2013.12.02 Marie Claire Interview/Photoshoot (Updated Full News)

Posted On December 2, 2013

Marie Claire Taiwan has featured Hebe as the cover girl for their double covers December edition. You can view both versions of the covers and some shots from the photo shoot below. They have also released a clip where they asked Hebe about what she felt, rebellion is about.
 
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To Hebe, she feels that daring to be the true self in which you are deep inside is probably the most rebellious state anyone can be, as this calls for a need for one to break through all the perceived restrictions that the world has on anyone.
 
Source: Marie Claire

 
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She may be the green leaf that supports her two great sisters in an idol group, but when she is on the stage alone, her small body frame has such great power within. She may look cold and distant, but the moment she speaks, it is one of utmost sincerity and honesty, Tien Fu-Chen is just like the volcanoes in Iceland, cold on the outside with a burning interior that melts anyone’s hearts.
 
On the glaciers in Iceland, she dons in sheer black akin a black queen, with a voice so ethereal and a rich music arrangement, she sings about the world’s vast magnificence and the human race’s minute insignificance. She walks with nonchalance on the icy grounds for the music video shoot, lost sense of both space and time with her limbs freezing to the point of numbness and incapable of movement. In the studios, she sports a stylish hairstyle, dons in trendy accessories and clothes, changing positions and actions smoothly according to the changes in music. She can be indecisive, she can be rebellious. she can be sexy and she can also be so full of attitude. But you will know that all of the above are not her true self. Beneath the glamorous outfits and fancy makeup, you can imagine the real Tien Fu-Chen, wearing a pair of jeans, in a shirt and knitwear with no makeup on her face, so natural and refreshing she resembles a university student.
 
You may be familiar with S.H.E, but you may not know the real Tien Fu-Chen.
 
2010, Tien released her first solo album <To Hebe> as a ‘super newbie’ and won much acclaim. Two years later, her second album <My Love> was nominated for 7 Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, reaffirming her solo singing career and skills. Her songs became hot KTV hits that stayed in the charts for long, an achievement on par with S.H.E. Even with her success, she remains low-key in the entertainment circle, so low profiled that sometimes people forgot that she is one of the top female singers in the Mandopop scene. As her two good friends Selina and Ella progressed into the next stage of their lives with love, marriage and a close encounter with death due to an accident, Tien is the least worried about getting hitched despite being named as a golden bachelorette , brushing aside the rumors in the industry. She continues in her own pace, slowly with no hurry, using music to heal both her heart and the listeners’ hearts.
 
As compared to Selina’s sweetie pie character and Ella’s straightforward personality, S.H.E’s Hebe gave others a distant feeling, perhaps due to her cold features, or in part due to the lack of confidence in her character. With her sisters by her side, she seems to reside in the comfort of hiding behind both of them. In truth, the same goes when she is off-screen, often playing the role of a listener, quietly taking in the stories of Selina and Ella’s lives, listening to what they have to share, at times laughing loudly and other times, downhearted. “When the three of us are together, I am like the green leaf among the flowers, a supporting role, they know better what the media and audience wants. Selina and Ella’s characters are more expressive and extroverted. In comparison, I’m not great in expressing myself, but since my debut album was released in 2010, I was kind of, forced to express myself.”
 
And so the Tien Fu-Chen who was forced to begin speaking for herself, kept away the name of Hebe, put away her sisters’ laughter and witty remarks, stood alone on stage and began baring her true self ever so openly to everyone. That was also one of her main motives in releasing a solo album.
 
With both her sisters entering into the next stage of their life, Tien is undaunted by the figure 30. Instead, she is clearer of what she wants. Her third solo album <Insignificance> is like her journey of growth, documenting her singing career of ten over years, on how she learned to be more compromising and accommodating, giving her gratitude back after so many conflicts and introspection. “Others may think I have a rebellious appearance and so I will handle things more aggressively, but actually I’m not. In fact, I am someone lacking in confidence, so since young I often self-reflect, especially as I grow older and understand how big the world actually is, the more I felt how insignificant and minute I was.”
 
Off-screen, Tien is often embarrassed and shy. Take for example after reading her own album’s press release, she questioned if it was really suitable for the press release to be written this way, with such strong words being used. “My colleagues will always tell me, you must have confidence. But I’m someone who is not skilled at promoting, I am very shy and thin-skinned,  even if I really find it to be a great thing deep inside, I am still too shy to say it. I’m not sure if my education since young has a part to play, or if it is just part of the me as a countryside Hakka, I get very awkward. I guess the way I express myself is kind of flat, nothing fancy and so incapable of attracting everyone’s attention, I just can’t be like Jay Chou and say this album is freaking awesome. So as an artiste, I tend to lose out.”
 
It is however, precisely this low-key and modest personality of hers that earns her support from her friends and fans alike. These positive energy are what helped her find her footing and meaning in the chaotic world. “I used to be someone who viewed things very absolute, it’s either right or wrong, there is no grey area. Until these few years, I started to learn and understand the principle of forgiving others and forgiving myself. Humans have a very delicate relationship, everyone has a different opinion of deciphering a same thing and it is absolutely normal, so you don’t have to be too serious about things. As they say, you lose when you are take things too seriously. There is really no absolute in the perception of matters, when you grow up you will realise that everything is essentially grey. Especially when you place yourself in the Universe, you will realise that all of these are not important at all, because human beings are so small.”
 
Her team headed to Iceland in September for the music video and photo shoot. In the music video, she recites her favourite Polish poet, Wislawa Szymborska’s <Under One Small Star>. “I remember it was Lunar New Year then. I was at my Hsinchu home, reading her poems in the middle of the night when I came across this poem and I was shocked and blown away. I wanted to use the concept and imagery of this poem. Even though Wislawa sometimes uses an ironic or really sharp way of expressing things`, she actually has great love and concern for the world and thus the choice of words and ability to write such poems. I felt that this was similar to me, sometimes I may speak with such tone or manner, but the truth is I really love the world very much, just that I do not know how to express it or choose not to express it at all.”
 
With <Under One Small Star> as the main concept behind the entire album, the choice to film in Iceland was to convey the extensiveness of life, the astounding beauty of nature and greatness of the Universe. The other reason for choosing Iceland, was the similarities it had with Tien. “The geography of Iceland is such that apart from having vast glaciers , it also has volcanoes, geothermal energies and hot springs. At first thought, people will associate Iceland with the cold ice mountains and glaciers, that is the same with most people’s impression of me. But if you observed carefully, you will realise that I can be a very warm person.”
 
And so, Wislawa Szmborska, Iceland and Tien Fu-Chen, three seemingly unassociated organic compounds, crossed roads for the first time.
 
In the month of September, where Northern Lights are not in season, Tien very fortunately, saw the enchanting lights in the icy cold land. “We went in September, the Northern Lights season is usually after November. However, on our last working day in Iceland while we were wrapping up the shoot, I saw the Northern Lights on board the bus! My stylist shared that his friend went thrice, but never saw it for even once, so we never expected that we could see it there. It was very clear, it kept moving and was so vast, ìt lasted for a very long time, like 7-11 (the convenience store). The changes in the light and fluidity in its movements, along with the clouds that floated by, it was really beautiful. At that moment, the pessimistic me actually thought, have I just used up all my luck on the Northern Lights for this album? But on the other hand, I felt that sighting it is simply a good sign and great start to this album. I think half my lifetime is being used on the contradicting struggles I have between my optimistic and pessimistic thinking.”
 
For the past three to four years, during her release of the first and second albums, Tien’s life had undergone great changes. “A colleague suddenly passed away, a musician I knew died in a car accident, Selina’s accident during her filming earlier on and some changes in my person life… My world is actually very small, I am surrounded by these very people in my little world. When the world you come to know of is so different from the one you imagined, I think it is a very huge impact and it shatters you, you have to rebuild everything. I have a clear-cut character, and when I realised so many things in the world are never, so definite, the impact in me is really huge. So the comfortable state you see that I am in now, is actually attained after these few years of coming to terms with myself.”
 
In face of the changes and being crushed, the only thing that she has as support to last her till the end is her rationality. She never opts for an intense confrontation, understanding the median that everyone is able to accept. In this absurd and seemingly crazy world, this seems to be the best advantage, but at the same time, it is also the greatest weakness. “I’m a very extreme person. My rational side will suppress the feelings that are on the verge of erupting. Because you are too rational, you know too well what others need and want, and you forget what you need, so the fire within will often burn yourself.”
 
Being such a logical person, Tien, despite her quirkiness at times, is not a rebellious girl. “I think the deepest rebellion is to be the true you of your innermost soul. That may be different from most’s imagination or your parent’s hopes for you and the education you received at school. But you have to dare to seek and learn, put up a positive rebellion and have the courage to bear the responsibilities of your own rebellion. When you want freedom, you will in fact need to become more responsible, jump out of restrictions and constraints and have a huge ability to take on the greater consequences.”
 
With so many inner conflicts and struggles and being crushed externally, the Tiien Fu-Chen now is more confident than she was and clearer where her abilities lies, she is a woman who is like a girl. At 30 years old, this girl still has passion and enthusiasm for many things in this world, hoping to change something with her music. “I still feel that this world is full of hope. Like some of the trending news topics, I am not totally immune or numb to it, but I’m able to view it with more understanding and tolerance.”
 
To her, the happiest times she had in these few years was during this year’s S.H.E’s 2gether 4ever concert. “I was really unsure if this concert was ever possible, if Selina was willing to face the stage again, if the fans were willing to wait so long for us, after 12 years have they fallen for another artiste or singer? But after the concert tours, I realised that the rallying force among us is really very strong. Although many things have changed and time has passed, but the things we believed in is still there. When we look at each other in the eye, our communication, it is still so simple and direct. It reminds me of the times we first knew each other, how happy and carefree we were, and how we supported and cheered each other on for all these years.”
 
Be it S.H.E’s concert or the goddess that came from within the glaciers in the latest solo album, the real Tien Fu-Chen does not have many desires in this ostentatious world. In a normal day, she will ride as a pillion on her brother’s bike,  enjoying her breath of freedom and buying noodles from a stall without taking off her helmet, else she will stay home, whip up some simple dishes and the day passes. This is her world, her small but true happiness.