Culture> Music and Theater

Singer returns to folk roots

By Chen Nan ( China Daily ) Updated: 2014-07-07 09:29:24

Lin Di wears a mask in her Beijing concert to create an atmosphere of prehistoric times.

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Since learning pipa at age 4 and composing in high school, Lin has been trying to find ways to make the Chinese instrument sound modern and unconventional.

"There was a period of time that I didn't want to play pipa anymore. So I founded Cold Fairyland and played keyboard while being the vocalist," she says.

"But it seems that pipa and traditional Chinese folk music have always been there, influencing my thoughts and composing."

In 2005, she went to Guizhou province to visit tribes of the Miao ethnic group. That life, isolated from modern civilization, inspired her to make the album - her third solo album, after 2002's Ten Days in Magic Land and 2004's Bride in Legend - which is about the relationship between prehistoric life and music.

"Miao people live without electricity or tap water. They entertain themselves of playing various musical instruments, from flutes made by eagles' bones to percussion made by wood," Lin says.

"Their lives and evolving music connect closely, which fascinated me."

In 2006, she composed 12 songs for the album. But due to the avant-garde approach, her record company at the time didn't release the album. After years of revising and looking for the right producer, Lin teamed with a Beijing-based indie label, Tree Music, and released the album in late 2013.