Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Wild Mushrooms

What is your earliest memory related to music?

My earliest musical memory was probably when I was a child watching my father make a sanxian. The sound of him planing the wood, the soft sounds of tuning the strings, and the occasional notes he played to test the instrument—looking back now, all of these were the most beautiful and moving pieces of music.

How did your passion for music creation begin?

My passion for music creation also comes from the environment I grew up in. In our ethnic minority village, there were song gatherings during festivals, folk songs sung around the fire pit, and ancient songs sung by elders. These scenes gave me a deep emotional connection to ethnic minority music. These sounds carry the roots of our people, and through my creations I want to pass on this precious cultural heritage.

What is the story behind your current music project?

This project comes from my search for “roots.” The sanxian my father made was my starting point in music, and life in ethnic minority regions allowed me to experience the charm of traditional music. However, as times change, many traditional instruments and songs of ethnic minorities are gradually disappearing. I don’t want these valuable cultures to be forgotten, so this project was born. I collect traditional melodies from different ethnic groups and combine them with traditional instruments to create new works, allowing more people to understand the unique charm of ethnic minority music.

If you were to introduce your music to someone who has never heard it before, how would you describe your musical style?

I would say my music is a dialogue between nature and ethnicity. In our music, you can hear the sonic memories of traditional ritual chants, which are solemn and mysterious, as well as the joyful atmosphere of ethnic festivals filled with singing and dancing. You can also feel our reverence for mountains, rivers, plants, and living beings. Overall, it is an ethnic fusion style with spiritual warmth and natural vitality, and every melody conveys our respect for heaven and earth and our commitment to our roots.

Is there something you learned that completely changed the way you create music?

Yes. After being away from my hometown for many years, I returned and happened to arrive during a major village festival—the Dragon Worship Festival, which is also our Spring Festival. That day, I heard familiar melodies again and performed ritual music together with village musicians. Everyone prayed for blessings through the music, and the atmosphere deeply moved me. This experience changed the way I create music. Since then, I have gone into the field to collect and record ritual chants and festival songs, blending them with the everyday life of my hometown, making my works more emotionally grounded and rooted.

During your creative process, which tools, instruments, or software are indispensable?

In terms of tools, recording and filming equipment are essential for fieldwork. As for instruments, besides guitar and bass, I mainly use traditional ethnic instruments. For software, I commonly use audio editing software to organize field recordings, as well as composition and arrangement software.

Who is your favorite independent musician or song at the moment?

My favorite independent musician is Yang Meng. Listening to his music allows me to detach from myself and observe myself from the outside, as if standing alone in the boundless universe—free of attachments, far from illusion, calm and transcendent.

How has your personal experience influenced your music creation and artistic philosophy?

Growing up in an ethnic minority village, natural sounds, ritual chanting, and festival songs were my earliest musical inspirations. Watching my father make a sanxian taught me the joy of creating music by hand. These experiences made me realize that the charm of ethnic music lies in its deep connection with life, belief, and nature. My artistic philosophy is “letting ancient sounds live in the present.” In my creations, I incorporate natural soundscapes, ritual modes, and festival melodies, allowing my works to retain traditional roots while expressing them in a modern way.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners will gain from your music?

My modest hope is that listeners can understand and feel the idea of “reverence for heaven and joy in life” within our ethnic minority culture. At the same time, I hope they can sense the younger generation’s deep love for our land and culture, carried forward in new forms.

So far, what is the most important lesson music has taught you?

Music has taught me that every sound has life, and every melody has warmth. My father used to say, “Wood has a spirit.” I didn’t understand this before, but after truly experiencing the sounds of forest winds, ritual chanting, and festive laughter, I realized that these sounds contain the breath of the land, the memory of a people, and the warmth of daily life. The essence of music is not elaborate arrangement, but sincerely feeling the life within every sound and allowing it to convey genuine warmth. Musical inheritance is not about copying the past, but about letting ancient sounds live in the present.

Is there a venue or music festival you dream of performing at?

I most want to perform at festivals such as the Yunnan Strawberry Music Festival and the Five Hundred Miles Music Festival, as they are highly inclusive. I also hope to participate in world music festivals, which focus on the fusion of traditional music and modern forms and align closely with my creative direction. On such stages, I hope to exchange ideas with musicians from around the world and allow the voices of our ethnic minorities to be heard by more international audiences.

If you could collaborate with any artist (living or deceased), who would you choose? Why?

Through which channels can listeners follow and support your music? (Website, Spotify, Instagram, etc.)

The problem we, and many Chinese musicians have promoting our music overseas is that most of the usual promotional platforms are blocked here. We do however have our music on Spotify so listener can find it our album Wild Mushrooms ‘Under the Dragon Tree’

Looking ahead, what is your dream for the next stage of your musical journey?

In the next stage, I hope to take my work beyond national borders and participate in more international world music festivals. I want to share traditional ethnic instruments, ritual modes, festival songs, and the vitality of nature worship with more international listeners. Through music, I hope people from different countries can understand the charm of our ethnic minority culture, and through cross-cultural exchange, allow ethnic music to gain new life.

What do you hope listeners will ultimately discover about you as they get to know you?

I hope that as listeners get to know me, they will realize that I am not merely a musician, but a transmitter of ethnic culture.