导语：The Sino- German Diplomats Cooking Show in Berlin was opened by a music band with three handsome young men. Their passionate singing of English, German and Chinese songs drew bursts of applause
The Sino- German Diplomats Cooking Show in Berlin was opened by a music band with three handsome young men. Their passionate singing of English, German and Chinese songs drew bursts of applause.
The three musicians are Kai Fleischer, his younger brother Richie and their friend Florian. Many of their songs were written by the lead singer Kai, whom I interviewed after the event.
Diplomat Magazine: Kai, would you introduce yourself to our readers first?
Kai: sure, my name is Kai. I am 19 years old. Right now I am studying philosophy and Economics at Humboldt University. My father is German. My mother is Chinese. Because my father is a diplomat, I have lived in several different countries and was on the move since the day I was born.
Diplomat Magazine: Which cities have you lived in?
Kai: I was born soon after my parents were posted to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. I went to kindergarten in Brussels, Belgium; attended elementary school in Berlin, middle school in New York and high school in Beijing. Our family left Beijing in the summer of 2011 and returned to Berlin.
Diplomat Magazine: wow, you are so young and have traveled around the world. May I ask you which stop is your favorite?
Kai: well, when we were in Abuja and Brussels, I was still a little kid, which means I don’t remember very much. Of the last three cities - Berlin, New York and Beijing - it’s hard to say which one is the best because I really like them all. But since we only stayed in New York for two years and I haven’t been there in a while, I would say that Beijing and Berlin are the closest things to a hometown that a diplomat’s kid can have. But I definitely would love to go back to New York someday.
Diplomat Magazine: We enjoyed your performance with your brother Richie and your friend Florian at the Diplomats cooking show very much. Everyone loved your song "together". I've heard it in Beijing before performed by “TheCheatles - The Chinese Beatles”, where you played with your father and your brother together. Do you still perform together in Berlin?
Kai: The song “Zai Yi qi” is actually my mom’s work. She wrote the lyrics to our Chinese version of “Let It Be”. I haven’t written a Chinese song yet, but I know I will some day. After we returned to Germany, my brother and I set up our own bands. Sometimes our father joins us at rehearsal for fun, but actually the “Cheatles” don’t exist anymore.
Diplomat Magazine: what a pity! Especially after becoming so popular in China through your concerts in Tianjin Concert Hall and the Nanjing Grand Theatre.
Kai: yeah, I know. The “Cheatles” where the first band in the world to sing Lennon/Mc Cartney’s songs with Chinese lyrics, and they gave me my first studio and stage experience. But you can still watch our "Together" music-video online: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/EZy9glmK5fs/
http://www.facebook.com/TheChineseBeatles
Diplomat Magazine: I heard that you’ve written a lot of songs. As I listened to your song "A Time", I was touched by the beautiful melody, but I did not quite understand the meaning of the lyrics, what is this song about?
Kai: The lyric of "A time" is in German:
Eine Zeit
Ganz egal wer du bist
Wie du lebst, was dein Wohnort ist
Eine Zeit nähert sich irgendwann
Ihrem Ende an.
Jahre vergehen wie im Flug,
Das Leben zieht vorbei wie ein Zug
Und als du es schon fast vergisst
Merkst du, dass die Zeit schon fast zu Ende ist.
Und plötzlich stehst du am Schalter
Den Koffer hältst du bereit.
Es bläst ein Wind, ein kalter
Von Abschied und Unbarmherzigkeit.
Und es scheint als ob es gestern wär
Dabei ist es schon paar Jahre her
Als Du hier herzogst an diesen Ort
Doch sobald du da bist, musst du schon wieder fort.
Ganz egal wer du bist
Wie du lebst, was dein Wohnort ist
Eine Zeit nähert sich irgendwann
Ihrem Ende an.
In fact, I rarely write songs in German, most of my lyrics are written in English. The meaning of the lyrics is "No matter who you are, where you live, how your life is, there’s always an end to a certain period of time. Sometimes it feels like the years pass by like trains that you barely notice. Sometimes it seems like it was only yesterday when you arrived here, but you already have to leave today. Then you find yourself standing at the gate or the platform and feel the cold breeze of a goodbye on your skin. "
Diplomat Magazine: really poetic lyrics, does it somehow reflect your life as a diplomat child?
Kai: Unsurprisingly, many people asked the same question after listening to this song. Yes, the lyrics are definitely inspired by my childhood of always moving around a lot, but I think not only diplomats or frequent movers can relate to them. Because “A Time” is not only about moving from one place to another lyrically, but also metaphorically speaking. There are many different periods of time in one’s life: A time while one is in love, a time where one feels blue, and then there are times with different attitudes toward life. There is kindergarten, school, university, “the real world”, and so on. But even that is not all, I’m sure everyone has a different interpretation of what “a time” means to them.
Diplomat Magazine: sounds quite philosophical, I must say. you mentioned that you are studying philosophy and economics at Humboldt University. I know that the Humboldt University is very famous for his Department of Philosophy. But I must admit that this is the first time I heard of such a combination, why did you choose philosophy plus economy?
Kai: I have always been interested in philosophy I often ask myself about the meaning of life, why the world is the way it is, and so on... The reason of choosing economics is that I would like to find it out for myself, why money makes the world go round, and why for instance China, a country with such a long history and traditional virtues, is also becoming more and more materialistic.
Diplomat Magazine: it seems you do think a lot, it does not sound like this is coming from a 19-year-old boy.
Kai: Thank you, I guess that’s a compliment. But I know that I sometimes think too much, which can be problem or even a burden. But I am so thankful, that I can channel my overthinking into lyrics. Funny story, I actually wrote a song called "Thinking Too Much".
Diplomat Magazine: oh really. What did the lyric look like?
Kai: it goes something like this:
……
In this relaxed atmosphere,
I feel as if I’m in another sphere
On another level
Talking to the devil
Who’s lying on the table
Sometimes I feel so far away,
Too far away to touch.
Contemplation’s good, I think that everybody should
Do it more but I think I’m
Thinkin too much.
Sometimes I lie in Bed
Then I think about the world
And its mysterious ways;
Political and metaphysical questions
When I really should be resting.
I think about this
And I think about that.
I think about my first kiss
And the time I lost my hat.
And when I first picked up a guitar
I think I’m
Thinkin too much
……
11. Diplomat Magazine: I like your lyrics, thinking too much. Did I hear out some confusion?
Kai: Yes, I was a bit confused then, as I am now, as I probably always will. This world is just impossible to understand. A couple years back, I wrote a song called „Kind of Lost“, to which I can still relate today.
Kind of Lost
A young man lost
Searching for answers at all costs
Crossed the desert and the seven seas,
Tried new things and sat beneath some trees.
But no matter what he bought or how hard he fought,
He did not seem to catch the right train of thought.
At last, desperate and tired he went to a sage
Who is said to have been born before the last ice age.
He searched him for years, yes there was a price
But what is more valuable than some good advice?
I wanna do what I love and not only survive
But also enjoy some of the luxuries of life.
I wanna be good to others and good to myself
Without letting my morals rot away on the top shelf.
I wanna be true to myself from my head to my feet
Without having to live on the street with nothing to eat.
I wanna express my thoughts and feelings
Without having to exaggerate all the way through the ceiling.
Said I’m kind of lost
So won’t you tell me what life is all about.
The sage said I’m sorry my son, I can’t help you with that.
‘Cause that’s something you by yourself will have to figure out.
Diplomat Magazine: Kai, I like your songs more and more, so many thoughts in them, wonderful lyrics, are you still a kind of lost?
Kai: Yes and no. At the time I wrote that song, I just started my studies at Humboldt. I actually decided to take one semester off, worked in a company for six months, while allowing myself some time to think about what the life is all about (laugh).
Diplomat Magazine: one semester off the college, and work in the company. Did it help you to see things clearer?
Kai: Although I could have been even more productive during that time, I say yes, because I found out that music is what I want to do and that it’s most important thing in my life (besides family and friends, of course). So that was an important decision for me. At the same time, I realized that I can, or that I have to pursue my dream while studying something academic at the same time, for now at least. The following song talks about how I choose a life of art over a life of scientific research or a life of working as a business man.
Art Over Science
I could spend my life sitting in the library,
Read, research and think quietly
Trying to formulate sophisticated principles
Then state them in complicated sentences.
I could sit in the lab with a knife
And try to dissect the meaning of life
Writing about this and other curses
Trying to give meaning by putting words into verses
Chorus 1:
I choose art over science
Choose my heart over my brain
Cause no matter how much you learn
The latter can only make you go insane
While the former can make you smile
And let you be happy for a while.
I could be working in a company
Work with colleagues I accompany
On business trips, drinking champagne on a plane
Talking meaningless talk for the rich man’s gain
Or worse, I could sit in the office all day
At night pour me whiskey, drink my troubles away
Sort papers, give or take orders twenty-four seven
Wait for retirement and the day when I finally go to heaven.
Chorus 2:
I choose art over business
Choose my heart over cash
Cause even if you earn more than you can swallow
The latter can only make you become hollow
While the former can make you smile
And let you be happy for a while.
Or instead of being a CEO
I could stay true and be me own
And express myself through rhymes
Give you a thought in two lines
That almost sounds the same at the end
Linking them together so you can comprehend
What I’m saying and I can pretend
I’m making sense and so I defend
What I’m saying and that’s how I intend
To justify my choice of word….
Diplomat Magazine: Ok, got it, your choice is to be yourself, to make real music, and to express yourself in your art. Kai, Your father is a diplomat, have you ever considered to become a diplomat as well?
Kai: Yes, I did consider becoming a diplomat, but I know that I have to pursue music as a full time thing. Maybe one day when I’m older I can get into politics or diplomacy, but it is not something I am thinking about in my current state of mind.
Diplomat Magazine: You grew up living in different countries, leaving friends and familiar environment every 3-4 year, how did you and your brother Richie cope with that?
Kai: I think that we were quite lucky. We went to primary school in Berlin, middle school in New York, high school in Beijing, university back in Berlin again, all of these places we loved. Nowadays, thanks to face book and other social media, it is easier to keep in touch with friends. Florian, for example, is my friend from kindergarten, and the guitarist in my brother Richie’s band is also his kindergarten friend. On the other hand, it’s true that I don’t have friends that I have been in school with for a very long time, and I don’t have a real hometown. So there are pros and cons, as with most things in life. So it wasn’t always easy, but I can’t say that I would’ve wanted it any other way.
Diplomat Magazine: It seems that our diplomats magazine should dedicate an issue to interviews with children of diplomats and let them talk about their experiences and feelings, what do you think?
Kai: I think that would be a great idea.
Diplomat Magazine: agreed, we will surely consider it. So what are your plans for this year?
Kai: well, writing poems, composing songs, making music while continuing to study… I’m might try to write some songs in Chinese, and hopefully I will have the opportunity to sing my songs in China.
Diplomat Magazine: That’ll be great! I hope we will see you perform in China very soon. Thank you for the interview.
Kai: No at all, thank you, the pleasure was all mine.