Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

In a villa by Dianchi Lake in Kunming, a man in his fifties stood in his daughter's room, excitedly comparing his phone screen to her computer screen for a while before saying, "Oh my, Xiaomeng, look! Your dad took a picture with this Bian Lang! You know what? It was on the plane back from our trip to Kunming. I was even saying I'd introduce him to you..."

Yang Meng turned around in confusion, took her father's phone, glanced at it, and said with a disbelieving look, "Playing rock music is half and a third of the style, but you don't need to worry about me, Dad. I still want to eat your homemade rice noodles for a few more years..."

After saying that, she got up, pushed her father out the door, and started working on her computer.

Yang Meng graduated from the Piano Department of Yunnan Arts University, where her academic performance was above average. After graduation, she didn't get a chance to stand out in the orchestra. She passed the teacher's exam, but the school life made her feel unambitious. Her father offered to give her money to open a music store, but she also wanted to take advantage of her youth to make her own way in the world.

At her ex-boyfriend's urging, the two of them joined a game company under the Goose Egg Group, becoming music chart artists for the mobile music game "Rhythm Master." Later, her boyfriend resigned and broke up with her, but she persisted because she loved the game.

Although she was forced to learn piano by her mother, who taught classical music, she still loves rock music deep down because of her father's influence. So when she's working, she always prioritizes searching for rock songs and orchestral scores in copyright libraries.

Because rock songs and orchestral arrangements are generally quite complex, her compositions are generally quite difficult. She occupies half of the top 10 most difficult tracks in the game, and currently the most difficult is her 6-key composition, "Flight of the Bumblebee".

The key point is that every time she releases a new, high-difficulty chart, she uploads a walkthrough video of the game to her Little Red Book account, which has earned her the nickname "Six-Finger Demon King" from the game's loyal fans.

Today, she came across "Those Without Ideals Don't Get Hurt" on Goose Egg Music. After watching Bian Lang's video and learning from it, the solo interlude in the song immediately sparked her creative desire. However, when she checked the copyright database, she found that the song was not available.

While complaining about the copyright department's inefficiency, she sent them an online application, then opened her account on the foreign rhythm game Crazy Scale and began creating her own chart. However, this copyright-free chart could only satisfy her own enjoyment; once uploaded to the game, it could only be viewed by other players, not downloaded and used for challenges.

……

The next morning, the number of views for the new song by Rolling Stone had exceeded 20, reaching the top 15 of the overall chart, with less than 3 views away from the top 10.

Pan Jianhu kept clicking the mouse to refresh the computer screen, his mouth agape in a wide smile.

Bian Lang was picking through a pile of musical instruments in his office. Pan Jianhu said that it had been almost a year since any rock song had made it into the top ten of the charts, and because of this, he asked Bian Lang to pick one of his musical instruments as a congratulatory gift.

Bian Lang liked this gift; it was much more valuable to him than any red wine or champagne. Besides, these were all from Pan Jianhu's private collection, and there were no cheap imitations among them.

Nanyin Records' headquarters is located in the 871 Cultural and Creative Industrial Park. A 1200-square-meter old factory building from the 90s is surrounded by a Yunnan pine forest. The exterior looks rough, but the interior is anything but sloppy. The factory building has three floors inside, and Pan Jianhu's office is on the third floor, which is on the east side. It has windows on three sides.

Outside, a flock of sparrows were chirping in the hackberry tree. Bian Lang, who was picking out musical instruments, saw millet laid out by the window and casually grabbed a handful and scattered it outside.

"Tiger, you have such refined tastes? You're going to feed this bird to your family?"

"When my mind is a mess, I like to listen to birdsong. Even though the calls are all over the place, they're free! Unlike us musicians now, we're trapped in a cage by capital, the market, and all the rules and regulations. When we write songs, we're always hesitant, thinking, 'This isn't right,' or 'I dare not touch that'..."

This is reality. Freedom comes at a high price; even relative freedom comes at a higher cost. Take the average office worker, for example: the typical 996 work schedule is just to earn a not-so-relaxing Sunday off.

The topic was a bit heavy, and Bian Lang didn't want to take it, so he changed the subject and said, "Our Rolling Stones band is short of two musicians. Do you have any suitable ones?" This was Bian Lang's main purpose for coming to Nanyin today.

"You still need me to build your reputation in the industry?" Pan Jianhu teased before continuing, "What's your ideal setup?"

"In addition to the four main metal instruments, we'll add a rhythm guitar and a female lead vocalist. We'll also add an orchestral player and a folk musician in the later stages."

Bian Lang had many songs he wanted to transfer, including many with unconventional instrument arrangements. Since he didn't have a system to provide him with various props and bonuses, he couldn't possibly be proficient in everything, so he needed to find skilled musicians to complete the work together.

As for the female lead singer, it would be best if she could sing opera. After all, which rock band wouldn't want a Dorothy or a Dorothy?

Hearing this, Pan Jianhu looked Bian Lang up and down carefully before saying, "Aren't you just talking nonsense? You really want to do a large-scale production with two lead singers?"

Pan Jianhu didn't expect Bian Lang to be so ambitious. It's not that there aren't good large-scale rock bands with two lead singers on Aquamarine, but they are all overseas.

In China, only the bands assigned to a few top-tier singers can accommodate such a large ensemble, but those bands have already deviated from the core of the band and exist purely as accompaniment.

"I've made up my mind, and this can't be compromised. Other things can be taken care of later, but I need to get the keyboard and rhythm guitar first, otherwise the live performance at the music festival will be greatly diminished."

Seeing Bian Lang's certainty, Pan Jianhu thought for a while before speaking, "If you don't mind sharing musicians with other bands, the company does have a few with excellent skills."

"Let's forget about that. We've just been established, and we're under a lot of pressure rehearsing new songs. If there's a time conflict, things will get even more complicated."

Whether on Earth or Planet Blue, it's common for several bands to share a single musician, especially a drummer. Hayato, from Earth in his previous life, was a special forces drummer; even Bian Lang, his former colleague, didn't know exactly how many bands he had played for.

But Bian Lang's situation is different now. His vision is to present every hit song from his hometown to fans on the planet Aquamarine perfectly. Without a strong, fixed musician, he feels he can't control the quality.

Pan Jianhu nodded, picked up an envelope from the table, and handed it to Bian Lang: "I'll help you figure out the musician's problem. Take a look at this first."

Bian Lang reached out and took the invitation with a puzzled look. Before he could even open it, he heard Pan Jianhu's voice continue: "It's an invitation to the Xi Mang Mang Music Festival. The performance order is the second to last on the second day. Magic Disc has three bands performing that day, with the top band, Magic City, headlining. If Li Yiliang can get his band up and running, it'll be the opening act. Does Rolling Stone dare to go?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Bian Lang replied instantly with a smile.

He didn't waste any time. Music festivals are the fastest way to gain recognition among rock music fans. He didn't care if it was Li Yiliang or Magic City, whether he sang the opening act or the second to last act, he just wanted to create a lively atmosphere!

"Don't we need to ask Huang Kai?" Pan Jianhu hadn't expected Bian Lang to be so decisive.

"No need, I'm in charge. Rolling Stone doesn't back down." Having broken ties with Magic Disc, Huang Kai naturally wouldn't care about saving face anymore.

The happy Mang Mang Music Festival is a top-tier label in the second tier of Huaxia on the planet Water Blue, with an influence equivalent to that of Zhangbei Grassland and Yuntai Mountain on Earth.

Although there is no nationwide tour, the performances are basically seamless because of the three stages rotating around. The lineup of the two-day music festival is larger than that of other three-day music festivals, which has established Ximangmang as the number one in Southwest China!

Performing before the headliner on the second day meant they were essentially the second-best band of the day. Before that, the Masked Band was nowhere near the second-to-last in music festivals, and in third-tier cities they could only get some garbage time before dinner.

"Yeah, that's the kind of energy young people should have! Many of us in this generation are getting too old to play anymore, so the revitalization of Chinese rock music still depends on you guys." Pan Jianhu smiled, but only he knew the bitterness behind his smile.

"Anyone who can say something like that is either a true lover or a big liar!" Bian Lang wasn't too sure before, but after seeing Nan Yin's industrial-style office area, which looked almost like a bare shell on the outside, but was actually quite meticulous inside, he was certain that Pan Jianhu was truly in love!

"Let me remind you one more thing, there are many bands participating in the show, and five songs in the second to last 35 minutes is the standard. No matter how bad it is, it can't be less than four songs. You still have a month, so I don't recommend using Cantonese songs. You need to hurry up and write the rest. I'm not worried about anything else, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to find a regular lineup by then, and if you find someone to rehearse on the spot, it won't achieve the desired effect."

After all, the second-to-last song is followed by the finale, and if the performance is bad, the fans will criticize you mercilessly. Rolling Stones is a newly formed band, and their new songs have virtually no popularity, so the resulting backlash and awkward silence will definitely be greater than the sum of its parts. At this time, Pan Jianhu was unaware that Bian Lang had already registered the copyrights to many of their new songs.

"Don't worry, we'll prepare five songs. I can finish the arrangements in a week at most. Hurry up and find some musicians for me; it would be best if we could get that guy who plays keyboards on the variety show!"

Pan Jianhu glanced at Bian Lang and said, "That guy is impossible to tame. If you don't mind, I'll call you right now and bring him over."

Upon hearing the phrase "can't be tamed," Bian Lang immediately refused: "Then forget it. Let's just pick from the company's employees who don't attend music festivals..."