Taiwan band Hohak

Before arriving in Beijing for the concert Rice and Love at Peking University on Sunday, Taiwan band Hohak's lead singer Chen Kuan-Yu was farming in a small village in East Taiwan called Wan'an.

It is this village that changed Chen's life and inspired the group's latest album, also called Rice and Love.

"If you go to Wan'an at this time, (you will find that) the rice is just turning from green to yellow, making for very beautiful scenery," he says.

When Chen visited Wan'an for the first time a few years ago, he stayed at a family guesthouse and worked in the fields with the family, an experience that was in sharp contrast to growing up in the industrial city of Jhongli.

"Farming gives me a feeling of settling down, and I greatly enjoy watching the crops grow," he says.

He also became close to the family, who told him he was welcome to room in anytime for free.

Since then Chen has visited frequently, with Wan'an being just a 6-hour train journey from his home in Jhongli. He visits at least once a month, staying - and farming - for 4 or 5 days at a time.

Country life is the direct inspiration for the songs in Rice and Love. "If I had not been wounded, I would be faraway now, but this is good, for I can stay home to help," he sings in If I Had Not Been.

"Stamp it. Stamp the weeds deep into the field to be fertilizer. Stamp worries and depression deep into the field to be fertilizer," read the lyrics of another song called Stamping the Rice Field.

"I always wished to find a place that would inspire my music and my life," Chen says. "As soon as I came here, I knew I had found it. I have never expressed such affection for land in any of my previous compositions."

At their Beijing concert, Hohak performed songs from the album against a backdrop of scenes from Wan'an village.

It is difficult to define the style of Hohak, which means "hospitality". Founded mostly by members of the now-defunct group Labor Exchange, which was known for its emphasis on social issues, Hohak's music is more relaxed and "lohas", or lifestyle-oriented. They use both Western instruments such as guitar and bass, and traditional Chinese instruments such as the huqin (two-stringed fiddle). One can also find influences of traditional folk, bossa nova, and even African blues.

"Their music sounds rich and has a distinctly earthy flavor," says Xie Li, a young social worker after attending Hohak's concert.

The cover of Hohak's new album "Rice and Love."

Chen's taste of farming life has not only inspired his compositions, but has also made him an advocate of organic agriculture. Rice and Love has actually become a movement, with Chen and 20 friends forming a group to buy fertilizer-free rice directly from the farmers in Wan'an.

"By doing so, we can be sure of how the rice we eat is grown, and we can support farmers who farm in a way that protects the earth," Chen says. "Farmers will also know who is eating the rice they grow. This makes for an emotional link not provided by the market."

Chen has influenced many people around him, including staff of Hohak's record company Wind Music, many of whom are beginning to support organic farming. He hopes there will eventually be 10,000 small groups such as the "Rice and Love" group in Taiwan.

Hohak has been nominated for "best band" at the 20th Golden Melody Awards, which will be announced on June 27. Chen says if the band wins, it will use the prize money to donate a rice thresher to Wan'an village.

Hohak will give a second performance of Love and Rice at 8 pm tomorrow, at Star Live (www.thestarlive.com), near the Yonghegong subway station, Beijing.

(China Daily May 27, 2009)