The world we currently orbit is a strange and confined one. This world has introduced us to a new type of solitude as unfamiliar feelings surface that are unique to a chaotic world amidst a global pandemic. During this time, reflection has happened upon us all to varying degrees. As we move into winter with no prospect of clarity, we seek out ways to stay positive and escape the distress of uncertainty. A constant source of solace during this time has been the (re)discovery of cinema. Through cinema the exploration of other worlds is possible: small pockets of alternate realities to escape the reality of a winter stuck inside the house, missing loved ones and the joys of full bodied freedom.
It came as perfect timing then, that as "melancholy fall" became my particular cinematic mood, Pure Person Press released a new charity compilation VA focused on musician and film composer Lim Giong’s iconic title track from his score for Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 2001 modern classic Millennium Mambo. A film and soundtrack that evoke movement and connection, we get lost in a world of people hanging out, smoking cigarettes together at home whilst mixing their favorite trance and techno records, sitting inside dimly lit bars, bodies moving together in spaces lit only by the throbs of dance floor light. All the while we follow Shu Qui’s Vicky, as she reflects back on her life at the beginning of the new millennium. The film has a particular resonance right now, as we are all drawn within our homes and as 2020 comes to an end, we reflect on the past, present and future. The VA includes a new track from Giong, "Recite," and five tracks from Taiwanese artists that reinterpret Giong’s "A Pure Person."
The project focuses on the idea of memory: past, present and future, and what it means to be a pure person in this exact moment of our lives. It is the inaugural release from Los Angeles based label Pure Person Press (“a love letter to Taiwan”) and the label will focus on exploring sounds from Taiwan and reissuing Giong’s catalogue. Angela Lin, who is at the helm of the project, went on a voyage to Taiwan to find Giong and collaborate through shared ideas, a promise she made to her mother in order to continue being a pure person: to follow one's dreams and be true to oneself. Leaving an unsatisfying job, Lin went seeking creativity and connectivity. Thus the Pure Person project was born. The VA plays as a time capsule reflecting the past, present and unknown future.
Giong’s background as an actor, a pop star and his pre-Millenium Mambo days producing traditional Tawaines folk music can be heard through his ability to transcend mood and genre. A musician working within the intersection of experimental music and film composition, Giong’s influential work, both in the world of cinema and solo music production, spans decades (he is coined the godfather of Tawinese experimental music no less). I caught up with Lim over email, to discuss the Pure Persons project, his experiences working with frequent collaborators Jia Zhangke and Hou Hsiao-hsien, the differences in scoring for fiction and nonfiction and his own personal relationship to cinema.
NOTEBOOK: As a musician you have worked across many genres, does this approach of experimentation influence the way you score for film?
LIM GIONG: It does—when I make music for film I use a different way of thinking
NOTEBOOK: What can you tell me about your technical process and how it's evolved over the years?
GIONG: I originally just used a guitar to write, but around 1995 I started to like electronic music. I purchased a computer and I learned how to use music programs. In 2004 I started to DJ so I bought a laptop and learned Ableton Live to use during my performances.
If I’m creating a soundtrack, sometimes I read the script outline first and sometimes I watch the film itself to find the areas that I think need music or to observe the areas that the director specifies needs music. After a demo is done, I’ll email it to the director and together we work on modifying the soundtrack. Most of the music is arranged using a computer but at times some traditional instruments are added in according to the director’s needs. If it is a personal music creation, I try to use a synthesizer to compose music directly without using a computer to mix it.
NOTEBOOK: What was the process behind the score for Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin (2013)? The title track resonates with the 90s IDM sound I love so much. Do you find you have a dialogue between your film and solo music production work?
GIONG: My memory is not good, but I’ll try to remember! Director Jia first sent me a rough cut of the whole film and used email to indicate the passages that needed music. I am in Taiwan, and he is in Beijing. He communicated in emails. Later, during the final mixing, I went to a recording studio in Shanghai to confirm the final music and ambient sounds with the Director Jia and the sound engineer.
When making soundtracks, I listen to the actor’s dialogue and make the final adjustments. I keep my subjectivity to a minimum and focus solely on the creative needs of the film and the director. I find creativity in the seldom considered relationship between an actor’s dialogue and the music.
NOTEBOOK: Is the synthesis of traditional and experimental sound an important aspect to your film work? For example in the track “A Cursed Paper Man,” from Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin (2015) soundtrack, you stay true to traditional sounds but with a contemporary ambience that doesn’t inhibit the period backdrop. Is it hard to strike this balance?
GIONG: I hope so, I'd like to use this style in scoring music, but a soundtrack's purpose is to serve the film and the director, and the decision ultimately depends on the director’s wishes. Of course, I have my own thinking and do suggest the direction of the music. To balance traditional music and experimental music is not easy but this is the most interesting challenge.
NOTEBOOK: Your scores have a temporal atmosphere, for example the beautiful melancholy guitar of “Lullaby” from Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018). There's a contemplation of memory and time. Are these concepts you think about when working on a score?
GIONG: Yes, I often use this feeling and concept to think about people's situation in time and space
Composer Lim Giong
NOTEBOOK: Do you approach films with different subject matter differently? Was there a different process for historical drama like The Assassin than a stripped back documentary like Huang Hui-chen’s Small Talk (2016)?
GIONG: It would be best to make music using processes that I’m good at or enjoy, but in the end I still have to communicate with the director and respect his decision. Sometimes there are moments when I can be reluctant to use different ways of thinking but my attitude towards the subject matter of different movies is always be the same: I try to challenge myself and see if I can enter the psychological state of the characters in the movie, or the imagination of the space-time environment of any story or of any type of director.
NOTEBOOK: How has it felt to revisit an earlier era of your film music during this time through the Pure Person VA?
GIONG: Both familiar and unfamiliar—because my memory is not good, I can rarely recall the past. Because of this V/A album, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the past and it has reminded me that I am old.
NOTEBOOK: There’s a dreamlike quality specific to film music, even after the viewer has finished watching, a score stays with us. Pure Person has resonated with so many in this way. Do you feel cinema is a place where reflection can take place sonically?
GIONG: Of course, a movie can be like a book. Like anything of artistic value, It is not just entertainment.
NOTEBOOK: What is it like collaborating with Hou Hsiao-hsien and Jia Zhangke, how do their approaches differ?
GIONG: The two of them are not of the same generation and they have a difference of twenty years or so. Director Hou also lives in Taiwan with me. Director Jia lives in China so he is essentially different. Director Hou is my benefactor in my career and my elder. When I work with Director Hou I have a mentality of wanting to repay my gratitude. Working with Director Hou gives me greater freedom. Sometimes after music is given to him, I don’t know which part of the film he will use it for. With Director Jia, since he is of the same generation as me, like a friend, he will clearly indicate which part of the film the music should be matched in. He will also clearly explain the mood and the environmental background of the characters. This is the biggest difference between them.
NOTEBOOK: Were there any particular films that inspired you to become involved in cinema?
GIONG: Because I’m afraid that my soundtrack will have someone else’s shadow, I rarely watch other people’s works. Even when I watch a movie, I am restrained - I don’t pay too much attention to the music. Analyzing music takes the fun out of watching movies and I am easily influenced by others.
NOTEBOOK: Where have you drawn inspiration from in these times of lockdown and confinement?
GIONG: For people in prison, the freedom of imagination cannot be kept in prison. The mentality is important. When people are in the heart of quiet and loneliness, they can stimulate imagination.
(Important to note that Taiwan never entered a lockdown or had any quarantine so for this question he took a more philosophical approach)
NOTEBOOK: During this difficult year, discovering cinema from the past has been one of my consolations. Has the recent Pure Persons project inspired you to revisit past cinema, either your own or other works?
GIONG: I personally like old ideas or traditional things. I often read ancient books on Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and also listen to the ancient tunes of aboriginal people or early Taiwanese folk songs. In October 2019, I helped make the soundtrack for two early black and white films in Taiwan. One was in 1964 and the other was in 1932. Because of this album A Pure Person, I have had more interviews and it has made me vaguely recall some personal affairs from 20 years ago... so I called up an old friend.