Zhang Chu

A few years after the release of <Aeroplane Factory>, Zhang Chu decided to leave Beijing and move back to his hometown, the ancient city of Xi'an. The precise reason behind this decision was not entirely clear, but according to some of the interviews he gave in recent years, it appeared that he felt the rock business in Beijing to be creatively constricting, also he felt guilty that some of his songs gave listeners negative emotional impacts. He virtually disappeared from the public eye over the next 4 years before finally reemerging in 2004 in a rock festival at Helan Mountain. To his surprise, rock fans never forgot about him, if anything his long absence earned him more respect because it was perceived as a sign of artistic integrity. Indeed, his refreshing originality and uncompromising independent spirit were sorely missed in a music scene where mindless commercialism and downright plagiarism ran rampant. Since then Zhang Chu has turned in a steady string of performances in various venues around the country, contributed the occasional track to compilation albums, while working intermittently on his fourth album. In July 2007, Zhang Chu reunited for the first time on stage with He Yong and Dou Wei at the Prairie Outdoors Rock Festival held in Inner Mongolia. In front of a jubilant audience, the legend of "The Three Prominents of Moyan" came to life once again. In November 2007, Zhang Chu announces that his funk-influenced new album will be released in 2008 and a supporting concert will be held at Beijing Exhibition Hall in April.

Lauded by many as "the most lonesome singer-poet", Zhang Chu has remained a prominent figure in the Chinese rock scene despite not releasing a new album since 1997.

For the next few years, Zhang Chu stayed in Beijing which was the undisputed center of the Chinese rock scene. The newfound fame made the introverted singer increasingly uneasy, however. By all accounts, he avoided interviews and socialization, and rarely collaborated with other rockers. His next album <Aeroplane Factory> was conceived during this period, and once it was released in 1997 it was clear that Zhang Chu's musical taste had evolved beyond the confines of folk rock. In tracks like "The Zoo", one can detect influences ranging from alternative to experimental rock. As the musical style grew more varied, the instrumentals and melody became more robust and textured, while the lyrics became increasingly cryptic and abstract. Terms such as "stream-of-consciousness" were used by music critics to describe songs like "Idle":

Around the same time, Zhang Chu was signed to the ambitious Taiwan-based rock recording label "Muoyan" and in 1994 participated in the legendary "Chinese Rock Power" concert held at Hong Kong Arena. The headliners, besides Zhang Chu, also included Dou Wei (former lead singer of the early Chinese rock group Black Leopard) and He Yong (one of the first Chinese punk rockers). Hastily lumped together and marketed under the somewhat archaic sounding title of "The Three Prominents of Muoyan", these exciting new talents from China nevertheless went from unknown to famous overnight, stunning the Hong Kong audience with their energy and creativity, thus heralding "the spring of new music". Twenty-six-year-old Zhang Chu, with a face as fresh as a teenager, performed several songs from his next album while sitting almost motionless in a chair. This shy stage persona would soon become his trademark. People were once again amazed that such powerful vocals and thought-provoking lyrics could come from the body of an awkward child.

In 1993 Zhang Chu's first album "A Heart cannot Fawn" was released. This is a collection of Zhang's early compositions (all written before 1990), though more than half of the songs were performed by other singers. With a terribly confused producer and at least equally confused singers who clearly did not understand what rock music was let alone the meaning of the songs, the album sounds like a curiously schizophrenic patchwork that was put together half-heartedly in a hurry. Nevertheless, the raw originality of the songwriter shines through. In tracks like "BPMF" or "Westward out of Yang Guan", Zhang Chu quickly establishes his unmistakable style: narrative story-line, keen observation, easy-flowing verse and expressive voice.

Mainstream audiences got a first taste of Zhang Chu's distinctive brand of folk rock in 1992 through the single "Sister". The song recounts a dark story of familial abuse and repression through the eyes of a child. The repeated exclamations of "Sister! I wanna go home. Take a hold of my hand, I'm a bit sleepy. Sister! I wanna go home. Take a hold of my hand, you don't need to be afraid" during the rousing chorus moved countless listeners to tears. The memorable melody and the emotional vocal delivery made the song an instant hit on China's mainland, with its influence spreading to other Chinese speaking regions and countries. Zhang Chu himself confided years later that the song carried a political overtone which few seemed to detect. This is typical of his style, social satire which is subtle and easy to miss by the unsuspecting. Similarly, his rollicking punk cover of the Red Standard "Socialism is Good" also left some of us wondering if this was not a tongue-in-cheek dig at the "People's Government".

Zhang Chu (Chinese: 张楚 ; pinyin: Zhāng Chǔ , born 17 November 1968) is a Chinese musician who was born in Liuyang, Hunan.