01Profile
A Yao Xiao Min Photo
Yao Xiao Min
Musician — Taiwan
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Yao Xiao Min, Taiwan.
What do you do?
Guitarist & Vocal of WonFu.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
The best Gig I ever went to was Coachella 2009 with Paul McCartney in Nippon Budōkan where I also met Pizzicato Five’s vocal Nomiya Maki.
Which subcultures have influenced you?
Mod culture. Won Fu always liked retro-style music, like one of our song called <Liang ge Qiaqia Hao>.
At the time we published the song, Mr. Kato (Hisashi Kato from The Collectors) was in Taiwan. When he saw Won Fu's music video on TV, he liked it so much, he went to the record shop and bought our album. He contacted me by email and recommended Won Fu should perform in Japan. After we met, we became really good friends and since he would go to Mods Mayday and really likes the culture, he would talk to me about the bands, the clothing and the music. It was then, that I realized that I really like the culture too.
Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
Wonfu's Halloween. Every year there’s a Won Fu Halloween event and members of Won Fu spend a lot of time to deciding on the dress code for the party as well as creating a playlist for the day. During these events, we are always surprised by our fans and their costumes. Won Fu’s Halloween parties have a great atmosphere and it gives us the feeling that everybody can relieve all their pressure, including us on stage, the fans off stage as well as the staff. Everybody would just feel free and be themselves with a kind of "maybe I don’t do it usually, but if I do it now, it will be cool and I always wanted to do it" kind of attitude.
If you could be on the line-up with any bands in history?
The Beatles (of course…).
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I'd like to sing Karaoke with Amy Whinehouse.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Edison Lighthouse. This song is also recommended by Mr. Kato of The Collectors. I liked it as soon as I heard it. I found that although Mr. Kato loves Mods music, he also likes many other types of music like AKB48's song ‘Love is Fortune Cookie’.
02Playlist
04Playlist Notes
How did you select the tracks for this playlist?
Songs I keep listening to.
The first track you played on repeat?
‘Wo Xi Huan Feng Kuang’ by Zhang Yu Sheng. I liked to listen to this song all the time when I was a child, this song affected me a lot. It has a happy rhythm and melody and good lyrics. Zhang Yu Sheng is a very down on earth and authentic musician I have always admired him. He died in a car accident at a very young age and I was sad for a long time. Won Fu had the opportunity to enter the same record company as him, which made me very happy and was looking forward to becoming an authentic musician like him.
A song that defines the teenage you?
‘Alright’ by Supergrass. When this song was released, I would hear it many times on MTV every day. At that time, I hadn't started playing the guitar yet, and there was no band for me. But every time I heard this song, I was very happy. Back in the day, it wasn’t as easy as today in terms of listening to music over the internet, so I would cherish every song I could listen to.
One record you would keep forever?
‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
‘The Lazy Song’ by Bruno Mars. When I was a child, I used to tell my dad that I was bored. My dad would answer me, "Being bored is good, because you have nothing to worry about". So I cherish the lyrics of this song when I’m bored. It makes me remember what my father told me.
Best song to turn up loud?
‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
‘Wannabe’ by Spice Girls. The interesting story of this song was that I started to like rock music at the time. I really like Nirvana, I think Nirvana’s music is the coolest in the world. But one day when I heard 'Wannabe' on the radio I immediately fell in love with this song, I also feel that we should be open to listen to and favour a wide range of genres just like Mr. Kato. From romantic songs, Mods, Rock, Beatles, The Who and AKB48.
Any new bands you are listening to now?
Sunset Rollercoaster from Taiwan.
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Yao Xiao Min, Taiwan.
What do you do?
Guitarist & Vocal of WonFu.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
The best Gig I ever went to was Coachella 2009 with Paul McCartney in Nippon Budōkan where I also met Pizzicato Five’s vocal Nomiya Maki.
Which subcultures have influenced you?
Mod culture. Won Fu always liked retro-style music, like one of our song called <Liang ge Qiaqia Hao>.
At the time we published the song, Mr. Kato (Hisashi Kato from The Collectors) was in Taiwan. When he saw Won Fu's music video on TV, he liked it so much, he went to the record shop and bought our album. He contacted me by email and recommended Won Fu should perform in Japan. After we met, we became really good friends and since he would go to Mods Mayday and really likes the culture, he would talk to me about the bands, the clothing and the music. It was then, that I realized that I really like the culture too.
Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
Wonfu's Halloween. Every year there’s a Won Fu Halloween event and members of Won Fu spend a lot of time to deciding on the dress code for the party as well as creating a playlist for the day. During these events, we are always surprised by our fans and their costumes. Won Fu’s Halloween parties have a great atmosphere and it gives us the feeling that everybody can relieve all their pressure, including us on stage, the fans off stage as well as the staff. Everybody would just feel free and be themselves with a kind of "maybe I don’t do it usually, but if I do it now, it will be cool and I always wanted to do it" kind of attitude.
If you could be on the line-up with any bands in history?
The Beatles (of course…).
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I'd like to sing Karaoke with Amy Whinehouse.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Edison Lighthouse. This song is also recommended by Mr. Kato of The Collectors. I liked it as soon as I heard it. I found that although Mr. Kato loves Mods music, he also likes many other types of music like AKB48's song ‘Love is Fortune Cookie’.
04Playlist Notes
How did you select the tracks for this playlist?
Songs I keep listening to.
The first track you played on repeat?
‘Wo Xi Huan Feng Kuang’ by Zhang Yu Sheng. I liked to listen to this song all the time when I was a child, this song affected me a lot. It has a happy rhythm and melody and good lyrics. Zhang Yu Sheng is a very down on earth and authentic musician I have always admired him. He died in a car accident at a very young age and I was sad for a long time. Won Fu had the opportunity to enter the same record company as him, which made me very happy and was looking forward to becoming an authentic musician like him.
A song that defines the teenage you?
‘Alright’ by Supergrass. When this song was released, I would hear it many times on MTV every day. At that time, I hadn't started playing the guitar yet, and there was no band for me. But every time I heard this song, I was very happy. Back in the day, it wasn’t as easy as today in terms of listening to music over the internet, so I would cherish every song I could listen to.
One record you would keep forever?
‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
‘The Lazy Song’ by Bruno Mars. When I was a child, I used to tell my dad that I was bored. My dad would answer me, "Being bored is good, because you have nothing to worry about". So I cherish the lyrics of this song when I’m bored. It makes me remember what my father told me.
Best song to turn up loud?
‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
‘Wannabe’ by Spice Girls. The interesting story of this song was that I started to like rock music at the time. I really like Nirvana, I think Nirvana’s music is the coolest in the world. But one day when I heard 'Wannabe' on the radio I immediately fell in love with this song, I also feel that we should be open to listen to and favour a wide range of genres just like Mr. Kato. From romantic songs, Mods, Rock, Beatles, The Who and AKB48.
Any new bands you are listening to now?
Sunset Rollercoaster from Taiwan.