets on your nerves?
I can only sleep well on my own bed, but when you’re touring, you’re sleeping on a different bed every night. I do have some sleep problems during a tour, and usually I can get quality power naps before the show but during the nighttime, I can’t sleep. It’s kind of annoying, but it’s something I have to face while on tour.
If you weren’t a musician, what do you think you’d be doing right now?
Selling houses. I think I have good communication skills. I don’t know, I could sell houses, cars, a PS4 — a salesman.
taipei, taiwan
For HYPEBEAST's new series Around The Globe, we'll be speaking to musicians outside the english-speaking world, shining a light on up-and-coming artists to established acts outside of the United States.
For HYPEBEAST's new series Around The Globe, we'll be speaking to musicians outside the english-speaking world, shining a light on up-and-coming artists to established acts outside of the United States.