Mayday (English: MAYDAY) is a Taiwanese rock band with five members. Formerly known as "So Band", it was renamed "Mayday" on March 29, 1997. The band is composed of Ashin (vocalist), Monster (guitar), Martha (bass), Shitou (guitar) and Guanyou (drums). Except for Guanyou, the other four people all graduated from the High School Affiliated to the National Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan. The band's name comes from bassist Martha's codename on online forums.
Band experience
So Band (1995-1997)
The predecessor of Mayday was the "So Band" band, which was composed of students who were studying at the High School Affiliated to the Normal University. Formed in 1995 by guitarist Monster (Wen Shangyi), vocalist Ashin (Chen Xinhong), and the first drummer Qian Youda. Later bassist Martha (Cai Shengyan) joined. After graduating from high school, the four of them entered different universities respectively, but the band did not stop its activities and continued to perform in many bars and restaurants. Later, before the 1997 Yetai opening event, guitarist Shitou (Shi Jinhang) was added. In order to sign up for the Nodai concert, they used Martha's codename "MAYDAY" on the Internet BBS as the group name, and officially changed their name to "Mayday" on March 29, 1997, the day Nodai started singing, and decided on the band's name on that day. "Army Day". Mayday was deeply influenced by the First Four and believed that rock music has the power to change the world. It conveys the belief of love and peace in songs. This is a group that all members like very much.
From underground to mainstream (1997-1998)
The cover of "Mayday's First Album", their first studio album, this cover was created by Shi After filming in front of the lockers in the swimming pool of the University Affiliated High School and participating in the wild stage concert, the band began to send the recorded demo tapes (demos) to major record companies, hoping to win the opportunity to produce a film. In June 1997, Jia Minshu, the producer of Taiwan's Rolling Stone Records, contacted lead singer Ashin after listening to the demo tape. Two months later, Mayday signed a contract with the Rolling Stones. In January of the following year (1998), the band participated in the underground band compilation album "Japanese Songs" released by Corner Music, which included their first studio work "Rolling Car". In June of the same year, the album of the same name "Embrace" was released. Mayday was responsible for most of the lyrics and music, and also took care of all production and recording work. The first album "Mayday's First Creative Album" was officially released on July 7, 1999, and was released by Rolling Stone Records. The album received excellent reviews from music critics and general audiences, sold more than 300,000 copies, and was shortlisted for the "Best Vocal Group Award" at the 11th Golden Melody Awards. The two songs "Zhiming and Chunjiao" and "Embrace" quickly became popular among young listeners and became the annual champion of KTV on-demand rankings. "Zhiming and Chunjiao" was one of the top ten singles of the year by the Chinese Musicians Exchange Association. Shortly after the release of their first album, the band held its first large-scale concert "The 168th Concert" at the Taipei Municipal Stadium on August 28, 1999, attracting many supporters and becoming a famous rock band in Taiwan.
Long Live Love and Sea of ??Life (1998-2001)
The cover of the second studio album "Long Live Love", released in 2000 by the band on July 7, 2000 The second album "Long Live Love" was released, and its sales exceeded the previous album, reaching 350,000 copies. Mayday also won the "Best Band Award" at the 12th Golden Melody Awards for this album. From August 12 to 26, 2000, the band held the "One Hundred Thousand Youths Stand Up" concert tour in Taipei, Changhua, and Kaohsiung.
Mayday's third album "Sea of ??Life" In the spring of 2001, Mayday participated in the soundtrack production of a movie for the first time, producing the soundtrack and releasing an album for the movie "Migratory Birds" starring Rene Liu and Huang Pinyuan. Most of the songs on the album were composed by Mayday, and he performed on three of the songs. Two months later (July 6, 2001), the third album "Sea of ??Life" was released. Sales figures accumulated to 350,000 copies in more than a month. Mayday held its first ticketed tour concert "Where Are You Going" from August 18 to September 1, 2001. Since band member Martha will enlist in the army in a few months, the band will temporarily suspend activities during this period. , this tour concert also became the band’s temporary farewell concert. During the concert in Kaohsiung, guitarist Shitou successfully proposed to his girlfriend on stage, which impressed many fans. The song "Missing You Every Day" during the proposal was also included in the live album of the concert. In November 2001, as Martha officially entered the service of the art team, Stone went to the UK to study recording engineering and record production. Ashin and Monster stayed at Rolling Stone Records to continue their music production work, and drummer Guanyou (named Yanming at the time) came to Studying rhythm and percussion in Los Angeles, USA, and taking a break from the orchestra.
Recent and future plans (2001 to present)
During the band's break, in 2002 they released the first autobiographical documentary film "Rock and Roll" in the history of Chinese music, and also released the soundtrack of the same name album. The film was released in major theaters in Taiwan and grossed over NT$1.2 million in three days.
The cover of the fourth studio album "Time Machine" is also Mayday's comeback album after a two-year break. After two years of rest, Martha was discharged from the army in July 2003. Mayday performed at the Taipei Municipal Government on August 16. The stadium held the "City in the Sky" large-scale comeback concert, attracting about 40,000 fans, setting a record for the highest number of fans in Taiwan's concert history. On November 11, 2003, the band released its fourth album, "Time Machine", which was also its first work after its comeback. Two days after its release, the album sold more than 150,000 copies[12]. Mayday also won the Golden Melody Award for Best Band for the second time with this album.
In the summer of 2004, Mayday participated in the soundtrack production of a movie for the third time, producing music for the movie "Love in May". The difference from before is that this time band guitarist Shitou also participated in the performance. On November 5, 2004, they released their fifth studio album "All the Children of God Are Dancing".
After that, Mayday held the first world ticketed tour "Final Home When We Mix Together" for six months, from December 25, 2004 to May 1, 2006, in Taiwan, the United States, and China Performed multiple performances in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong. After the concert, the live record album "Final Home" was released.
After releasing five albums, the best collection "Contentment" was released in August 2005, which was divided into two CDs of Taiwanese and Mandarin songs. On November 11, 2005, Mayday held the "Closeest to the Sky Concert in History" (or "The Sky Overhead Concert") at the 91st floor observation deck of Taipei 101. The concert was held at an altitude of 390.6 meters. The company hopes to apply for the Guinness World Record for "the world's tallest concert".
In 2006, Mayday cooperated with Chen Yongzhi, Chief Strategy Officer of Rolling Stone Records, and established "Believe in Music" as a shareholder. It has five groups of artists (including Mayday, Pinguan, Qianbian Band, Ding Dang and Liang Jingru). The contract and all of their music rights, with only record distribution given to Rolling Stone Records.
Mayday's sixth album "Born for Love" Mayday's sixth studio album "Born for Love" was released on December 29, 2006. In the early morning of January 1, 2007, Mayday held the "most aggressive New Year's Eve autograph session in history" at Xinyi Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xiangdi Avenue in Taipei. The autograph session lasted nearly ten hours. "Mayday Le Power Angel, Born for Love New Song Concert" was held in Banqiao, Taipei County on January 6, 2007, and in Fengshan, Kaohsiung on January 13. Many fans missed the night and queued up because they had to enter with a number plate redemption ticket. And in Hsinchu on January 28, Fengjia University in Taichung on February 3 and 4, Tainan on February 10 and 11, National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi on February 24, Chung Yuan University in Taoyuan on February 25, and Changhua on February 28 The county gymnasium holds other new song concerts.
Members
Mayday was first formed by Ashin, Monster and the then drummer Qian Youda at the High School Affiliated to the Normal University (then the "So Band" band), and later joined Martha and Stone . Mayday changed drummers three times before the release of their first album. In addition to Qian Youda, one of the founding members, they were later replaced by Chen Yongqi, Robert Ren (now the drummer of Zhuoshuixi Commune) and currently Guanyou.
Axin (Chen Xinhong, lead singer)
Born on December 6, 1975 in Beitou, Taipei City. He graduated from the High School Affiliated to the National Normal University and served as the president of the guitar club of the school. Department of Interior Design, Shishi University (currently changed to Department of Architectural Design). He is one of the earliest founding members of Mayday. In addition to band activities, he often writes songs for other singers and serves as music producer.
Monster (Wen Shangyi, guitarist, leader)
Born on November 28, 1976 in Hsinchu City, graduated from the Department of Sociology of National Taiwan University. He once served as the vice president of the Guitar Club of the High School Affiliated to the Normal University and was also the leader of Mayday.
Martha (Cai Shengyan, bassist)
In addition to bass (bass guitar), Martha’s other musical instruments include guitar, piano and harmonica. Born on April 25, 1977 in Kaohsiung City. Graduated from the Sociology Department of Fu Jen Catholic University, he is the youngest member of Mayday.
Shitou (Shi Hangwei, guitarist)
Born on December 11, 1975 in Taipei City, he once publicly proposed to his girlfriend at the "Where Are You Going" concert, and the two are currently Already married. He also graduated from the High School Affiliated to the Normal University and later studied at Tamkang University. His original name was Shi Jinhang.
Guanyou (Liu Guanyou, drummer)
Guanyou is the fourth drummer of the Mayday band and joined Mayday in 1999. His original name was Liu Haoming at first, and later he changed his name to Liu Yanming after joining May Day. Later he changed his name to Liu Guanyou. Graduated from Guoguang Art School and is good at drums and keyboard. Born on July 28, 1973 in Miaoli City. He is the oldest member of Mayday and the latest member to join the band.