Yeah, every once in a while I read something that flabbergasts me. In a seemingly innocuous little piece on Ashin and No2Good’s “Stay Real” T-shirt line, there is mention of the composing progress for Mayday’s new album. It says that although the album is due out in the second half of the year, Ashin isn’t that worried about the progress, because both Stone and Monster can help write the songs. (I hate to say it, but leaving Masa and Guanyou out of that seems like the right thing – neither has managed to contribute anything yet that doesn’t feel like it is added for the sole purpose of having the novelty selling point that “everyone contributed a song!!”) So the fact that Jay Chou, A-mei and Eason Chan have all asked Ashin to write them songs doesn’t stress him out too much.
Wait, wait, wait, back up. What is Jay Chou doing asking Ashin to write him a song? Since when does Jay sing songs by other composers? What the heck? Has Cowboy Jay finally decided that he really *is* too busy to compose anything not mediocre and decided to hand over songwriting duties for the inevitable annual Jay snooze-fest to assorted artists around Taipei, or is Ashin being singled out for that long-rumored-but-never-materializing Jay/Mayday collaboration? Will the members of Mayday all have to put on chaps and cowboy hats and do dodgy dance moves?
See, I overreacted there. It turns out (reading the rest of the paragraph) that Jay has simply asked Ashin to write lyrics for a song. Ashin laughingly explained that “If Jay Chou opens his mouth to ask me for lyrics, he absolutely jumps to the head of the line!” This collaboration is actually long overdue, and could be really interesting. If Ashin is so inspired, however, he will also continue to write for the other artists mentioned. Okay, I’m going to attempt to send Ashin a telepathic message… *concentrates* Just not SHE, not SHE… Of course, I wasted all that energy on those telepathic messages about the damn denim suspenders and look what good it did (from yesterday’s t-shirt event):
I’m beginning to suspect I don’t actually have telepathic powers. This is a real letdown for me, I can tell you that. I’m going to have to find a way to deal with the disappointment, though.
Anyway, Ashin and No2Good have teamed up with a store called “SOL” (owned by “Shoesmaster”) to sell their t-shirts. They held an autograph session yesterday, and over 200 fans showed up. Ashin explained that his idea for designs come from daily life, so you won’t see him using images of, for example, sexy or scantily-clad women on his shirts. Hey, that’s probably daily life for some people… though this revelation makes me a little scared, because what part of his life involves gas masks? Ashin also made sure they lowered the price for the t-shirts, thinking about the limited economic means of many Mayday fans. At the same time, however, he also took the opportunity to remind fellow pop-star-turned-clothing-designer Show Luo that he had promised Monster at an event to give the band some of his designs, but Show has not yet sent them over. Yes, Show, would you mind sending Ashin some new pants?
Whoops: Discuss t-shirts and Jay lyrics at the MaydayAmericas Forum!
Ooooh, can you buy the t-shirts online??
You know, you can – it’s not through the StayReal website, and YesAsia has not yet cottoned on, but they are on the GogoRock site (the website is only in Chinese, though). I’ve ordered CDs and DVDs from them before, so I know they ship internationally, but they are sort of a last resort because their shipping costs are expensive. The StayReal section is here.
If you know someone in Taiwan it would be much easier. There’s another website selling some Stay Real items at a discount, I’ll have to go ask my friend for the URL.
I hope that if this Jay/Ashin collaboration ever happens, Jay comes up with some good music and Ashin comes up with some good lyrics. No sappy love ballads! I really don’t want to be disappointed in either of them. If this is going to be part of Jay’s next album, we may not hear anything besides rumors until fall, maybe even not until October. Of course, if last year’s album is any indication, it’ll probably leak out all over the Internet at the end of October, soon after any official news on it.