Celebrity artist publishes jailhouse writings about lessons learned
By Wu Huixin |
July 22, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ONE year ago, controversial celebrity Gao Xiaosong was sitting in a Beijing jail, serving a six-month sentence for drunk driving, China's first public figure to be thrown into the slammer under a new law. The message: China is serious about punishing drunk drivers.
Today the 42-year-old musician and writer is on a book tour, promoting his second book, a compilation of jailhouse writings and other works. He said he was inspired behind bars to assemble his writings.
He is also a campaigner against drinking and driving.
Gao is known as the godfather of Chinese campus folk music who touched a generation of young people and made original music popular. He is also famous as a composer, film director, writer and critic. Always outspoken and a headline-maker, he made waves when he broke with his family's illustrious tradition of intellectual pursuits and went into entertainment. He made more waves as he plunged into glitzy shows such as "Super Girl," where he was a judge, and "China's Got Talent," where he was the notoriously critical judge in 2011.
And his imprisonment for drunk driving was controversial as well in a country known for lenient treatment of alcohol-related offenses and where people of position and their children are often let off the hook and avoid punishment.
He was arrested on May 9, 2011, in Beijing for crashing his SUV into a car stopped at a red light and causing a four-vehicle pileup. His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.
Gao received a traditional education that included the classics, Chinese painting and calligraphy. His grandfathers were members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding members of Tsinghua and Shenzhen universities.
But in 1991 Gao dropped out of Tsinghua when he was a junior in electronic engineering and pursued music and filmmaking. Twenty years ago that kind of deviation was shocking.
In 1993 he released his first album, "Collegiate Ballads," which swept the pop prizes and established his name. His sentimental "My Deskmate Girl" (1995) and "Youth of No Regrets" (1996) were off the charts. He was composer, lyricist and sometimes the producer of his music.
He has made films such as the experimental "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (2002) and "Rainbow" (2005).
Gao now lives in Los Angeles with his second wife and four-year-old daughter.
On July 12 he visited Hangzhou on tour for his book "Ru Sang (As If We're Dead) - We Are Old Enough To Talk About the Future," which includes articles written in jail as well as other essays, short stories, interviews and short film scripts. It was published in May. He spoke to Shanghai Daily and other reporters.
Q: Did you write your book in jail?
A: When I was a prisoner, I translated Gabriel García Márquez's novel "Memories of My Melancholy Whores," which knocked some sense into me. I realized that writing a full-length novel was not as difficult as I thought. Then, I got an itch to have a try.
Q: How did six months in jail affect your life?
A: I learned more about human nature there. In jail, the world view of some delinquent teenagers is totally wrong; for instance, they don't think that stealing is anything serious. I tried to set them right but failed. But sometimes I was successful. I made a friend in jail and promised to take him traveling around the world when he is released in 2014.
Q: What's the meaning of the subtitle "We Are Old Enough to Talk About the Future"?
A: What young people talk about are dreams, not the future. For example, it is a young man's dream, not the future, when he says he wants to be another Einstein. But when he is in his forties, he will no longer talk about being Einstein because he focuses on reality. The future is what we can truly realize in daily life, totally different from our dreams. I'm in my forties and I only talk of the things I can realize and cope with.
Q: So, you admit that youth is gone?
A: I yield to age. I am 42 years old now. My acne has become age spots. On my 35th birthday, I nearly drove off the cliff on Wutai Mountain by accident. Since then, I began to change my life attitude. I know that I have to be brave when encountering life's obstacles.
Q: How would you describe your mood when you wrote articles for your book?
A: The word is "cool." Unlike writing lyrics, I can write as much and as freely as I please. After translating Márquez's novel, I wanted to express all my emotions, just like people who show off their kung fu after learning from a master.
Q: What are your plans?
A: I will hold a concert in Shanghai on September 7 and prepare to start shooting my fifth movie, "My Deskmate Girl," on September 15, it's about the cruel youth of a group of people.
Q: Will you support your daughter to make music?
A: I support her in whatever she does. It is life, not yourself, that decide which path you will start on. I initially wanted to shoot ads, but finally I became a musician. If you cannot decide what you like, you can decide what you dislike. Throw away the dislikes, likes will emerge.
Q: You've written songs about love, so what are your hopes for your own daughter's love when she grows up?
A: I hope she will be brave when encountering love. I hope her love is free-spirited and bold.
Today the 42-year-old musician and writer is on a book tour, promoting his second book, a compilation of jailhouse writings and other works. He said he was inspired behind bars to assemble his writings.
He is also a campaigner against drinking and driving.
Gao is known as the godfather of Chinese campus folk music who touched a generation of young people and made original music popular. He is also famous as a composer, film director, writer and critic. Always outspoken and a headline-maker, he made waves when he broke with his family's illustrious tradition of intellectual pursuits and went into entertainment. He made more waves as he plunged into glitzy shows such as "Super Girl," where he was a judge, and "China's Got Talent," where he was the notoriously critical judge in 2011.
And his imprisonment for drunk driving was controversial as well in a country known for lenient treatment of alcohol-related offenses and where people of position and their children are often let off the hook and avoid punishment.
He was arrested on May 9, 2011, in Beijing for crashing his SUV into a car stopped at a red light and causing a four-vehicle pileup. His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.
Gao received a traditional education that included the classics, Chinese painting and calligraphy. His grandfathers were members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding members of Tsinghua and Shenzhen universities.
But in 1991 Gao dropped out of Tsinghua when he was a junior in electronic engineering and pursued music and filmmaking. Twenty years ago that kind of deviation was shocking.
In 1993 he released his first album, "Collegiate Ballads," which swept the pop prizes and established his name. His sentimental "My Deskmate Girl" (1995) and "Youth of No Regrets" (1996) were off the charts. He was composer, lyricist and sometimes the producer of his music.
He has made films such as the experimental "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (2002) and "Rainbow" (2005).
Gao now lives in Los Angeles with his second wife and four-year-old daughter.
On July 12 he visited Hangzhou on tour for his book "Ru Sang (As If We're Dead) - We Are Old Enough To Talk About the Future," which includes articles written in jail as well as other essays, short stories, interviews and short film scripts. It was published in May. He spoke to Shanghai Daily and other reporters.
Q: Did you write your book in jail?
A: When I was a prisoner, I translated Gabriel García Márquez's novel "Memories of My Melancholy Whores," which knocked some sense into me. I realized that writing a full-length novel was not as difficult as I thought. Then, I got an itch to have a try.
Q: How did six months in jail affect your life?
A: I learned more about human nature there. In jail, the world view of some delinquent teenagers is totally wrong; for instance, they don't think that stealing is anything serious. I tried to set them right but failed. But sometimes I was successful. I made a friend in jail and promised to take him traveling around the world when he is released in 2014.
Q: What's the meaning of the subtitle "We Are Old Enough to Talk About the Future"?
A: What young people talk about are dreams, not the future. For example, it is a young man's dream, not the future, when he says he wants to be another Einstein. But when he is in his forties, he will no longer talk about being Einstein because he focuses on reality. The future is what we can truly realize in daily life, totally different from our dreams. I'm in my forties and I only talk of the things I can realize and cope with.
Q: So, you admit that youth is gone?
A: I yield to age. I am 42 years old now. My acne has become age spots. On my 35th birthday, I nearly drove off the cliff on Wutai Mountain by accident. Since then, I began to change my life attitude. I know that I have to be brave when encountering life's obstacles.
Q: How would you describe your mood when you wrote articles for your book?
A: The word is "cool." Unlike writing lyrics, I can write as much and as freely as I please. After translating Márquez's novel, I wanted to express all my emotions, just like people who show off their kung fu after learning from a master.
Q: What are your plans?
A: I will hold a concert in Shanghai on September 7 and prepare to start shooting my fifth movie, "My Deskmate Girl," on September 15, it's about the cruel youth of a group of people.
Q: Will you support your daughter to make music?
A: I support her in whatever she does. It is life, not yourself, that decide which path you will start on. I initially wanted to shoot ads, but finally I became a musician. If you cannot decide what you like, you can decide what you dislike. Throw away the dislikes, likes will emerge.
Q: You've written songs about love, so what are your hopes for your own daughter's love when she grows up?
A: I hope she will be brave when encountering love. I hope her love is free-spirited and bold.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
