“They Love Us More Than We Love Ourselves”: Gym and Swim on Taiwan

Photo Credit: Gym and Swim

We’d like to make an announcement! The band has come to an agreement that Taiwanese fans love our music more than ourselves. And oh man! Do you know how many times we imagine going to Taiwan nowadays?

Hey all! I’m Lerm from Gym and Swim. I had no idea what to write here until my band-mates and I got together via an online meeting last week to discuss it. I asked them about this diary and what they think of when they hear the word “Taiwan”. Pong, our guitarist and synth player, said this: “Guys, the first thing that comes to my mind is that Taiwanese fans love our music more than we do.” We burst out laughing because that is so true. 

 

Photo Credit: Gym and Swim

We’ve been all around Asia to perform. We’ve played in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos. And we adore those moments that we were with our fans so much. But to be honest, for Gym and Swim, we’re all in agreement that Taiwan is like our home. We’ve been to Taiwan four times, and we love the cities’ energy, the people who always go crazy when we are on stage and the street food. And the public transportation! Man, how could I leave that out?

Our first time in Taiwan

Our first ever show in Taiwan happened in 2016, and we didn’t know what to expect. We got a call from Poom, our record label manager, telling us that we were booked to play at a show with Sunset Rollercoaster. I thought, “hmm, this is interesting; we’ve been booked to play with Taipei’s popular synthpop band?” I still recall that day. We were all wondering whether they’d enjoy our music. Would there even be people at all? We tried not to expect too much, but it was hard not to have a little hope up there.

When we were on stage, the locals danced like crazy, even though they had no idea what the lyrics were. The crowd danced like it was the last time they would ever listen to music. “I couldn’t believe what I saw before my eyes,” added Turk, our guitarist. “I was moved,” said Mudmee, our drummer. It felt effortless.

First Taiwan tour at The Wall Live House, Taipei. (September 2017)
Show at Live Warehouse, Kaohsiung, as part of our first Taiwan tour. (September 2017)

Taiwan, the rest of the time

“I was so nervous that nobody would show up even though the show was sold out,” Mudmee shared. I was in total agreement with her. How could this be all real? We are just an indie-pop band from Thailand. How could we have a sold-out show here in Taiwan? I was so pumped and still stunned about what happened. And it got even more surreal when we witnessed our fans lining up outside and how happy they were to see us. Man, it blew our mind. 

Our second time in Taiwan, this time in Chiayi for Wake Up Festival 2018 (June 2018)

“We played like it was the last show we’d ever get to play in front of this beautiful and energetic crowd,” said Pong. We were having the time of our lives. And we all just had the same thought when we were on stage: is our music that good? Of course, we knew that we’d put a lot of effort into it, but how could these people before our eyes love it almost more than we loved it?

The Wall Live House in Taipei for our fourth Taiwan trip (June 2019)

This kind of vibe didn’t just happen at our first show. It happens every time we are in Taiwan. To our Taiwanese fans: you guys have to know how much you inspire us to keep going. And we made a promise to ourselves that we’ll keep coming back to Taiwan, and we don’t care if it’s just a short trip or for a big show. We just want to be back in the country that we call home.

Taiwan street food is the language of love

One of the things that we love most about Taiwan is the street food. It is quite similar to the vibe we have in our home country. All the mouthwatering stalls and restaurants lining the streets and the smell of the food emanating from them is like a warm and welcoming hug to me.

I had never realised that everyone in our band is such a foodie until we arrived in Taiwan. Aside from the shows, our schedule was filled up with food, from buns to mala hotpot to bubble milk tea. Speaking of bubble tea, the whole band would exchange a meal for that. If you are in Taiwan, you’ve got to try it. It’s just so good. 

But hey, speaking of mala hotpot, we also went to this place. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name, but here’s the photo:

Turk was drunk, to be honest. But look at his face here: he was so happy to have this restaurant’s t-shirt. To tell you the truth, it took a lot of negotiation before the restaurant owner would give the staff t-shirt to Turk, so we have to thank our friend who helped persuade him. He told him that we were a famous band from Thailand paying Taiwan a visit and that it’d be great to have the staff shirt as a souvenir. We laughed so hard at that point. What a night! 

I miss all those days and nights we spent in Taiwan so much. Some were pretty wild, some not so much, but all were full of unexpected friendship and deliciousness.

Dinner with Sunset Rollercoaster

Actually, come to think of it, wherever we go, we remember the food the most. Take Hong Kong, for example. I can’t remember what we did there besides performing and having a bowl of yen ta fo. Haha. It was a funny experience because I led the whole band to that place, made them walk miles without knowing that they were about to eat this typical Thai food. They all thought that I was taking them to some hidden legendary spot. The food was nice, but they were quite annoyed with me. 

Hmm, what else? Oh yeah! There’s this famous bun called “guobao” that you should try if you visit Taiwan. It’s one of the most famous street food dishes there. It was delicious to me, but it’s pretty controversial in our band. Like it or not, it’s one of the things that we remember most vividly. Let us know how you like it!

Things we learned on tour

We realised that we’ve survived many things together in life as a band and didn’t kill each other after spending more than 24 hours together. It was a surprise to me since we didn’t have to make a huge effort to adapt to each other. We’re just like friends having fun together. We have disagreements, sure, but it’s never been anything significant.

We’re a mix of personalities and genders, and we’ve never once felt alienated from each other. Each of us complements the other, and that’s what makes Gym and Swim, Gym and Swim.

We feel so blessed to have had the privilege of touring across Asia, meeting new people, getting in touch with our audiences and, well, discovering what Taiwan means to us. I hope that we can meet again soon. We miss going on tour so much. The first thing we’re going to do after this pandemic is over is pack our bags and fly to Taiwan. It doesn’t matter whether we get to perform or, it’s just that we miss Taiwan so much.

I hope you guys stay healthy, safe, and sane. We are planning to launch our new album soon, and we hope to see you at our shows, dancing and shouting at the top of your lungs like always. 

Until we meet again!

Love you all.