翻譯：對中國廠牌Dying Art創始人Murk的採訪
前言：提到中國陰暗音樂與金屬，Dying Art是個無論如何也跳不過去的名字。這個廠牌為中國樂迷奉獻了鐵騎、熾潮、Hexfire、巫怨、NOUS（理智）、祝融、Zaliva-D、Ululate等等一批優秀的金屬/黑氛圍/陰暗電子樂隊，在中國陰暗音樂界獨當一面。
在這篇採訪里，廠牌創始人和老闆Murk談到了廠牌的發展、中國金屬/陰暗音樂的現狀等等，有許多觀點非常精到。Murk是我非常尊敬的一位音樂人、樂評人和廠牌運營者。
Murk的個人主頁
Dying Art豆瓣頁面
特別感謝@Blazing11
以下是翻譯
「So many people think this kind of music is noisy and dirty… nothing is impossible in China」. Thus Murk summarises the national view towards dark ambient and metal music. Sole creator and owner of Beijing label Dying Art, it』s been twelve years of scraping together underground bands in order to expose their sounds to China and the rest of the world. But signees are thin on the ground. China』s feeling towards metal music is poor, its view of dark ambient virtually non-existent. The circle of interest is so small and closed that it』s almost pointless to measure – as Murk says, 「only we are living in it」.
「太多人認為這種音樂吵鬧又骯髒了……在中國，什麼事都會發生。」Murk這樣總結中國人對於黑氛圍和金屬音樂的看法。作為北京廠牌Dying Art（垂死藝術）唯一的創始人和老闆，為了將中國地下樂隊拉攏在一起，把他們的音樂推向中國和世界，Murk已經工作了12年。但，簽約的樂隊在地上（上讀四聲而非輕聲，與「地下」相對）卻不受待見。中國人不喜歡金屬音樂，也真的意識不到黑氛圍音樂的存在。對這種音樂感興趣的圈子非常小、非常封閉，估量其人數幾乎毫無意義——就像Murk說的，「只有我們活在其中。」
People in China aren』t interested in these styles. It』s only pop music and 「Korean shit music」 that people want to listen to. Anyone with a mild interest in online Asian culture will know exactly the kind of Korean pop that Murk is talking about: girl groups comprising two to thirteen leggy young women, spouting trashy lyrics over trashier tunes. But it sells, and it sells well. Dying Art, by comparison, is at the other end of the spectrum. About as far as you could realistically go.中國人對這些音樂風格不感興趣，他們只想聽流行音樂和「韓國垃圾音樂」。任何對亞洲文化稍有興趣的人都會明白Murk所談到的這種韓國流行音樂究竟是什麼——由二三個長腿少女組成的女子組合，和著垃圾旋律噴著一些垃圾歌詞。不過，這種音樂能賺錢，還能賺大錢。相比之下，Dying Art卻在另一個極端掙扎著，要多窮就有多窮。
Dying Art concentrates solely on dark ambient, ritualistic and neofolk while its sister label, Dying Legion, focuses on Chinese underground metal. Dying Art was the first of the two, starting in 1998, a couple of years after Murk began investigating rock and metal on Chinese BBSs. Dying Art started its life as an online magazine called Under FM which was the first Chinese website dedicated to dark ambient music, featuring descriptions of bands, interviews and reviews, 「just like Heathen Harvest」, as Murk kindly compares. I can only imagine the kind of interesting place Under FM would have been in the late 90s, regardless of my lack of knowledge of the Chinese language – but then maybe that makes it more interesting. Though the Under FM homepage still exists, it now redirects to Dying Art and Murk』s personal reviews of music albums on the Chinese social networking site Douban – all accessible as long as you』re au fait with the tongue.Dying Art廠牌專註於黑氛圍、祭祀和新民謠音樂，而它的姊妹廠牌，Dying Legion（垂死軍團），專註於中國地下金屬。Dying Art是二者中較早的那個，始於1998年。幾年之後，Murk開始在中國的論壇上投資金屬和搖滾音樂。Dying Art最早以一本叫《Under FM（地下調頻）》的在線雜誌的形式出現，這也是中國第一個主題為黑氛圍音樂的網站。它的內容包括樂隊的介紹，採訪和樂評，「就像Heathen Harvest一樣」，Murk這樣比較道。我不會漢語，但我可以想像到Under FM在90年代後期中國的有趣地位——也許漢語讓它更加有趣了。Under FM的主頁一直存在著，但它實際上已經被轉移到了豆瓣網（一個中國社交網站）上Dying Art的主頁，以及Murk個人的樂評區。只要你熟悉漢語，這些網站都能被找到。
In 2000 Murk was introduced to IHVHLXXII, a band from Beijing but living in Australia. His introduction to this band was to be the start of the label proper: 「the first demo was very like dark industrial, I really loved that, we hit it off. I thought about this – can I do something for the underground musician who is like-minded like me, and I published 200 CDRs for him and included the cover design and everything I could do. That is the first album of Dying Art, after that I stopped Under FM.」
2000年，Murk被介紹給了IHVHLXXII，一個生活在澳大利亞的北京樂隊。他對這個樂隊的介紹同時也正是廠牌的開幕辭：「第一張demo非常像是黑暗工業，我很喜歡，我們很合得來。我想了想——我能不能為那些想法和我類似的地下音樂家做些事情？然後我出版了200張CDR，設計了專輯封面，做了我能做的一切。這就是Dying Art的第一張專輯，從那之後我就停掉了Under FM。」
His baby since 2000, every part of Dying Art and every band signed is relative to Murk』s own fascination with dark music, the name of the label especially. Death is an intrigue for Murk, a point that he and I are very much in agreement on: 「I like art that involves death, we can think about what is death – a real death – and the influence of death on our lives. Dying Art could be 『dead』 any time – in China there』s always lots of ridiculous politics to limit your mind.」 Far from wanting Dying Art to explode into something bigger and more mainstream, Murk』s attitude towards the label is very grounded indeed. As far as he sees it, keeping things underground is the way to go. It』s more genuine, it』s less influenced by outside factors. Even though he was involved in the musical project ANTI XXX, he has no desire to be famous or for Dying Art to explode, for as he puts it, 「if you』re an underground production and [you』re] going to be famous, you have to say goodbye to your production soon. I can change myself only. I can』t change anything else.」作為自2000年來Murk的寵兒，Dying Art的每個部分、簽下的每隻樂隊都與Murk自己對陰暗音樂的迷戀相關，尤其是廠牌的名字。對Murk來說，死亡具有獨特的新引力，在這一點上我和他非常一致：「我喜歡主題涵蓋死亡的藝術，我們可以思考何為死亡——真正的死亡——以及死亡對我們生命的影響。Dying Art隨時可能『死掉』，在中國，限制我們思想的可笑政策無處不在。」他不想讓Dying Art發展得更大，變得更主流，他對於這個廠牌的態度是非常實在的。就他看來，保持地下是唯一的道路。這樣更加真實，會更少地被外界因素所影響。他本人也是樂隊ANTI XXX（未知抗體）的一員，但他不希望出名，也不希望Dying Art擴張，就像他說的：「如果你是地下廠牌卻考慮著出名，你很快就要對自己的廠牌說拜拜了。我只能改變我自己，卻不能改變任何其他（外界因素）。」
If anything the small size of the Chinese underground is a benefit to the label. It makes finding new acts relatively easy. If there are more bands that Murk would love to sign than he could, the main hindrance is lack of funds. Splice this together with the fact that people are downloading his records and you get a situation which is – to put it candidly – 「not fucking good」. Murk elaborates, 「downloading sucks, but who didn』t do that? I can』t change that and I don』t want to complain about that. Spend your money on food, spend your money on entertainment, and some people like to spend their money on PUSSY, everybody has their own hobbies to fill their empty lives up.」 Dying Art has therefore – intentionally or unintentionally – become something of a boutique label in China, with both the label and the bands cooperating financially to put the products together: 「there are no famous bands under Dying Art productions. But their music is the best, with no doubt. They paid a lot of time and money on music, unfortunately they get nothing by their music in China… I think I have no right to say whether Dying Art helped many Chinese bands or not, maybe the bands and members could say that. I don』t like self-evaluation, I just like to keep music as a souvenir for them and for me.」中國地下音樂小規模的運作對廠牌是有益的。它使得發現新的樂隊相對容易。如果Murk想要簽下的樂隊比他的能力範圍多得多，資金缺乏將成為阻礙廠牌發展的最主要原因。把小規模的運作與另一個事實——人們在網上免費下載他的音樂——聯繫起來，你會發現，坦誠來講，廠牌的形勢可以形容為「真他娘的糟」。Murk解釋說：「下載太討厭了，但誰沒做過？我無法改變，我也不想抱怨。有人花錢買飯吃，有人花錢娛樂，還有人花錢玩女人，人人都有愛好來填補自己的空虛生活。」因此，有意無意間，Dying Art已經變成了一個精品店般的廠牌，由樂隊和廠牌共同出資來發行音樂。「Dying Art旗下沒有有名的樂隊，但他們的音樂是最棒的，毫無疑問。他們為音樂花費了大量時間和財力，但不幸的是，在中國，他們沒有憑音樂獲得一點回報……我覺得，我沒有權利去說Dying Art是否幫助了許多中國樂隊，也許樂隊成員們會這麼說。我不喜歡自我誇耀，我只是把音樂當作樂隊和我自己的紀念品。」
不知道這個廠牌的人不會對它旗下的眾多藝人有任何了解，但甚至藝人們也不願透露關於自己的太多信息。在了解了音樂計劃Enemite（巫怨）之後，我打開了通往祭祀氛圍音樂的大門。Enemite是一個黑暗、傳統的樂隊，唯一成員是李超，他同時也是原始黑金屬樂隊Evilthorn（惡刺）的成員。我很急切地想知道我們能否在Enemite的名號下聽到他更多的作品，但讓人失望的是，Murk說他現在只專註於他的陰暗電子樂隊Zaliva-D。他再也不會發行，按照Murk的話說，「更多的金屬或者祭祀音樂」了。廠牌推出的另一個迷人的藝人是祝融，他在2005年發行了4首歌的EP「火神之怒」，一個有趣、令人平靜的中國氛圍音樂作品。我不僅找不到這個項目背後的音樂家的任何信息，也不知道他們是否會繼續發行作品。Murk是唯一知道情況的人，但他熄滅了我聽到後續作品的希望，他說祝融再也不會發行新作品了。不論他們是誰，這個項目已經解散了。
So what about similar artists in the country apart from those on the label? I』m aware of quite a few, but I』m interested in Murk』s views. What other Chinese bands outside of Dying Art and Dying Legion can we take as recommendations? 「Yeah, Pest and Midnight [labels] are very good, two productions with the same boss. And also I like most bands and artists who have cooperated with Pest and Midnight like Zuriaake, Chaotic Aeon, Skeletal Augury, Bai Shui and WOT [Whisper of Tears].」 I have to admit to having no knowledge of most of these, though a Bai Shui CD sits on my shelf as part of a promo from Heathen Harvest 1.0, and I remember coming across Zuriaake and enjoying his excellent approach to black metal with a traditional oriental feel. Murk』s tastes in Eastern dark music aren』t wholly limited to China』s output though, 「I love many Japanese bands, Sabbat, Metalucifer, Fastkill and so on… I think metal music is more popular [there] than Chinese」. Given the sales figures and the comparative huge amount of Japanese to Chinese metal bands, I can only concur.那麼，那些音樂風格類似但不屬Dying Art旗下的藝人們，情況又如何呢？我了解一些樂隊，但我對Murk的看法更感興趣。有哪些Dying Art和Dying Legion之外的樂隊可以推薦嗎？「有。PEST和Midnight（廠牌）非常好，這兩個廠牌由共同的老闆管理。我也很喜歡大多數曾和PEST和Midnight合作過的藝人，像是喪屍湖（Zuriaake），Chaotic Aeon，骸骨占卜（Skeletal Augury），白水，以及Whisper Of Tears（淚之情語）。」我必須承認，我一點也不了解這些樂隊，雖然作為Heathen Harvest 1.0的促銷產品，白水的CD一直放在我的書架上；而我還記得和喪屍湖的相遇，並欣賞了他們對帶有東方傳統色彩的黑金屬完美的展現。Murk對東方黑暗音樂的品味沒有完全被中國音樂佔據，「我喜歡很多日本樂隊，像是Sabbat、Metalucifer、Fastkill等等……金屬音樂在那裡（比在中國）更受歡迎一些。」看到銷售數據和相比之下巨量的日本金屬樂隊，我只能同意這種說法。
Just like Murk』s fascination with Western dark ambient and metal music, in the West many people have an interest in the mysticism of Asian culture. But our romantic view of real-life China may well be an affectation. In Murk』s eyes, there』s nothing particularly 『mystical』 about Chinese music and China is a shadow of what it once was – 「we』ve lost so much」 – is his frank synopsis of the current state of the country. His personal life is relatively normal, but he』s proud of what he has with his home and with his label: 「my personal life is a common Chinese family life, wife and my son, and of course I have a job, but I have to finish other work first when I』m at home – play with my son until he falls asleep – so I can only work for Dying Art deep in the night.」與Murk對西方黑暗氛圍和金屬音樂的迷戀類似，許多西方人對神秘的亞洲文化感興趣。但我們對現實中國的浪漫印象也許只是幻想。在Murk眼裡，中國文化真的沒什麼特別「神秘」的地方，而現在的中國只是過去的一個陰影。「我們失去太多了」，這是他對當前中國坦誠的梗概。
他的私人生活相比之下平淡無奇，但他對自己擁有的家庭和廠牌感到驕傲。「我的個人生活和平凡的中國家庭沒什麼不同，我有妻有子，當然還有個工作。但我回到家之後，必須先做其他工作——和我兒子一起玩，直到他睡去。然後我才能在深夜為Dying Art工作。」
他的工作當然獲得了回報，至少從廠牌花名冊的樂隊質量上來看是這樣。稀薄的音樂氛圍，國家對黑暗音樂負面的態度，家庭生活的召喚，白天的工作，頂住這些壓力，Dying Art仍然在不斷發展。這也給了音樂愛好者們更多的理由來支持這個廠牌並投資它旗下的樂隊。談到這裡，Murk對廠牌的未來有什麼看法呢？和往常一樣，他對自己的事業謙虛又實在。「未來是未知的。我沒法告訴你發生了什麼，或什麼事情發生了。我對於Dying Art沒有任何計劃，我也不需要計劃。我永遠活在當下。」他沉穩的力量和隱忍的成就打動了我，我想這是一個我們都應該學習的信條。
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