"Foreigners" Album
“I am on the outside! Outside!” the American musician Stephen Venables shouts in the song "Foreigners."
The straightforward and simple language in "Foreigners" reflects the musician's sense of identity.
In the summer of 2023, Stephen Venables came into the spotlight with his debut original album. The album cover is a page from his creative notebook, showing all the scribbles and revisions as he tried his best to structure all the Chinese lyrics using pinyin.
Perhaps we should call him Lao Gao because this album is Stephen’s love letter to China as a Chinese learner and professional musician. His signature is in the lower right corner of the cover.
As a professional musician’s first album, "Foreigners" marks Lao Gao’s first attempt to create in Chinese and his first complete music album. This comes ten years after he first picked up a guitar and five years after he began learning Chinese on his own.
Two Languages
After ten years of hard work, sweat, and passion, "Foreigners" was born. Lao Gao said, “I am a language enthusiast. I have been learning Chinese on my own for many years. I also love music, which I believe is a form of language. To me, the primary function of language is communication. I yearn to communicate with native Chinese speakers in Chinese and to express my thoughts through music. Combining these two languages has been a very interesting experience for me.”
As a non-native Chinese music creator, Lao Gao's work is simple and straightforward, with intense emotions. This gives his songs a vivid sense of imagery. The title track "Foreigners" tells his story, with clear calls for acceptance, being heard, and being understood as an outsider. "Boss Shoes" and "You Give Me A Feeling" present a relaxed and joyful attitude towards life with a humorous tone. When the omnipresent "Big Head" quietly leaves, deep inside, there is still a "Desert Rose." He sings "Don't Take My Love Away" in the rain, with romance and tenderness like the intertwined "Two Fish," saying perhaps everything is the "Best Regret," saying "I Come Back" and "Keep On Going." In a cross-cultural context, Lao Gao's sensitivity and curiosity give his music a blend of childlike innocence and the absurdity of reality. He is serious yet playful, irreverent yet sensitive. He incorporates the straightforwardness of Western pop music with the subtlety of Eastern charm. What truly stands out is his pure and natural approach, without any pretense in his music or lyrics.
Repeated Polishing and Sudden Inspiration
"Big Head" was the first song created for the "Foreigners" album. At that time, Lao Gao did not have a concrete plan to make an album but was inspired by a photo of a "big head," coincidentally featuring a Chinese person. This sparked his idea to write songs in Chinese. "Big Head" represents a burst of creativity.
Following the inspiration from "Big Head," Lao Gao composed more than twenty Chinese songs in a basement in Florence, Italy. He often forgot to eat or drank five cups of coffee a day. He played the guitar and used the voice memo on his phone to capture moments of inspiration, letting his ideas flow through his fingers.
From creating in a basement in Florence to recording and synthesizing in a studio in Los Angeles, and finally to releasing it globally through a record company, Lao Gao’s debut album features his eleven favorite songs. The entire process took a year, a mix of repeated polishing and sudden bursts of energy.
He said, “I believe there is no hierarchy in art. Anyone can be an artist, and every unique person can create unique works. Thoughts of comparison or feeling inadequate hinder creativity. The Beatles were great, but the world cannot and should not only have one band like the Beatles.”
Many Are Better Than Me, But They Are Not Creating
As a newcomer to the music industry, like many others chasing their dreams, Lao Gao also experiences confusion and self-doubt. However, he never thought of giving up halfway or abandoning music. He is steadfast in his approach, completing his goals step by step.
“Perhaps because I am a Chinese learner, I don’t have much mental burden when facing Chinese. My understanding of the Chinese world is limited, so I have a curious fearlessness like a newborn calf. When writing Chinese lyrics, I focus most on rhyming, finding points that rhyme, and writing lyrics that I find interesting and fulfilling. Honestly, I worry about and even fear criticism, but I think the most important thing is to express my thoughts. I remember Ed Sheeran said that creating is like turning on an old tap; at first, only dirty water flows out, but it gradually becomes clearer. So the important thing is to keep creating. Many people sing, play, and speak Chinese better than I do, but they are not creating like I am.”
For Lao Gao, art represents the highest human creativity, and the greatest value of humans lies in creativity. Music is just one medium he happened to choose. Deep down, he believes that any form of art and creation is the true meaning of human life. He consistently encourages himself and those around him to create.
Everyone should go create!