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A Band of Brothers: Soldiers Turned Musicians
by Mo Rui Qiu
A s his teacher was trying to teach him mathematics, Huáng Dān
Zhàn (黄丹战) was doodling 3-D sketches of a stage where he
imagined himself performing. When he and his friends played in the mud, one of the things he would create was a machine for recording music—poking a stick into the top for the “on” button. They would mimic the songs sung by Hong Kong pop star, Aaron Kwok, and pretend they were recording an album. When he left home to study, he studied vocal music.

In the same county, in a different village, Mǎ Ěr Dé (马尔德), grew up in a home where his mother was famous for singing the Zhuang “mountain songs” (山歌). As soon as the cultural revolution finished, she could return to song competitions. Though he didn’t explicitly learn to sing the songs from her, he was surrounded by the environment and began to absorb the principles for singing the mountain songs. In those childhood years, he fought mock battles by throwing clods of dirt at his friends. It really developed his throw; as soon as he entered the military, he effortlessly threw his first grenade 50 meters and won the prize for excellence.

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In the Debao area, older people carry on the “mountain song” tradition. Mr. Ma and Mr. Huang are bringing a fresh angle to this ancient tradition.

After completing his term of military service in December 1992, Mǎ Ěr Dé worked as a guitarist and vocalist in nightclubs before returning to his hometown of Débǎo (德保). Later, he passed the exams to be able to study law, and went on to work in that field to this day. By December 2003, Huáng Dān Zhàn (黄丹战) had also finished his military service and came back to Débǎo. They joined with others to form a music band and starting composing their own music. Huáng Dān Zhàn laughed a lot when he talked about borrowing his girlfriend’s nylon stockings to form a net in front of the microphone.

At that time, they already dreamed of making music in their own language, but they hadn’t taken the leap yet. Separately, they both heard the Zhuang lyrics that Liào Hàn Bō (廖汉波) had written and posted online. Though he had not really sung the song, rather only read the lyrics in a kind of rap style, it was enough to make these musicians begin composing music in the Zhuang language. With Liào Hàn Bō writing lyrics, and Mǎ Ěr Dé composing the music, they started to form a repertoire.

Their band, the Aō Tū Band (凹凸乐队), has played live for several different events in the region. During Chinese New Year 2005, they performed at the “2005 New Year Debao Jingxi Zhuang Siblings Concert” (2005年春节德保靖西贝侬歌会). The following year, they played at the “2006 New Year Zhuang New Songs Concert” (2006年春节壮族新歌会) and the “2006 Bùluòtuó Siblings Concert,” (2006年布洛陀贝侬歌会). When the Debao Middle School celebrated their 70th anniversary in November 2007, the Aō Tū Band played live. The Guangxi Huá Yín Aluminium Company (广西华银铝业有限公司) invited them to perform at its opening ceremony in December 2007. They are also releasing three numbers on the upcoming Zhuang Pop Music Album, “Beihnongx.”

They say that you can walk down the street in their town, or out on village paths, and hear people, from toddlers all the way up to grandparents, humming the phrase, “mayh moyz leuxzis.” Though I’m not a native speaker of this language, and I only heard the song a few times, this tune got stuck in my head. I can’t get it out. No wonder it’s caught on with the local people! The phrase is part of the refrain from their song, “The Debao Love Song.” It means, “I love everything about you.”

Who would have guessed that two of the people involved in recording that song had previously served in the military? These former soldiers, turned musicians, see their music as a way to encourage other people in the area to value their own language. If people see their language being used in the latest media, it will seem stylish. Though their influence as individuals is limited, together they envision ways to broadly promote their own language.