Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

A LOCAL music prodigy released his first album Tuesday afternoon, as his teenage band gave a live show of the album’s songs at the Hutaoli (Walnut Lane) Music Bar in Longgang District.

Zhang Yang, 12, became the youngest singer-songwriter in China to release an album, with the lyrics, music and orchestration independently completed by himself.

The show, which wowed a gathering of several dozen fans, also marked the official birth of the 142857 band, a trio consisting of Zhang as well as 11-year-old bassist Hu Chendong from Xi’an and 10-year-old guitarist Ran Yake from Chengdu.

“The innocence of childhood surrounded me like a thick fog,” said the bashful-looking kid in a yellow tee and wearing black-rimmed glasses. “I like to think of stuff and take my feelings out in music. The nine songs in ‘Hi, Future’ (the album) are what I have thought and felt, which also manifest a transition as I am walking out of that fog into a more colorful and confident future.”

“The Song for You” is a moving song Zhang wrote for his grandma who passed away when he was five. “In some unknown place, you sleep in peace; Can you still remember my mischievous face?,” goes the opening line of the song.

A mixture of pop and rock, the other songs from the album sing of sentiments true to his age, which may resonate with every teenager. “Escape From the Earth” sings of the tension between parents and son, who has awakened to a thirst for freedom and independence, while “Boring Afternoon” tells the dream of a teenager who would travel to a faraway place with his guitar and seek meaning for his life.

A fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers and AC/DC, Zhang started to play the drums at 6, learning with Xue Yongjun, a music veteran known as the “drum king of the south” among pop musicians. Born with pitch accuracy, Zhang taught himself to play the guitar, bass, zheng (Chinese plucked zither) and meihuaqin (a plucked lute with a wooden body and fretted neck).

Zhang has an uncle who is studying pop music in New Zealand, and who had taught the boy songwriting and orchestration during his summer vacation. Soon the 12-year-old began to write his own songs, which led to the release of this album.

Talking about his band members, Zhang said he “discovered” them via douyin, a short-video streaming site popular among the Chinese young. “Both Ran and Hu are huge fans of pop music just like me. They, too, have innate pitch accuracy,” Zhang said.

The three chose “142857” to be the name of their band because this number, associated with the mysterious pyramids, when multiplied with any number except 7, will result in a number consisting of the same group of numbers. “The numbers signify indefinite possibilities, like our future,” they said.

“We’re working on a next album, the first of our newly founded band, and it will be inclined more towards pop.”

Luo Weili, a popular singer-songwriter in Guangdong who sings in the Hakka dialect, guest performed at Tuesday’s show. “The kids are no doubt quite talented, although they still have a long way to go,” he said.