TYLER SHAW《LEAN ON ME》 加拿大華裔歌手葉銘恆《依靠我》
Venue: The Hazelton Hotel, Toronto
Art Director: Deborah Lau-Yu @ Fête Chinoise
Producer: Jennifer Lau @ Fête Chinoise · Production Assistant: Lily Yang
Photographer: Christie Vuong · Stylist: Ashley Galang
Make Up & Hair: Mark Gonzales for Charlotte Tilbury
Written by Jennifer Lau · Translated by Jane Li · Edited by Deborah Lau-Yu
“我看見翠綠的樹，還有艷紅的玫瑰。我看見它們為了我和你而綻放。我心中不禁想着，多美好的世界啊。”對扎根於多倫多、加拿大籍華裔並獲得白金銷量的音樂家—泰勒．
邵（Tyler Shaw）而言，這首路易斯．阿姆斯特朗 (Louis Armstrong) 的經典作品是迄今為止最能代表他一生的歌曲。他把生活拾當的描述為時而“快節奏的舞曲”，時而
“慢節奏的民謠”，也有時是古典交響曲。但於他來說只有Armstrong這“What a Wonderful World”的曲目最能觸動心弦，令我們反思。社交隔離政策期間，他特別珍惜這世界，常懷感謝和欣賞之心。Tyler自認為是具有“古老靈魂”的人—欣然接受自己的文化背景，並在2020年通過網路平台與觀眾建立聯繫，這些都證明他是聰明過人的。而且他的目光是在亞洲市場。
A Name to Last a Lifetime 一個終生難忘的名字
Many fans might not realize that Tyler Shaw is actually of mixed heritage — his father is Chinese and his mother is Polish-Ukrainian. His Chinese name: Yip Ming Hung (葉銘恆). His father once explained that his name means “engraved” — something written in stone, something that will last a lifetime. Tyler’s appreciation for his name has only increased with each passing day. He reveals his lifelong dream for his music in relation to his Chinese name: “I’m trying to leave a positive imprint on people I meet along my musical journey. I want my music to be associated with positivity, truth and emotion and be remembered for that contribution to the world. It’s about the legacy I will leave behind.”
Having grown up in Canada and curious about Asia, Tyler took a trip to Hong Kong for the first time a few years ago, which was a heartfelt experience and an eye-opening encounter. Recalling that almost every night was spent with his father’s family or old classmates and friends, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the dedication to family and friendships runs very deep in culture. He was also able to experience what he describes as “very clean, efficient, and state-of-the-art” modes of transportation while there. The public transportation systems are complex and extremely efficient, from the MTR (subway), to buses and trams, to boats and ferries that run across the city’s territories, 7.4 million people living and working in the city benefit from this modern infrastructure. He also visited the popular resort city Macau for a day trip and found the former Portuguese colony to be quite beautiful as well.
“I want my music to be associated with positivity, truth and emotion and be remembered for that contribution to the world. It’s about the legacy I will leave behind.”
許多樂迷可能沒有注意到Tyler Shaw實際上是名混血兒—他的父親是華人，母親是波蘭烏克蘭混血兒。他的中文名字是葉銘恆（Yip Ming Hung）。他的父親曾經解釋道，
他的名字的意思是「刻銘」—刻在石頭上的東西，一些持續一生的東西。Tyler對自己中文名字的讚賞與日俱增。他揭示了他畢生對音樂的夢想是與自己的中文名字有關：“我正努力在我音樂之旅中所遇到的人留下正面的烙印。我希望我的音樂與積極、真實和情感糅合在一起，並因對世界的貢獻而被人們銘記。這將會是我留傳下來之物。”
生長於加拿大的Tyler終於在幾年前第一次去香港旅行，那是一趟銘心刻骨和大開眼界的旅程。他回想起在那個前英國殖民地，幾乎每個晚上都與父親的家人或舊同學及老朋友共度時光，他驚喜地發現，對家庭和友情無私的奉獻與忠誠在香港文化中深深紮根。他在那裡還能體驗到他所說的“非常乾淨、高效率和最先進”的交通方式。香港的公共交通系統非常複合，效率極高，從地鐵（MTR）到巴士和電車，再到貫穿城市的輪船和渡輪，有740萬人在香港生活和工作，他們都受益於其現代化的公共設施。他還到了馳名度假勝地澳門作一日遊，發現這個前葡萄牙殖民地也很美麗。
Making Music for Asia 為亞洲創作音樂
It comes as no surprise then that Tyler would love to promote his music in Asia — and specifically China in the near future. Music is universal in many ways. And Tyler believes that his music would resonate globally, particularly in Asia because of the raw emotions and honest feelings found in music. He has found an affinity to the culture because of his family roots and identity. His dad would often listen to romantic Chinese ballads in the car, and producing memorable ballads in Chinese would be his genre of choice to explore.
Ballads about love and heartbreak are found in his current body of work in North America — “With You” and “To The Man Who Let Her Go” being some of his biggest hits — but composing and singing in Cantonese would be a challenge the young singer-songwriter would like to take on. Although the 27 year-old artist does not speak fluent Chinese, he understands and appreciates the nuances of the language. The Chinese dialect has over 8 tones while the English language is understood as a non-tonal language. This means that writing music in Cantonese is harder since there are lexical differences depending on which syllables are emphasized. Thus, despite the process of recording the music itself would be similar, the Cantonese lyrics would make a huge difference. He hopes to “find a way to mesh the musical production with the cadence of the Cantonese language.”
In the years to come, he hopes to have a sold out show in a Chinese stadium while on a world tour. And he understands how an indeterminate amount of time will go into making this dream a success. Above all, he hopes for longevity and quality in his musical career: “Whether that means it takes 6 months to write an album or 2 years to perfect it, I want the music I share with the world to mean something and to be proud of it.”
Tyler很期待在不久的將來於亞洲推廣他的音樂—
特別是在中國。音樂就是世界無界限的連繫。Tyler相信，他的音樂會在全球引起共鳴，尤其是在亞洲，因為在音樂中，會產生熱切的情緒和真誠的感受。基於他的家庭根源和身份，他對亞洲文化特別喜愛。他的父親經常在車上聆聽浪漫的中國民謠，而用中文創作令人難忘的民謠將是他選擇探索的音樂類型。
他目前在北美的作品中，以愛和心碎為主題的民謠—如《與你同在》和《致那放她走的男人》是一些他最受歡迎的作品—但是用廣東話作曲和唱歌將是這年輕歌手兼作曲家想承受的挑戰。儘管這位27歲的藝術家不會說流利的中文，但他理解並欣賞這種語言的細緻之處。中文方言有8種以上的聲調，而英語則被理解為一種非聲調語言。這意味着用粵語寫音樂是比較困難，因為聲調的輕重可以影響歌詞的內容。因此，儘管錄製音樂的過程本身是相似的，但粵語歌詞仍會產生截然不同的效果。他盼望“找到一種方法，將音樂的產生與粵語的韻律互聯起來。”
在未來的幾年中，他希望在世界巡迴演唱會中，能在中國體育場內有一個售罄演出。而且他了解到，要實現這個夢想，是要花上無法估計的時間。最重要的是，他希望自己的音樂事業會長久和保持高品質：“無論是花6個月寫一張專輯還是用2年將這張專輯達到完美，我都希望所有這些與全世界分享的音樂，是有意義並且我可以引以為傲。”
《Lean On Me》in 2020《倚靠我》
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tyler has been busily writing new music for his next album. He’s always open to collaborations and many artists have been very accepting to working together. Virtual writing sessions are new to the artist who has always loved human connection and valued face-to-face meetings in the studio and his teammates. He also hosts weekly livestream content for his fans and followers.
But that’s not all.
Tyler teamed up with fellow Canadian artist, Fefe Dobson, on the ArtistsCan project. An artist-driven initiative in response to the pandemic, it seeks to offer relief and support to front line workers who are in immediate need of resources and supplies. He excitedly shares: “Myself and 26 other Canadian artists (including Michael Bublé, Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne) contributed to a modern cover of [Bill Wither’s] ‘Lean On Me.’ This was so important to me to give back and use my network to help make this all happen. It’s something I am proud to spearhead and to also help share the lyrical message of the song with my country, and the world in this time of need.” When asked where these values in helping others come from, he gives full credit to his mother and her father, his maternal grandfather who instilled values of kindness and empathy in him from a young age.
After the pandemic has ended, this brilliant Chinese-Canadian artist hopes that things will return to the way they were, although it may not be the same — hopefully better and improved as a society. A digital shift is what he predicts as virtual solutions for shopping, streaming, and communication are doing their part in connecting communities. He cherishes the ways platforms allow him to interact with fans online. At the current moment of writing in the summer of 2020, this is how he feels. Still, he can’t deny that he misses human interaction with his family, friends, and fans. We all hope that a live concert environment will not be lost moving forward, as these gatherings are collective moments in time and space that allow music to envelop us in ways that are irreplaceable.
在新型冠狀病毒肺炎肆虐期間，Tyler一直在忙於為他下一張專輯創作新音樂。他樂於和其他藝人合作，而許多藝人亦欣然接受。虛擬寫作會議對於一位熱愛人際關係、並重視在工作室與其隊友面對面會晤的藝人來說，是嶄新的理念。他還為樂迷和追隨者提供每週直播內容。
但這還不是全部。
Tyler與加拿大同行藝人菲菲．道布森（Fefe Dobson）合作進行了ArtistsCan項目。為了應對這次肺炎瘟疫大流行，該項目由一羣藝人自發推動，旨在為急需資源和物資的前線人員提供救濟和支持。他興奮地分享道：“我自己和其他26位加拿大藝人（包括麥可．布雷（Michael Bublé）、賈斯汀．比伯（Justin Bieber）、艾薇兒．拉維尼（Avril Lavigne））為比爾．威瑟斯
《倚靠我》作了一個現代版本演繹。為了實現這一切，我需要利用我的人際網絡。因此，我能夠回饋給社會，這於我十分重要的。能夠帶頭，並在這個急切的時候，與我的國家和全世界分享歌曲的抒情信息，這讓我感到自豪。”當被問及這些幫助他人的價值觀從何而來時，他將這些歸功於他的父母，還有他的外祖父從小就向他灌輸善良和同理心的價值觀。
疫情結束後，儘管情況可能會有所不同，這位傑出的華裔加拿大藝人希望事情能夠恢復原樣，但更期望社會籍此進步及得到改善。隨着購物、流媒體和通訊利用虛擬化來解決連接社區而發揮着作用，他預測虛擬化轉移將成為現實。他珍惜平台允許他在線上與樂迷保持互動的方式。這是他2020年夏天，在眼前這一個寫作時刻的感受。不過，他不能否認自己想念與家人、朋友和樂迷的人際互動。我們都希望演唱會在未來不會消失，因為時間上和空間上，音樂能在那裡以無可替代的方式籠罩着我們，給予我們難忘的集體回憶。
Here is the music video of《LEAN ON ME》:
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