Chapter 124: Visiting the Set

Extended Play, abbreviated as EP, also known as a mini-album.

Positioned above a single but below a studio album, the number of songs included usually ranges between 3 and 6.

Because the song count is low and the positioning is different, the production of an EP album generally does not require a long time, which suits Zhou Yi's current situation very well.

As a graduate, he specifically took time after the album release to attend his school's graduation ceremony; releasing a graduation EP album also fits his personal positioning.

After all, no one can be eighteen forever, but graduates appear every year.

The only point he couldn't decide on was that although there were many songs in his mind suitable for graduation, many of them had limitations for him at present.

The Gao San graduation hit "Days on BJ East Road" was out of his reach; if he were to sing it, there were too many changes needed.

"No Goodbye" by the band Hao Mei Mei was the same; the lyrics of this song were about high school graduation, completely clashing with the style of his university graduation.

He could sing it next year, the year after, or the year after that, but definitely not this year, because this year his identity was a university graduate, not a high school graduate.

Unless he changed most of the lyrics of this song.

As for songs truly written about university graduation, there was still Lin Zhixuan's "The Intersection Where Phoenix Flowers Bloom," which was jokingly called Xiamen University's exclusive graduation track.

But the reason causing Zhou Yi to hesitate about whether to take this song was precisely the nickname it received after its release: Xiamen University's school song.

Phoenix flowers, this thing, are currently mainly found in the Two Guangs, the Treasure Island, Fujian, and other places; now, whether in Jiang Xi or the Imperial Capital, they can only be seen in flower shops, and not every flower shop has them. For Lin Zhixuan, a person from the Treasure Island, singing this was not awkward.

He, a graduate from Peking University hailing from Jiang Xi, singing about phoenix flowers that simply do not exist on the Peking University campus or by the roadside on his very official university graduation day, would most likely make both school leaders and classmates feel somewhat baffled.

After all, Peking University was not without its own scenery.

In 2001, regional concepts in the mainland were still very heavy.

This song, like "No Goodbye," was a very good graduation season song, but it was not suitable for him to sing this year as a Peking University graduate, because it did not fit his graduation persona for this year.

Even if he sang it next year, it would be fine.

As for Mayday's "Cheers," rather than a graduation season song, it was actually more like a nostalgic song for corporate slaves who had encountered the beating of society after walking out of the university ivory tower.

"Tomorrow, Hello" by Milk Coffee was relatively more matched to a female voice; if Sun Yanzi sang it, the effect would be many times better than if he sang it himself.

"Let me think, hmm? Wait a minute, I remember Zhang Zhenyue's 'Goodbye'..."

Zhou Yi, in his memories, suddenly thought of the music circle's "Ma Er" Zhang Zhenyue; as one of his retirement insurances, the song "Goodbye" was also a classic song that would appear at various graduation ceremonies in the future.

"From 2005, then it's fine, I'll copy it."

Glancing at the time, Zhou Yi decisively reached out, swiped this song over, and casually swiped the song "The Wind Rises" over as well.

Only the lyrics of "The Wind Rises" needed to be changed a bit, swapping Nagano's sky for the Imperial Capital's sky.

Plus, since he was currently going head-to-head with the media, Mayday's "Stubborn" was also perfectly suitable for his own graduation experience this year.

"However, if it comes to this... the musical difference of 'Youth Memorial Album' is a bit too large."

Looking at the three songs he had swiped over—"Stubborn," "The Wind Rises," and "Goodbye"—Zhou Yi, twirling his pen, fell into deep thought.

He actually wanted to release the other two songs, SHE's "You Were Once a Youth" and Guang Liang and Cao Ge's "Youth."

However, considering this was his personal graduation EP, he still pulled in "Those Years," whose lyrics fit the theme better.

The lyrics of "Those Years" described a person who had just graduated, more so than those two songs.

"Anyway, it's an EP, so let's just set the four songs as 'Stubborn,' 'The Wind Rises,' 'Those Years,' and 'Goodbye.' As for the remaining songs, it's not too late to release them later when there aren't so many restrictions."

Considering it wasn't a hodgepodge EP but a graduation-themed EP, and to prevent the tonality of the arrangements from being too disjointed, Zhou Yi still crossed out "Youth Memorial Album."

Among the four songs, "Stubborn" and "Goodbye" both had a pop-rock foundation, and combined with "The Wind Rises" and "Those Years," which also shared a pop foundation, the pairing was actually quite decent.

With the unreleased "Beautiful Land" as a base, his ability to write and sing the two pop-rock songs "Stubborn" and "Goodbye" could be considered to have a precedent.

After tentatively setting these four songs, Zhou Yi took out his phone and made a call to Qian Jiang.

The latter, upon learning Zhou Yi wanted an EP album, was overjoyed: "Really?! You're not tricking me, A-Yi?!"

In the Mandarin music scene, EP albums were currently actually played out just like greatest hits collections; eight out of ten were tools for singers or companies to make money.

Judging by Zhou Yi's previous lack of enthusiasm for releasing a greatest hits collection, Qian Jiang had long ago given up on the idea of persuading him to release a song collection or an EP.

He didn't expect Zhou Yi to bring it up himself.

"Mm, I just graduated, so I'll consider it saying goodbye to my past."

"No problem, I'll arrange it for you right away. You just released your second album; for an EP, how about releasing it in three months? If the EP gets a good response, it might even drive your album sales up in reverse three months later."

"And three months later is exactly when this year's graduates are privately contacting each other and gathering frequently; singing your songs would be just right."

It was only late June; three months later, in July, August, and September, the heat of Zhou Yi's new album would gradually fade, and perhaps the EP could pull back a wave of popularity.

"Okay."

Zhou Yi nodded, then handed the matter over to Qian Jiang to handle. He then turned to study the fresh schedule for the Shanghai signing sessions.

Just as he was looking, the phone suddenly rang—

"Zhou Yi, you're coming to Shanghai to hold a signing session?"

The moment he answered the call, Chen Hao's voice, slightly tinged with surprise, came through the receiver: "I saw Warner's external promotion."

"Yeah, how about it? Are you still filming in Shanghai? When I'm done and resting, I'll come see you? We've been talking about it for a while, but due to the changes, I never got to go."

"I am still in Shanghai filming 'Love in Pink,' but are you sure you want to come visit the set?"

Chen Hao on the other end of the phone hesitated a bit: "You have so many signing sessions to finish, so you should rest well; I'll come find you then, so you don't have to run back and forth."

"You know my body; it's very sturdy. A mere signing session, how could it possibly stump me."

Completely forgetting the previous experience of signing until his hand was sore, Zhou Yi lay on the sofa and stubbornly said.

"Yes, yes, yes, your body is the sturdiest."

Chen Hao, smiling with delight, laughed: "Coincidentally, if you come now, Lu Yi and Chen Kun are also filming their cameo scenes. I heard them say you met in the Treasure Island, so it's perfect to gather together."

PS: 'Youth Memorial Album' actually fits the background and a subsequent plot point quite well, but since the majority expressed they didn't like it, I'll delete this small plot.

Deleted, modified, and dragged out until now, sorry.

PS2: But actually, the quality of this song isn't too bad; it's a work above the standard line.

Many university graduation season theme songs are this one, because this song is one of the few suitable for both university and high school.

PS3: I basically consider the historical background and the protagonist's own origins when selecting songs; lyrics that clearly describe high school life are unsuitable for a protagonist who is graduating from university this year.

Then there are songs with obvious directional cues, such as the song "Phoenix Flower Blossoming at the Crossroads."

He graduated in 2001 and is from Peking University; if the flower were to carry a directional cue, it should be a flower blooming abundantly around Peking University or around Beijing.

At the very least, it should be a flower from Jiang Xi.

But in that case, the meaning of the phoenix flower's language would be lost, and the theme of this song would lose points.

The protagonist cannot sing this song in the year of his graduation; his Peking University background dictates that his graduation song this year must either be a generic, universal song or a directional song with obvious Beijing markers.

(End of this chapter)