Labeling itself as a Hakka band, ZiXuan & Slow Train (黃子軒與山平快) shoulders the responsibility of promoting and passing down Hakka culture. They create their songs in the languages of Hakka and Hokkien, combining their musical creations with various music genres, including jazz, reggae, soul, and folk. The band won the Golden Melody Award for the best Hakka album with their work “The Stranger (異鄉人)” in 2016. 


(Photo: ZiXuan & Slow Train)

Regarded as a creator of Hakka folk songs for the future generation, Zixuan Huang (黃子軒), the lead singer of the band, wholeheartedly embraces the multicultural wave on account of his mixed Hakka-Hokkien background. With the innovative combination of varied styles, Huang injects modern energy into Hakka music. His talent and capability were recognized by several national awards, including the Golden Melody Award, the Taiwan Music Competition and Songwriting Contest (流行音樂原創音樂大獎), and Ho-Hai-Yan Gongliao Rock Festival (貢寮海洋音樂祭), and he is definitely considered a promising star.

In partnership with Hsinchu-born Hakka singers — Chiu Lien-chin (邱廉欽), Chen Wei-ru (陳瑋儒), and Rita Lin (林鈺婷), ZiXuan & Slow Train produced a Hakka nursery album for the younger generation in 2017. Members of the team constructed their recording studio in the traditional Hakka compound “Lo House (羅屋書院)” in Hsinchu’s Guanxi Township. They recruited local elementary school students to form a children’s choir and participate in the production of this made-in-Guanxi album, which, Huang expects, can be a connection between these kids’ childhood and Hakka music.

Presenting international elements in his award-winning album “The Stranger,” Huang broadened his vision by collaborating with the band DJ Theory from Indonesia. In the prologue “Home Town Is No Where Else (他鄉變故鄉),” both languages of Hakka and Indonesian are intertwined with the beats of jazz, R&B, and rock to tell the story of new immigrants in Taiwan. The album echoes Huang’s belief that music transcends language boundaries.

A glimpse of subtle sentiments can be caught in the lyrics of the songs written by Huang himself. He employs uncomplicated phrases to express profound feelings, embellishing the boundless diversity of his music with humanity. With his mother tongue, Huang sings the dreams Hakka youths pursue in the city, their complaints about life, affection for hometown, care about society and respect for seniors.  The band uses a language that is most intimate to them to express the true feelings of the people on the street.

The band launched an unprecedented project “Slow Train Live Tour (山線平快計畫)” in 2014, performing at train stations across Taiwan. They visited various small towns with unique features, singing their songs to local residents. Five years later, they brought the live tour to the western part of Japan, introducing Taiwan with Hakka music to their Japanese audience.