Walking into the studio, “The Eight Dimensions”, a huge stage greets my eyes. With the magnesium lights shining bright upon the stage, a melodious sound began to echo in my ears. A tall girl with long hair was standing on the stage, wearing a black plaid shirt and culottes. She is the lead singer of “Galaxy Express”, whose name is Shen Huiwen.
Seeing my arrival, Shen (沈慧雯) stopped singing and walked down the steps to the stage. She smiled gorgeously, and greeted me with great enthusiasm. Later, I was led to their office, the place where they compose songs during most of their weekdays.
Though clean and tidy, the office was not as big as I had imagined. With four wooden tables, two electric guitars hanging on the wall, a drawing of the band’s singers and a picture of them, the room was actually quite a crowded place for six people to work; five music makers and a manager, whose name is Weng Dahan (翁大涵). He once was a singer himself. After he decided to retire, he signed the band and later became both their boss and mentor.
“Everyone in this band has their own duty. For instance, the band leader, Chen Liangjun (陈亮均), is responsible for making up plans for the release of singles”, Weng said. As the band’s material consists of covers and songs they write themselves, they have to finish each project as per their plans, so that they can ensure their working efficiency.
According to Shen, making plans is perhaps common for students and officers, but is not ordinary for singers. Most singers do not even visit their studios for most of the week and spent much of their time relaxing. They may release just one song about every 2 months. For Galaxy Express (银河快递), however, they work 6 days a week.
“Their work schedule is strict. I made it for them”, Chen said. “They have to finish it to go home. If not end, they will have to stay in the studio until all is done.”
Galaxy Express has shown its audiences their potential to become one of the most popular bands of their era. In just their first year, they released 13 songs on the NetEase Cloud Music platform. With a catalogue total of 30 songs, some still in the making, their song, “Time Machine”, was described by “People’s Daily” as, “The Annual Graduation Song for 2023”.
Established as recently as 6 June, 2022, Galaxy Express already has over 14 thousand followers on NetEase Cloud Music. It is an impressive success compared to other bands founded around the same time and the increase in their influence is astonishing. Such progress has proved both their strength in, and their love for, a music career.
“We often have fights, actually”, Chen said deliberately. “About issues like whether an inspiration is worth trying, whether a song is worth making, and so on. Then we vote! We make decisions following the majority’s opinion. That makes sense.”
When asked whether their arguments affect their personal life, Chen smiled and shook her head. “No, totally not. We are all cherishing the sense of working as a team, so while problems with work may remain unsolved, they will never be brought in to our daily lives”, she said.
“Their idol is Mayday”, Weng as their mentor said proudly. “Their goal is to accompany a generation by creating songs continually over the next 30 years, or even more.”
I believe Weng, that this important band can realise its dream, going on to influence even more people than they do today.
