The Western bands who sing in Mandarin and earn a Chinese following
With its huge untapped fan base, many Western acts have tried to crack China’s music scene in recent years. A handful have succeeded by mastering the Chinese language, among them UK duo Transition, who are big in Taiwan
For any Western band looking to enter the Asian music scene, China and its huge, untapped fan base is an irresistible draw – especially if the artist is willing to grapple with the language.
For 12 years, British rock band Transition have been carving out a niche for themselves in Taiwan’s music industry, while inspiring people learning Mandarin in the West with their original songs, written and performed in the world’s most widely spoken tongue.
This month the duo were named an “Outstanding Contributor to UK-China Relations 2018” for services to cross-cultural music at the Hurun Awards, held in London by the Hurun Report – a Shanghai-based publisher whose annual China rich list has seen the organisation likened to Forbes in the United States.
“We were honoured to be recognised for what we’re doing,” says guitarist Jesse Edbrooke, 35, who founded the group with his brother, Josh, 33, who plays drums. “It puts us more on the map.”
Having long played music together, the two were gigging around the UK when a large group of university students from Taiwan came to one of their shows in Bristol, a city in the west of England, and encouraged the band to take their chances in Asia.
Josh began researching performance opportunities and the pair ended up landing a slot on the main stage at the 2005 edition of Spring Scream, a large outdoor music festival held each April in Kenting, Taiwan.
“It was seat-of-your pants stuff,” says Jesse. “We had no money for flights, but decided to go for it. We weren’t sure if the festival really existed or if we were going to get mugged at the airport. We didn’t know anything about Taiwan, but took the leap and never looked back. We dived straight into Asian culture: bubble tea, stinky tofu, karaoke … we loved it.”