Chenhaosn: The Lion of the Sun 3

The interview in A Day Magazine (translation)

https://www.adaymag.com/2023/12/07/interview-edward-chen-almost-human.html

The movie “Your Name Engraved Herein” paved the path to be a singer: Edward Chen told me every song in my album shredders all the disguise of a Leo (Edward’s star sign)

If I remember it right, I went to see the movie “Your Name Engraved Herein” in the afternoon alone. I couldn’t leave how I felt about the movie behind ever since. I fell in love with the protagonist “Jahan” (Edward Chen). His agent in HIM told me from time to time: “Edward’s album is going to be released very soon.” Finally, in the late fall this year I found my time pays off – Edward debuts as a singer, not just an actor any more since I first knew about him. Hence, people can know about his stories from a different perspective. In the past, I thought the actor Edward was shy and positive, obsessed with his beloved, and as another character he played showed up, I’ve learned about  different aspects of his personality gradually. Therefore, I am wondering if the singer Edward shows more of his true color in his music.

“My mentor in college wrote a song recently; is it ok I play it for you?” said the role played by Edward in that movie, which became the most impressive scene of the movie.. With this image in my mind, I talked with him about his experience as a singer. It was an early morning in fall. 

Because of the movie Edward learned about music and as time went by fate in life led him to the road of a singer. 

In 2016, Edward Chen debuted as an actor in the movie “The New Student from the Northwest.” The public was surprised at his passion for singing when he sang the title song “Your Name Engraved Herein.” He had not only a good vocal but also abundant affection.  I was into him for the movie he starred in, so I started the interview with the question: debuting as an actor, for how long has the idea of being a singer been rooted in his mind? 

Not being a thoughtful person as I had assumed, Edward, behaving like a racing horse, shining and aggressive, told me, “ I never planned to be an actor or a singer; it’s fate that is leading me to the path, but truly, the movie initiated me into music. In fact, the course of becoming a singer has never been smooth; I had lots of doubts about myself.” In the morning, he looked refreshed, but though he was speaking with wide smiles and loud laughters, he still felt uncertain and restless.

Bringing up the turning point, he recalled the moment when the movie was played under the starry night, he was singing the title song from the audience’s seats to the stage. It was the first time that he believed he could reach his fans in an alternative way, touching everyone. At the moment he made up his mind, thinking that he could speak to his fans by singing. 

Each song in the album probes into the inner world of a Leo

When thinking of Edward, people usually have the picture of an open-minded big boy, shining and warm. Edward also has a very similar claim that he is a real Leo, which impresses people with characteristics: resilience, optimism, courageousness and fearlessness without a second thought. I was confused after getting his point since in his title song “Aloof” there are lines like “I disguise myself with toughness which serves as a cover to protect your smile.” The lines have nothing to do with the description of his personality. I wonder if this song unveils what he has hidden from the public, the other half of  Edward. 

He laughed after he heard  my question. He spoke with a very frank attitude: it’s beyond people’s imagination how exaggeratedly Leo would defend his self-esteem.  Leo has a great self-defense mechanism, all for protecting the face. So, each song in this album keeps taking off Leo’s disguise. In his mind, a person who appears tough, stubborn, and unbending tends to hide his loneliness and aloofness in the depth of his heart. People are prone to overlooking this part. After his answer, I asked him curiously, “Do you have any soft spot in your heart?” To me though Leo always behaves with pride, in front of the beloved there are bubbles with tenderness inside. Edward confessed before family members, best friends, beloved, he would show his fragility, but because he was too proud most of the time, once he was willing to surrender and the beloved left for some reason, he would become detached, confiding himself in his own zone and collapsing at the same time. When this happened, he would begin his journey of self-healing alone; for example, he would go cycling, which he was totally into. 

Without a script and camouflage of the role, the most difficult part from an actor to a singer is how to show the essence of my story.

The mystery of an actor originates from different roles which shape diverse impressions to the public. However, a singer passes over the feelings and affection by his vocal. When turning to a singer, Edward told me the most different thing was all the things went back to the essence of the singer himself because he shook off the camouflage of an actor and the characterization of a script. 

Though the album had been prepared for a period of time, he didn’t think he was not that kind of person who was well prepared. For example, the night before shooting a new movie, he would stay up all night because of anxiety. Though there was a script, he didn’t have his own “SOP.” He was not a person that deliberately “did homework” while he would absorb what he saw when the camera began to roll and gradually shaped the role during the process.  He continued that either being  an actor or a singer, he felt hardship mentally. At the moment he tried his best. Though he thought he was doing well enough, he still wanted it to be better. Though the other thought he had done it well enough; he still thought what kind of “good” was good enough; if his good job was the one that his team had pictured. After finishing this conversation, I thought this young man was not only a Leo but also a Virgo, a perfectionist. 

Speaking of his favorite singer, he mentions Tamaki Koji; he likes singers who tell stories. 

Edward’s favorite actor was Leonardo DeCaprio, but now to be  a singer, I wanted to know who his favorite singer was. Once upon hearing his question, he immediately answered: Tamaki Koji. He felt shy, afraid that young people had no idea about who the singer was; therefore, he continued to elaborate his idea: since childhood he loved senior singers. He also named some other singers like Coldplay, John Mayer, Shawn Mendes, Lee and so on. 

“You know when they sing while playing the guitar, I feel a sense of loneliness,” he said, impressing me with the image that he was a young boy who liked to immerse in the atmosphere of loneliness in music alone. Hence, I went on with another question, “Do you like to write your own songs?” He was silent for a while, giving me his answer that he liked to “tell stories.”

He liked to watch these singers singing alone on stage; it seemed they were in their own world apart from the outer world. Though there is a distance from the audience, the fans could get the stories in their music and then get touched as they were listening to their songs. 

When Edward mentioned this, his performance in the audition concert popped up in my mind. He was playing the guitar, singing. He told me that he began to learn how to play the guitar after finishing the movie “Your Name Engraved Herein.” He knew some of the skills of playing the guitar, knowing it was about how to use hands and fingers because he took violin lessons when he was a kid. 

It is good to become a singer of the “comforter type.”

At the end of the interview, I wanted to give him my expectations and wishes as a fan. So, I asked him what kind of singer he wanted to be. 

Edward shared with me the anecdote of his friend Spark the day before the press of the album. The vocalist of Quarterback Spark Chen considered Edward to be a singer like a comforter: Edward looks cool, but has a soft voice like the comforter. He liked Spark’s idea.

From then on, he expected to work with the Quarterback because he liked singing their songs in KTV. Well, let’s wait and see some day Edward would show his wildness, turning into a rock singer. I didn’t think that would surprise me because he was a changeable Leo guy after all..

When talking about favorite singers, Edward cannot hide the smile on his face, which provokes my curiosity. Do you want to know his personal playlists?