No Party for Cao Dong explained

No Party For Cao Dong
Origin:Taiwan
Years Active:2012-present
Module:
Child:yes
T:草東沒有派對
S:草东没有派对
P:Cǎo Dōng Méiyǒu Pàiduì
Bpmf:ㄘㄠˇㄉㄨㄥㄇㄟˊㄧㄡˇㄆㄞˋㄉㄨㄟˋ
Current Members:
  • Wood Lin
  • Judy Chan (Chu Chu)
  • Sam Yang
  • Huang Shih-wei
Past Members:
  • Sam Cheng
  • Leo Liu
  • Fan Tsai

No Party For Cao Dong is an indie rock band from Taiwan currently consisting of Wood Lin (vocals and guitar), Judy Chan (guitar), Sam Yang (bass), and Huang Shih-wei (drums).

History

2012–2014: Formation

Guitarists and vocalists Wood Lin and Judy Chan met each other in high school, and remained friends during their days at Taipei National University of the Arts. In 2012, they started a band with schoolmates Lee You on bass and Huang Shih-Wei on drums, naming it Party at Cao Dong Street (草東街派對) The story of the band's formation is similar to that of most student bands: Caodong Street near Taipei's Yong Highway and Yangmingshan not far away, accompanied lead singer Wu Gao and guitarist Tsuki Tsuki to spend a lot of their youth. Later, when a few friends who played together decided to form a band, "Caodong Street Party" became the name of the group. after the eponymous road in Shilin District, Taipei, where they often hung out; Lin would skateboard there while Chan would run alongside him, accompanying him to lose weight.[1] Initially, they played a style of electronic rock under the influence of Two Door Cinema Club, and performed at various events within and out of their campus.[2]

Following a series of lineup changes which saw the departures of Lee and Huang, the remaining members decided to rename the band No Party for Cao Dong in 2014, and enlisted FUBAR frontman Sam Cheng and Leo Liu to fill the bass and drum spots respectively. The band would then upload their original tracks "Old Zhang", "Grisly Me" and "Fifty" on the Internet. It was at that time when Cheng was conscripted for military service, as such they took a hiatus for nearly a year. During this period, the band started to adopt a different attitude towards their later works and consider making music seriously, hence in early 2015, they recruited fellow Taipei National University of the Arts graduate Sam Yang to take Cheng's place on bass. Cheng, meanwhile, returned to his previous band FUBAR, which had since been renamed to Grey Dwarf Star from 2016 and Deca Joins since 2017.

2015–2017: The Servile and rise to popularity

In 2015, the band self-released an EP which sold out in a single day. On May 20, they made their return to the stage with their first major concert, titled "We Were All Born to Our Mothers". Starting from September that year, tickets to their performances at various small venues would often sell out quickly;[3] subsequently their single "Wimpish" achieved over 180,000 views on YouTube following its release. The same year, they filmed their first music video "Wayfarer", in which Liu served as director.

In 2016, the band released their first studio album, The Servile; shortly afterwards, it gained widespread attention among professional critics after they emerged as a dark horse in Taiwan's independent music scene.[4] [5] [6] On May 21, they held their second major concert "We Were All Born to Our Mothers 2.0", which marked the debut of drummer Fan Tsai after Liu left to focus on shooting music videos. Tsai, a childhood friend of Chan, was previously the drummer for post-rock band Triple Deer.[7] On October 29, they snatched three awards, including best band and best newcomer, at the 7th Golden Indie Music Awards.

On June 24, 2017, the band won a total of three awards at the 28th Golden Melody Awards, namely Best Musical Group, Best New Artist and Song of the Year for their song "Simon Says", the former in which they outperformed established acts such as Mayday.

2019–present: International success and Fan Tsai's death

The band played at SXSW and NXNE in 2019.[8] [9] They wrote and recorded the title song for the video game Devotion by Red Candle Games in 2019.[10]

The band had teased the release of new music with a livestream that would have begun on March 6, 2020. This however was cancelled, and their newest album which was planned for release in early 2020 has since been put on an indefinite delay due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

No Party For Cao Dong hosted a livestream on their YouTube channel which took place once a day from May 20 to May 23 and featured live performers acting out a story, the course of which was chosen in real-time by the viewers in the chat, determining how the narrative would play out. At the end of the final episode on May 23, a new song was debuted while the credits rolled.[11]

In 2021, the band planned to hold their concert "We Were All Born to Our Mothers 6.0" for the first time at the Taipei Arena on May 22. Although 11,000 tickets were sold out in less than a minute, it was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] On October 30, drummer Fan Tsai was found dead at the age of 26 at a quarantine hotel in Taipei City following the band's return from Mainland China where they conducted a concert tour. Her quarantine period was originally going to end on November 8, and homicide was ruled out as there was no foreign intrusion on the scene and no suicide note was left.[13] After much discussion, the remaining band members announced on November 25 that their "We Were All Born to Our Mothers 6.0" concert would be cancelled.

The band won three Golden Melody Awards, for Album of the Year, Best Mandarin Album, and Best Band in 2024, after releasing their second album, The Clod.[14]

Band members

Current members

Former members

Touring substitutes

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum details
The Servile
  • Released: April 30, 2016
  • Label: Rocksurf
  • Format: Digital download, CD
The Clod
  • Released: May 20, 2023
  • Label: BHappy
  • Format: Digital download, CD

Extended plays

Awards

YearAwardCategoryRecipientsResultRef.
20167th Golden Indie Music AwardsBest BandNo Party for Cao Dong[15]
Best Newcomer
Best Rock Single"Simon Says"
Best Live PerformanceNo Party for Cao Dong[16]
Best AlbumThe Servile
Best Rock Album
201712th KKBOX Music AwardsArtist of the YearNo Party for Cao Dong[17]
28th Golden Melody AwardsBest BandNo Party for Cao Dong[18]
Best New Artist
Song of the Year"Simon Says"
Album of the YearThe Servile
Best Composer"Simon Says"[19]
Best Lyricist"Wimpish"
10th Freshmusic AwardsAlbum of the YearThe Servile[20]
Best New BandNo Party for Cao Dong
17th Chinese Music Media AwardsBest New BandNo Party for Cao Dong[21]
Best Band
Best Rock Artist
Mandarin Language Album of the YearThe Servile
Mandarin Language Song of the Year"Simon Says"

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Taiwan's most successful indie rock band are on the cusp of wider success. Gigwise. Trefor. Cai. June 24, 2019. November 18, 2019.
  2. Web site: Lee . Hsin . 為愛,欲說還休:草東沒有派對 . Blow 吹音樂 . 31 October 2021 . zh-TW . 2 December 2015.
  3. News: . zh-TW . 2016-03-16 . 《草東沒有派對》好夯!專輯被掃光、宣布巡迴加場 . . Taiwan . 2017-10-29 . 2017-10-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173614/http://ent.ltn.com.tw/news/breakingnews/1633642 .
  4. Web site: 馬欣專欄/從「草東沒有派對」的崛起,看世代脫鉤 . Ma, Hsin . 2016-03-30 . Punchline . 2017-10-29 . 2017-10-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173632/http://punchline.asia/archives/23505 .
  5. News: A-heng . 2016-03-15 . 碟評/草東沒有派對《醜奴兒》:魯蛇世代的身分證 . Xinmedia . Taiwan . 2017-10-29 . 2017-10-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171029174411/https://solomo.xinmedia.com/music/65296-oxcvlxjcv .
  6. Web site: 【馬世芳】「魯蛇世代」的虛無與憤怒──我聽「草東沒有派對」 . Ma Shifang . 2016-04-26 . One Little Day . 2017-10-29 . 2017-10-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171009164630/http://www.oneday.com.tw/%E3%80%8C%E9%AD%AF%E8%9B%87%E4%B8%96%E4%BB%A3%E3%80%8D%E7%9A%84%E8%99%9B%E7%84%A1%E8%88%87%E6%86%A4%E6%80%92%E2%94%80%E2%94%80%E6%88%91%E8%81%BD%E3%80%8C%E8%8D%89%E6%9D%B1%E6%B2%92%E6%9C%89%E6%B4%BE/ .
  7. Web site: Lee . Hsin . 劉立專職影像!草東攜新鼓手凡凡突襲不都媽生的 2.0 . Blow 吹音樂 . 31 October 2021 . zh-TW . 24 May 2016.
  8. News: South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Announces 300+ Artists For 2019. January 9, 2019. Glide Magazine. November 18, 2019.
  9. News: NXNE 2019: 10 acts to catch at this year's festival. Now. June 5, 2019. November 18, 2019. Trapunski. Richard.
  10. Web site: No Party for Cao Dong's title song for 'Devotion,' like the game itself, deserved better. SupChina. November 1, 2019. November 18, 2019. Raghav. Krish.
  11. Web site: 熊文浩 . 2020-07-02 . 草東沒有派對 新歌《如常》 背後更強大是 他們荒唐的互動直播劇 . 2022-03-24 . 香港01 . zh-HK.
  12. Web site: Tsai . Chen-yi . 草東沒有派對「小巨蛋二度延期」!無奈發聲:天不總能從人 ETtoday星光雲 ETtoday新聞雲 . ETtoday . 31 October 2021 . zh-Hant . 11 May 2021.
  13. News: 草東沒有派對鼓手蔡憶凡陳屍防疫旅館 將司法相驗釐清死因 . 31 October 2021 . . 30 October 2021 . zh-Hant-TW.
  14. News: Lin . Sean . Wang . Hsin-yu . No Party For Cao Dong biggest winner at Golden Melody Awards . 29 June 2024 . Central News Agency . 29 June 2024.
  15. Web site: 第7屆金音創作獎得獎名單. 7th Golden Indie Awards Winners. Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. October 29, 2016. November 18, 2019.
  16. Web site: 屆金音創作獎入圍名單. 7th Golden Indie Awards Nominations. Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. September 14, 2016. November 18, 2019.
  17. Web site: 第12屆 KKBOX風雲榜「年度風雲歌手」得獎名單完整公開!. 12th KKBOX Music Awards Winners Announcement Full List!. January 9, 2017. November 19, 2019. KKBOX. Tu. Abby.
  18. No Party for Cao Dong Wins Big at 2017 Golden Melody Awards. Billboard. Schwartz. Rob. June 27, 2017. November 18, 2019.
  19. Web site: The 28th Golden Melody Awards Nomination. Golden Melody Awards. 2017.
  20. Web site: 第10屆 Freshmusic Awards 得獎名單. 10th Freshmusic Awards Winners. Freshmusic Awards. June 11, 2017. November 19, 2019.
  21. Web site: 第17届华语音乐传媒盛典8月29举行 完整提名公布. 17th Chinese Music Media Awards Complete Nominations. Sina. August 11, 2017. November 19, 2019.