2016.04.16 Hebe Marie Claire Interview – Back To Basics
Posted On April 24, 2016
Hebe Tien Back To Basics
(Translated by the-tiens.com – Please credit back to this site if you will like to re-post, in part or in full.)
Hebe entered the studios in a loose woven jacket and a pair of jeans, casually dressed and relaxed, just like a sweet girl-next-door. She wore no make-up, with a pair of sparkling eyes that seemed to be able to gleam into one’s heart, and had on a warm smile, because she knew today’s shoot was one that crosses time, bringing her back to her pure basics as a young teen Tien Fu-Chen.
Despite having earned a reputation in the Mandopop scene, there was no need for that of a female celebrity’s glamour parade; she never chased for the headlines, hardly had anything to do with love scandals; she has no ambition to fight for people’s attention, like a recluse in her music, she silently toils in her own light; having found her own voice, in the vast fjords of Iceland; carved her own path, in the busy streets of Taipei. This petite little girl had only one thing in mind, to sing on the stage she loves, for the full 15 years since her debut, and never had this wavered nor changed.
This year, as her fourth album is scheduled for release, she becomes more indifferent, gone are her sharp and distinct likes and dislikes of an Aries, less are made of her character or attempts to define the indie path, what remains is the best and most beautiful self. Confident, carefree and soft, like a bourbon whisky which has come of age in the oak barrel, only the sweetness remains.
Let us trace down her roots, just like the movie Our Times, headed back to Hsinchu in the 90s, and take a peek into how the teenage Tien Fu-Chen was like.
A Rebel at Heart
During the times where CD players and walk-man were a thing, while her friends were all listening to Mandopop, the young Hebe sat at her corner seat in class, spacing out as her earphones played out music from Radiohead. In that campus world, dating, listening to English bands and playing skateboard were her greatest attempts at rebelling.
Thinking back on those times, Hebe said she was “a secret rebel at heart, only defying quietly, but on the surface she maintains that of a good student.” Afraid of troubles, timid and a dislike for making her parents worry, her character become that of a good and obedient student, coupled with her delicate and pretty looks, she almost always became the class monitor at school. And it did not stop there, she was also the class union’s activity chair, a host, a standard-bearer and member of the symphonic band. The talented her was popular and a figure at school and was often a natural leader in the eyes of her teachers and classmates. Contrary to that image, the personal side of her however, only lived for love, reluctant to care about anything else.
“On the surface I’m like an elite, but truth is I’m nothing like it. I will sneak my phone to school, just to text my boyfriend; after school I am supposed to be doing homework and preparing for exams, but I will be hogging the phone as I was dating, to the extent that my mom will turn off the mains of the phone and shout – ‘Tien Fu-Chen! When are you hanging up?’, then there goes the mains for the phone. Because of this, our phone bills were always very shocking, I still recall pushing the blame to my brother, then my mom couldn’t take it and took out the bill, matching the calls line by line to figure out who made the individual calls. Back then, I could really do anything for love.”
My School Days Were All About Dating
In the high school days, Hebe was a goody-two-shoes, but beyond that surface, she was crazy for love. “I think from the time my hormones started acting up, I already had a secret crush. During junior high I didn’t date, but only had classmates which I will pass notes to, the real relationships began in high school, where I dated my senior starting the lower half of Year 1, and that marked the start of my love life. My whole high school was about dating.”
It is hard to imagine that of Hebe, to be so crazy for love in high school, considering she has hardly any scandal or love rumours now. “To be frank, for someone who enjoys dating so much during school days, is it really possible to be single after debut? Life is not just about work, there is still love, family, fun, food (yes, eating is very important), friends, all of these needs to be developed in a balanced way, only then will it be possible to result in someone who is complete character-wise, like myself.”
Apart from dating, joining the skateboarding club perhaps was her other rebellious act. “I’m considered as an obedient student, never have I skipped school, but I played skateboard in high school. Skateboarding is actually quite dangerous, you can get injured easily. My family is quite strict and conservative; my mom taught me never to sit on the floor since young, I had to be clean and proper like a girl, so I always felt that my physical being is a gift from my parents, but back then I really enjoyed the thrill and speed of skateboarding.”
Going On TV Was The Craziest Thing Ever
Who would have thought that skateboarding became a stepping stone for Hebe’s entry into the entertainment circle. Her first participation in the “Guess Guess Guess” program was due to her skateboarding friends from other schools, who encouraged her to take part. “Our group was one that consisted of more active and extroverted girls, and I was the funniest of them all, so they made me take the bus up to Taipei and take part in the “Humorous Pretty Girl” contest, then we could also go play in Taipei. After going on TV, an aunt told my mom, “Your daughter is so pretty, why did she have to make a pig’s face on TV? She can sing really well, why don’t she join a competition?” That year during the summer holidays, I secretly worked part-time without my mom’s knowledge at a beancurd stall, those that sold cold drinks, soy bean curd and stuff. When she found out, she encouraged me to join the ‘Universe 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Contest’ and that changed my life.”
By chance she went on TV, then onward to join a singing competition, and finally, got selected by the record company to sign on. This high-school girl from a conservative family in Hsinchu, who objected her wearing any clothes that bares her shoulders back then, became a member of S.H.E. From being an innocent high-school student to becoming part of a complicated entertainment circle, she too had a phase-in period.
“When I was younger, I lived in my own world. I viewed the world very subjectively, perhaps because I was not socialised, it was not easy for me to change my views or beliefs solely because of someone or something. Until I joined this industry, only then did I learn and it opened my eyes to the world. Through the camera lens, audience, my sisters, co-workers, only then did I start to familiarize myself with the surroundings, to recognise and learn about who I really am, it was during that time that I saw how the world really was.”
Beginning A New Chapter
Hebe was never an ambitious person since young, the only job she ever thought of, was as a boss of a salted fried chicken stall. A story lies behind her choice. “Our family loved to eat the salted fried chicken and even gave it a codename called ‘enjoy’. So my mom would ask me – do you want to enjoy tonight? – which means she was asking if I wanted to have some salted fried chicken. Going home, getting to sit on the floor and watch videos with my family whilst eating the salted fried chicken is the greatest joy every weekend. That, to me, was the happiest thing.”
Who would have known that this girl who had only dreamed of being an owner of a salted fried chicken stall, would have to leave her simple life during the season of the blooming phoenix flowers in June, to move straight into a dormitory in Taipei, alongside Ella and Selina, and formed S.H.E. Back then she was excited and over the moon, like a horse with no reins, being far away from her parents, leaving behind her school life and her home-town Hsinchu, beginning a brand new chapter in Taipei.
“Frankly speaking, I don’t have a special affection or liking for student life. Teen movies and uniform parties don’t excite me, although I was recently moved by the movie ‘Our Times’, but I did not long for those days; the only exception was wanting to sing the theme song. Being a student is really tiring, having to wake so early everyday, studying and preparing for exams the whole day, no way am I going through it again. My character is to keep moving forth,” said Hebe, with a smile.
The Changes And Insistence of Tien Fu-Chen
After stepping foot into the entertainment industry, her tenacity grew and she loosened up a little. “In my teenage years, I was someone who views everything as absolute and definitive; right is right and wrong is wrong, only now do I understand that there are many mediating and middle values between right and wrong, the range in-between is really wide, this is where I changed the most. Back then I often felt why can’t this be done that way? Why must you think that of me? I had a lot of questions in my heart. As I grew and matured, I learned that because everyone is so different, only then could we have such a diversified world.” Tien Fu-Chen has grown happier as the days passed, and she finally learned to let go, to compromise, she has also learned how to keep away from unhappiness and to deal with situations that runs contrary to her wishes.
Media and fans familiar with her will know, Hebe’s best trait is precisely because she maintains the same sincerity she has for all the things she loves, including her attitude towards others and herself, there is not a trace of hypocrisy. “I will not lie to myself, neither do I want to waste time on that, this is something that has never changed from the start. The only difference is that I used to be more blunt, whereas now I will be more cautious with the way I put things across, even though I am expressing the same thoughts, but I will try to make it more comfortable for everyone.”
Because she is someone very real and genuine, she hopes the same for her music, to genuinely move people. Currently preparing for her fourth album, she shares that music is like her diary and music notes are like the words unspoken, recording her thoughts and emotions through every stage in her life. “It has been two years since the third album, now when I look back into the lyrics of the previous albums, I don’t feel so strongly for them as before. For example I sang ‘Contradicting’ at the concert yesterday, at the time of the recording it was a period of time where I felt really conflicted and strained, so the song was recorded with a very tensed and dramatic feeling. Now when I sing it, it (the feeling) is totally different from back then, my songs are like capturing those moments of my emotions back then.”
She blinked and continued, “perhaps in the future when I look back at each and every one of my albums, it will be like a diary for my life and experiences, very truthfully sharing my experiences with my fans, some people may have resonance at that moment, perhaps not now, but some time in future, it may bring back those feelings again.”
The Highest Realm of Being Poised
After “Insignificance”, Tien describes the two years that followed as “Peace”, to the extent that she herself felt her peaceful demeanour to be a bit unlike an artiste. “As an artiste you have to be slightly more aggressive, then will you be dramatic and have the likes of an artiste. Although I worry if I am very boring, but I accept that this is my current self, I won’t pretend to be aggressive just to find a standing point in the industry, because this is how I think and feel at my current state. So I really feel very bad, every time the reporters have a really tough time interviewing me, because I really have no points for them to write on,” said Hebe with a laugh.
Despite being boring and at peace with being uninteresting, she began to accept things she could not comprehend in the past, calmly dealing with every choice presented to her at work and in life, believing that every choice and option has its reason for existence. “Now I feel as if everything is okay, it feels like I’m becoming a sage, it is like a phase I have never experienced before.”
Just like her life philosophy of Peace, she is taking it easy towards matters of the heart. “If I meet someone suitable and worthy of marriage then I will marry, if I meet someone who makes me feel comfortable, happy and carefree, but the relationship lacks the urge or impulsiveness to marry, there is no need to force it as if to complete a set goal.”
“I think my current state is great, just got to be slightly more driven, because I tend to be too lenient with myself both at work and in life, I should push myself a bit more, but not too much, just a little. I still feel you need to leave some time to enjoy life.” Be it taking care of plants, flower arrangement, spacing out, surfing web, listening to music, drinking, enjoying great food…, all these things are her most irreplaceable joys, little things that makes up her current state of Peace.
Story credit: http://www.marieclaire.com.tw/celebrity/story/23007/page_1
2 Comments
太谢谢你了！330 永远是我的Moli =v=
不客氣！