With their second album coming out next April, local singing duo aRiejohn wants to bring streams of calm and enjoyable rhythms to their fans
Some music is filled with passion and intensity, while some, like that of aRiejohn, can give listeners a real sense of calm and ease.
The local singing duo of Arie and John, launched their debut Mandarin album A Low Decibel Life in August, but the pair’s venture into the music world began years ago. Both of them have been regulars at many music events around the region, although as individuals, they travelled some very different paths before meeting each other.
Back in 2003, Arie won third place in a singing competition while she was studying in Taiwan. She then began training to become a professional singer, achieving good results with her first album selling more than 10,000 copies. Eventually however she decided to end her singing career and returned to Macau to pursue her career as a counsellor and teacher, keeping composing music and writing lyrics as a hobby only.
Arie believes that her daily work actually helps her in her music creation.
“I always try to project emotions into my songs. Since my job (as a counselor) allows me to get in touch with many individuals, their stories and feelings will enrich my mind and imagination.”
Nevertheless, enjoying music alone was not very satisfying for her so Arie started asking around and was later introduced to a band to become its lead singer. This is when she met John.
Unlike Arie, John had never pursued a professional music career before, but he notes that music has always been an influence in his family, with his uncles and aunts being Cantonese opera singers and one of his brothers the member of a band.
He began playing with his brother’s band as the guitarist in his teens and later played in several lounge bars in Macau at night. However, his increasingly demanding daytime job in a logistics company made it difficult to continue his life as a musician at night.
After more than a decade of life off the stage, he one day received an invitation from his friend, asking him to play on stage again. He said that it was an invitation he could not resist and thus picked up his guitar and go on stage again. The experience brought him back to playing music with bands and led him to Arie.
The majority of the songs in aRiejohn’s first album are acoustic songs that have a refreshing, relaxing feel.
As for their next album File Of Life (title not yet confirmed), which is expected to be released next April, aRiejohn will continue providing their audience with the serene sounds that were found on their first album.
However, the duo also plan to introduce a more diversified musical style. For them, it will be an anamnesis of the good times in the past and the learning of the asthetic of life.
Talking about the Macau music scene, Arie notes that it is becoming more diverse and musicians are better supported, while John thinks that local musicians should not restrict themselves to Macau.
“I do not only consider our music as Macau music. I think it is Asian music and our goal is also to attract audiences not only in Macau, but across a broader region”, he concludes.
特別鳴謝Special thanks to Coffee Pattern
