SINGAPORE - Lauded Taiwanese indie group Cosmos People has come a long way since they first came together as a band in 2004, while they were still students. Now, nearly 10 years later, the bubbly trio has signed as artistes under Taiwanese rock band Mayday’s label, B’in Music. The band played their first-ever concert in Singapore at Switch last night, showcasing tracks from their latest album, Earthwalking. We sat lead vocalist Xiao Yu, bassist Fang Q and guitarist Ah Kui and asked them what it was like to be Cosmos People.

Q: So tell us, what’s it like working with Mayday?

XIAO YU: They are like big brothers to us. They’ve taught us a lot, about instruments, life and so on. They don’t really lecture us. We chat like friends do.

AH KUI: Both our bands started as underground bands, and later signed with mainstream record companies. So we’ve got pretty similar experiences. They’ve taught us how to deal with progressing from having nobody in the audience, to having 10,000 people. They’ve also given us tips on the technicalities of performing. And there are some things we can do that they just can’t. So we have to appreciate our uniqueness as Cosmos People, and not just follow in Mayday’s footsteps blindly.

FANG Q: We meet Mayday a lot during performances, because we’ve joined their company. So that means we can watch them from the side, and pick up on the little details of their performances - stuff that audiences can’t always see from below. Like the way they communicate with each other when there are sudden changes in the rundown.

Q: You have a song called I Want To Make a Movie Out of You – who would you make a movie of, if you could, and why?

AH KUI: I think I’d pick (Hong Kong actress-model) Angelababy, because she looks like the type of girl I like. If I could make a film with Angelababy, I’d direct and star in it myself. I’d do everything myself!

FANG Q: I’ll pick Audrey Hepburn. We used her singing voice as a reference for this song, actually. And if I shot a movie starring Hepburn she’d look good from every angle.

XIAO YU: I’d pick Zhou Xun or Gwei Lun-Mei. They are not beauties in the typical sense of the word, but they look very special on screen. And of course, I like both very much.

Q: Are they your dream girls too then?

XIAO YU: Isn’t Audrey Hepburn an ‘ah ma’ (old woman)? (Editor’s Note: Er, she passed away 20 years ago.)

FANG Q: Yea, and I guess we’d have problems communicating because we don’t speak the same language.

Q: But who’s most popular with the girls?

XIAO YU: I think it’s Fang Q, because he can be both gentle and wild at the same time. He’s quite mild in person, but he’s a lot more open and relaxed when he performs.

FANG Q: I think I can understand girls better now, because my hair is longer, and I now know why girls need 1-2 hours to get ready before they can leave home. So I can empathise.

Q: Why don’t you just cut your hair then?

FANG Q: I’m trying to grow it out, to see how far I can go, because I’ve never kept my hair long before. Besides, Xiao Yu and Ah Kui have short hair, so I want to try fitting the stereotype of a bassist, and keep my hair long.

Q: Okay but seriously now, are there any musicians you’d really like to work with?

XIAO YU: (Hip-hop artiste) Dan Bao, or (rapper) Miss Ko. Our music is somewhat related to hip-hop, even though it doesn’t really sound like it. And their music is quite similar to the music we like.

FANG Q: I’d like to work with Khalil Fong. He’s also a singer who wants to add western influences and RnB elements to Chinese songs. I think it’d be quite interesting if we could work together, and we’d learn a lot from him.

AH KUI: I want to work with Jolin Tsai. Her music’s very lively, and she’s quite willing to try all types of music genres. And when it comes to dance, she can work with Xiao Yu, because he likes to dance when he’s performing. (laughs) It’d be great visually, and the music too, of course. And we wouldn’t have to worry about ticket sales!

FANG Q: Xiao Yu would have to start hitting the gym!

Q: You guys have known each other for so long, do you hang out outside of work?

AH KUI: We’re together all the time when we’re working - from the moment we wake up in the morning, till the time we go to bed. Our work isn’t like other jobs – it’s a lifestyle. We bring what happens in our lives to our work, and present it on stage.

XIAO YU: And we don’t really head home after work. We just stay in the studio and hang out, for no real reason too.

Q: You’ve been on the scene for four years now, since your official debut in 2009. What has been most unforgettable so far?

FANG Q: We went to Austin, Texas for the SXSW music festival in March. The roots of our music are from the US, because we like ‘60s-’70s funk. And I was quite touched that the audiences were really receptive towards us.

XIAO YU: I can’t really think of anything specific right now, but I really cherish the time we spent making our album. Now, we make an album, release it, promote it, and then perform. But I am happiest when I’m actually creating the album. We can devote ourselves to music, body and soul. I am happiest when I can put all my energy into making music.

AH KUI: The song I Hate You is really unforgettable to me. The lyrics still weren’t ready the night before the mixing engineer was supposed to come in to mix our song. I wanted to take a nap and wake up to help Xiao Yu with the song, but when I woke up, the mixing engineer had already come in! Xiao Yu finished the lyrics in one night!

XIAO YU: He didn’t help me at all! (laughs)

AH KUI: Xiao Yu did the whole thing on his own. When I woke up, I was like, oh, he’s finished it.

Q: And which song is most meaningful to you?

XIAO YU: For me, it’d have to be the first song in our first album – Space Police. I like that it captured our playfulness and immaturity of the time. We weren’t afraid of anything, we didn’t give much thought to the arrangement or lyrics - we just wrote and sang whatever we wanted.

AH KUI: It’s Big Ambitions Like Fish for me. People used to think it was a new song when we sang it in the past. Now, they can sing along with us. Xiao Yu doesn’t have to sing it on stage anymore, the voices from the audience are loud enough. Sometimes we get goosebumps, because it shows people understand and identify with what we are trying to express.

FANG Q: It’s the same for me. We climbed a mountain for the music video. And the three of us, we’re not expert climbers, but we got the equipment and the oxygen tanks for the video. I feel encouraged every time we perform this song, and we hear the voices from the audience. It’s like we’ve fought against the odds.