Members of Taiwanese pop-rock group Sodagreen are starting to dress like pop stars these days. Their songs are catchier, their fans are mostly screaming high school girls and, on stage, diminutive lead singer Wu Qing-feng has taken to playing the queen and carrying on like a television talk-show host.
For anyone who has yet to see them play live, it's hard to believe that back in 2004, they were considered the best 'indie' band on the island by the jurors of its only real competition for non-mainstream music, the Taiwan Indie Rock Awards.
Asked what it means for them to go pop, they are glib about it. 'There are no divisions in music. There's no such thing as mainstream and non-mainstream,' writes guitarist He Jing-yang, answering an e-mail on behalf of the band. 'As long as there's a stage for us to perform on, we'll go play.'
Next week, Sodagreen will be in Hong Kong for two gigs, playing for at least two hours in a set that includes all the hits from their three albums, such as Little Love Song and Incomparable Beauty.
The group started off like any other college band. They formed about seven years ago in the hills south of Taipei on the campus of National Chengchi University, a school that's produced an uncanny string of crossover talent, including singer-songwriter stars Sandee Chan and Cheer Chen. As early as 2003, they were spotted by producer Lin Wei-zhe while on stage during their first stab at the Indie Rock Awards. The band's first album came out in 2005.
Since releasing their third and best-received album, Incomparable Beauty, about six months ago, Sodagreen have undergone a quantum shift in terms of fame. Last November, they became the first 'indie artist' - the term 'small-label artist' feels much better in describing them - to fill the island capital's largest indoor concert venue, the 10,500-seat Taipei Arena.