French Singer Frederick (left) is pictured with AF’s director Xavier Garnier
A live music marathon spanning from high noon to late evening in downtown Macau marked the arrival of the summer solstice last Saturday, as the Alliance Française of Macao (AF) organized the city’s third World Music Day following a decades-
long tradition which originated in Paris.
Hoping to surprise local audiences with songs sung in their native dialect, the French singer Frederick and his band prepared French versions of Chinese pop songs and Cantonese rock classics for the show’s finale performance at Senado Square.
“This event is becoming more and more popular [in the world] and in France it’s really popular, every year on June 21, all the bands go in the streets, you can play everywhere and everybody will go outside,” he told the Times of the annual celebration, which has been passed down from 1982.
Based in Dalian city, situated in North Eastern China’s Bohai Gulf, Frederick has constantly performed in local bars. He gradually formed a five-member band with other music enthusiasts, before rising to fame on a national talent show on CCTV in 2010.
“It was a big boost,” the singer recalled, adding that they have performed “everywhere in China, all the big cities” ever since their television debut. “Our songs are free to download on all Chinese Internet plat-
forms; one of our covers of the Chinese songs, a French version of ‘Because of Love,’ has recorded 8 million hits.”
Frederick said he achieved his dream of “going to China” five years ago by setting up a company, and has since started pursuing another dream there – playing music. “I discovered that people attach a lot of importance to music in China, much more than in France. Everybody in the world loves music, but in China it’s really crazy,” he noted.
Performing as “an amateur,” Frederick acknowledged a great challenge in terms of singing and constant creation. But surprisingly, their adaptations of French and Chinese songs has received a warm reception from Chinese audiences everywhere.
“Our band is known more in the Chinese name ‘Fu Lei De Yue Dui’. It’s very funny that we rank even ahead of Daft Punk, a very famous French band,” he laughed while scrolling through a list of popularity rankings on China’s Baidu music aggregator.
Now a Western musician rooted in China, the young man said he has gained new insights into China’s music scene, unknown to outsiders. “In China you can do any kind of style. We are trying to be the bridge between Chinese and Western culture,” he said, and has attributed their success to passion and a full expression of “energy” on stage. “You need to give your 100 percent to what you are doing.”
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