American Band Sings in Chinese

By Sun Yi

SIRIS is an American rock band composed of two brothers Michael and Patrick Maley from Philadelphia. What makes them stand out is that it is the first Western group in music history to record an original Chinese language album.

SIRIS Chinese inspired music is due in large part to Michaels Chinese experience. The experience started not in China, though. It started in his hometown Philadelphia when Michael was in primary school.

One day he fell into a river. People on the spot rushed to call 911 while a boy about his age jumped into the river and pushed him out of the water. The young hero was Thomas Zhong, a boy with Chinese parents. Michael and Thomas became friends. When Michael visited Thomas at his home, he was fascinated by the Chinese language spoken by Thomas parents. Many books he found at his new friends home were printed in Chinese. Michael was totally fascinated by the new world he found. With the help of Thomas, Michael learned to speak and read some Chinese words and phrases.

The second Chinese influence also occurred in his hometown. In his middle school days, he watched “The Good Person of Sichuan”, a drama created by Bertolt Brecht.

In 1992 Michael Maley came to Shanghai. He studied Chinese at the prestigious Fudan University. A year later he turned to study international trade. It was in Shanghai that he honed his language skills and became fluent in Chinese. In his spare time he taught English and worked as a translator. He learned to sing some of the best pop songs in China. He also translated some Chinese songs into English and sang them at some shows. With some background in kongfu, the 1.94-meter-tall young man was invited to appear in some Chinese movies and televisions. The biggest movie which featured him was “The Green Hornet”, a 1994 Hong Kong produced remake of Bruce Lees masterpiece.

He returned to USA in 1996. The first year back home saw him engaged in some international trade. He missed his Chinese friends and his Chinese adventures. During this period, he was often engaged to write songs for commercials. One day while listening to some of his favorite songs brought back from China, he hit upon an idea of writing a Chinese song one day.

The brothers began singing and writing music at an early age. During their teenage years they performed in local bands throughout the city of Philadelphia. While Michael studied in China, Patrick went to a music college in USA and pursued his music career as a drummer. Now Michael and Patrick decided to rekindle their teenage dream and organize themselves into a music band. They named it SIRIS or 赛日 in Chinese.

In 1997, the brothers released their first Chinese song entitled “Till My Last Breath”, which made Siris the first Western group in music history to record an original Chinese language album. It was co-produced by Grammy nominated producer David Ivory.

The year 2000 was a turning point for SIRIS as the brothers returned to the studio to record their first English album “The Order of Time”. That same year, they also formed their own record label and production company, “Run Hard Music”.

The album also managed to celebrate their Chinese influences, containing many Chinese references throughout. These references were evident on three of the albums twelve tracks; including the progressive title track “The Order of Time”, “Ma Ma Hu Hu” and their Chinese single “Beautiful Angel”.

“The Order of Time” was officially released and distributed worldwide in February 2001. On the strength of their English single, “My Love For You Will Always Be” and the albums lone Chinese track “Beautiful Angel”, SIRIS quickly jumped to the top of MP3.com's top 40 pop chart. “Beautiful Angel” broke the top 20, reaching number 11 and became the first Chinese song in MP3.com's history to enter the charts.

After more than 2 million downloads, 100,000 units sold and a string of successful performances, SIRIS critically acclaimed English debut was an independent success.

In 2002, music legend Adrian Belew commented, “It's nice to hear something refreshing in a world of similar artists!” In 2003, SIRIS once again took part in breaking new ground as their Chinese single “Beautiful Angel” became the first Chinese song to be sold on Apple's iTunes.

In 2005, SIRIS shot to fame with its Mandarin hit single “幸福”(Xing Fu or Happiness). It was a huge success. Since its release, “Xing Fu” has sold over 500,000 copies and been downloaded over 25 million times.

In August 8, 2008, SIRIS released its new album. The new album contains an eclectic mix of 20 original Chinese and English songs. Prominent singles featured in the new release are “God Bless Sichuan”, “I Was Chinese in My Previous Life”, and “China”. The Mandarin single “God Bless Sichuan” was pre-released on July 1 as a tribute to the survivors of the tragic Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008.

SIRIS sang “God Bless Sichuan” at a charity show held in San Francisco, California on April 12, 2009. It caused a sensation among the audience. Siris received favorite reviews in the Chinese media in the USA the next day.

Nowadays Michael plans to make television telegrams to introduce China to American people.□