L’officiel March Cover Story: Lay Zhang — Transparent as always

Expressing the real me without any limitations; touching the authenticity in this crowded world.

He is straightforward and transparent, he always wants to speak out exactly what’s in his mind, showing his true self without hiding. It seems that there is a lighthouse deep inside Lay’s heart. He calculates his time while pressing forward. No matter where the storm comes from, it will no longer blows against him.

Lay has three cats, Zhang Lulu, Zhang Luobo and Zhang Laosan. Lulu is the elegant one. He’s visual of the group with the eyes of a starry night. When looking at him, it is like looking into an ocean. The closest cat to Lay is Laosan. He always comes to Lay’s side quietly, lies down and stays with him.

Because of having to work long times away from home, If the working environment allows, Lay would bring his cats with him. The house has become totally different after the cats joined in. “Before they came, everything is still. Me, my furniture and ornaments, everything. But now, there are living creatures walking in my house, and the air seems to be flowing as well. “

The building of his 30s, is here.

Talking about pets, he had this sudden mind-blowing thought: “For those with pet snakes, they probably hide away when you return and you can’t find them at home. Or they might be staring at you from above. For those who like insects and bugs, they might take home a cicada that chirps all day. If we have a large Felidae at home, it will be even more awesome. They probably will be fighting all day long. Might even slap you if they’re not happy. For cats, they will probably scratch your door if they get locked inside, but the “larger kitty” would probably slap the door open and escape.”

Getting back to the point, he first thought about pet was from his friends: “When you’re lonely and by yourself, it’s pretty good to have a little cat with you.” We took a glimpse at his schedule and wonder how he can has any spare time to feel lonely. “Of course I do, especially after establishing my company.” He responded in all seriousness, “Sometimes when I have work related questions on the weekend, but then I feel like other people need to take a break, so when I can’t find a person to ask the question, and I feel lonely.”

The Chinese idiom “Going in circle and don’t know what to do” can be used to precisely describe how Lay feels. For Lay back in the days, there was no such thing as “weekend”. He could finish his meals in 5 minutes to save time for a dance move. He could sleep for just 3 hours and practiced with sandbags tied on him. Until it got too intense that he got lumbar disc herniation. “For me personally, every day is the same from Monday to Sunday. But now that I have a company, and as the head of this company, I can’t keep being wayward like before.”

The company that Lay established for his trainee project has taken up most of his energy. He got asked five years ago that “Who do you want to become at the age of 30?”. He said that he wanted to own a building, not a resident building, but an office building. “I want to train the best musicians in China there.” The interview was in 2016. Under that article, there was a comment that asked, “How far is he from turning 30?” Some answered: “He will turn 30 in 2021.”

That day is coming soon. Lay seems to have this schedule in his heart: a part of it is running forward, and the other part is counting down. He announced the establishment of his company on his birthday last year. This will be the place where he trains the next generation of Chinese idol celebrities. Looking at his own artist career, the trainees will be facing extremely strict requirements. “I have already told them, the minimum requirement for trainees is Lay Zhang. If I’m the 60-point mark, what grade can you get? I hope that their benchmark is not me, but the international celebrities.”

We can see that Lay is a person with perseverance and long-lasting affection. He remembers every word that he said, he will achieve all the things that he wants. When he was younger, he worked as a dishwasher for a “Fantasy Westward Journey” game stamp card. He worked his way up to be the top 2 players of the server. Many years later, he even became the ambassador of that game. Many people were surprised when they found out that the famous “Jiangnan cool guy” was indeed a “boss”. Nowadays, he has to limit gaming time to 30 minutes because of his packed schedule.

Last December was busy and anxious for Lay, even his breaktime was spent oninterviewing the employees for his team. “It is very hard to find an Operation Director. We met at least 50 people at least, but only very few met our expectations.” During his early phase of recruiting a team, Lay has to handle a lot of things himself. “There’re so many things that can’t roll when I’m not around. But it shouldn’t be like that. Fortunately, our team is not too bad for now, our trainees are pretty good too. But that’s not enough. We still need to be stronger.”

Strength is not going to vaporize like water

Last year, he shot two TV series consecutively, “Challenges at Midlife” by Daylight Entertainment and “Crime Crackdown”. The second one was always shooting at night. He had to work until five or six o’clock every morning, finishing up only when the sun began to rise. Then he sleeps for three or four hours, and gets up at ten to interview, and looks over the trainees’ applications. “Not that I am strong physically, it’s just that I have a goal. I want to achieve it then I can do it.”

“Crime Crackdown” was shot at Changsha. They have been to Chaozong Street with an old town taste. The usually quiet Liansheng Street is now bustling with the street food stands that moved in. After finishing shooting in the city, they went to the ancient architectures at Taoshu Bay and Grand Temple of Mount Heng in Liuyang. It might be the longest time that Lay stayed at his hometown after his departure from Changsha at the age of 17. However, his schedule was so full that he did not have the time to revisit his hometown.

“When I had free time during the shooting, I talked about projects and attend dancing classes. There was really no spare time.” One good thing is that there are many delicious food in Changsha. Many people would order a “Lay Zhang comba” at the rice noodle restaurant where he had been visiting growing up. As a local, his favorite is still the Gaimafan, rice with his favorite meat and vegetables toppings. Mixing it well with the sauce, he could have many bowls of it. He did gain some weight after the shooting.

“Changsha is a miraculous place. It is where I attended the show. It was where my dream began. I was a very chubby kid; it was after the show that I started to slim down.” At age of 13, he attended the competition “Star Academy” in order to win 50 Chinese Yuan from his father for video games. He ended up at the third place. At age 17, he auditioned and became a trainee. “The company just picked me like that? I thought that it must be fake back then.”

He acted in a TV series at six. He could have grown up as a child star but he wound up an unusual path. “What is a child star’s path? I didn’t know anything back then. I acted in a TV show and somebody knew me, and then what? Nothing. One has to settle down.” He is always thankful for Long Danni, “She let me attend that show, a show that everyone in Changsha knew. I became the famous kid in school. Everyday there are teachers and students coming to me.”

His “fame” only lasted for a year. “There was nothing left after a year. Someone else caught people’s attention.” He had a taste of “an out-of-fashion artist” when he was only a teenager. “Because of my experience before, I cherish everything I get even more now. I know there is only one thing that can last, the capability and skills that I acquired.

His crisis awareness since 15 made him accustomed to demand more from himself, such as buying a guitar, learning Popping, trying to produce and writing songs by himself. For him, time is never enough. During the filming period of “Challenges at Midlife”, he read economics and accounting books, and listened to audio books in the car when moving from one filming site to another. “I don’t have to read things that are too advanced. I’m not taking an accounting exam. But doing several things together is still a little tired. My name is Lay though.(Tired in Chinese pronounces like Lay)”

PD Zhang who conquered the world

Speaking of his stage name “LAY”, it’s because the TV series “Meteor Garden” was popular back then, and there is a character “Huaze Lei” who is quiet, talented and plays violin. He thought the name didn’t matter as long as he can debut. Now every time he introduces himself, he says “Hello everyone, I’m Lay(tired) “. “That’s why people say, don’t choose the wrong name. You gotta believe.”

He grew up with an authoritative parenting style. Lay’s parents didn’t disapprove him completely but also didn’t approve him much. But Lay said, when he saw other kids playing marbles and cards downstairs and he wanted to play as well, there was always a “kid next door”. “One kid next door studies well, one plays piano well, one plays violin well. Look at you.” There seems to be too many kids living next door.

“I didn’t think it was negative when I was a kid, but as I gradually grew up and met different people, I realized all my thoughts originated from my growing environment. It makes me tough and persistent, and it also brought me the fighting spirit. But on the other hand, these may not be good. For example, at first I worked hard because of fear. I thought that I had blind spots so I worked hard because I did not want to fall behind, which is good. But on the contrary, I lack confident to some extent.”

Now, Lay Zhang is already excellent enough, but he said,”I never felt that way.” On Hupu, the forum that is known for being harsh, Lay’s reputation has risen sharply these years. People no longer think of him as “the little sheep”, but would think of him as PD Zhang who can produce and arrange music. On the set of “Street Dance of China”, he used the computer to arrange music for his team on-site. His team member Klash decided to choose him as leader as soon as he saw Lay’s opening show, and George was attracted to him by his Krump and MPOP.

Unconsciously, it seems that Lay is conquering the world with his capability, but he did not realize this himself. “I am quite thankful for those who approve of me. What I fear the most is being a judge, but I still ended being the judge. Every street dance dancer has decades of foundations. I was very anxious sitting there.”

He never thought of himself as the best. “People will see clearly in the future that the success behind one person is teamwork. One solo, one artist, relies on countless people. I look forward to seeing how artists compete in the future, like the sword competition on Huashan Mountain. I really look forward to it.

L’officiel conversation with Lay Zhang

You have started your own trainee project, aren’t you worried about competing with the younger generation?

Don’t be too narrow-minded. I like having rivals. I like competing with those who are capable. I focus more on improving myself back then, and I want to focus on finding new talents and energy in the future. I want to share with them what I think is good andallow them to glow and shine. Being able to help others achieve their dreams, is quite cool, I think.

“LIT” has been pinned on your Weibo account for a while now, when will be the next time that you’re switching to a new song?

Probably this year, I will be releasing new songs this year. It is also fusion composition of Chinese traditional culture.

Are you worried that the listeners will question your new music?

There will be people who like it and those who hate it. I don’t think it’s a problem. If they say that my music is really not good, all I can say is I will make better music in the future. If they’re just attacking me for the sake of attacking, there’s no need to pay attention to them. If people think that this piece of work is just too bad that it’s unacceptable, we will have to reflect in that. I think that all art forms, music and such, they can’t deviate from the market entirely.

You’re really good with expressing yourself, why do you keep saying that you “can’t explain it clearly”?

I realized I really can’t explain it clearly. For example, if we’re talking about “1”, I probably can explain up to “0.9”, but leaving out the final “0.1”. But that last 0.1 part is the most important core concept. Some people get it, some don’t. If they don’t understand me, they wouldn’t be able to get what it means. I think it really depends on fate and luck.

In your opinion, what “sparkles and shines”？

Dreams.

You’ve been working with Calvin Klein for a long time now, what are your new thoughts on this Spring collection?

I get inspired a lot through every collaboration with CK. For this spring collection, CK has returned to its classic minimal designs, as if they’re providing you with a blank canvas and endless possibilities to express yourself. Everyone can find their own suitable style and freely express their true selves. This is also the most comfortable thing in my collaborations with CK during these years.

Original text: L’officiel China March cover story

Translation by XingTweetTRANS